mogura

With AE not dropping recipes, I'd say it's a pretty good bet that more Inf is getting circulated these days than purples. In other words, we've got a recipe for further purple inflation.

The flip side? The two people still farming Battle Maiden will earn slightly more Pool C&D drops than previous to I14 because bosses have a chance to drop the Pool C's and D's now.

But luckily for us, the inflation whammy is double-sided with this issue's release just as it was with I13's: not only are less purples dropping to the overall playerbase, but far less salvage is being generated. The cost of standard IO's when last I looked was enough to make me [ctrl]+[q] (i set the custom keybind, yes) and play something else for a while.

I like the idea of them costing the participants substantial amounts of endurance (though not "all" of it) and/or a bit of HP. I'm picturing, for example, the Fastball maneuver. The Tanker/Brute flings the Scrapper/Stalker as if he were a projectile at a ranged mob for devastating damage.

Perhaps there should be different combos for different powerset combos, but there'd have to be a finite number of combos, or at least a finite number of combo "types" (throw, super blast, etc. etc.)

This isn't a bad idea, but it needs to be refined past "spending Prestige" IMHO.

Look, there's no WW in IP. There doesn't need to be an AE in Atlas Park. Let the one in Galaxy City carry the full load.

Hey, what a great idea! A dead zone suddenly has a reason for being!

Sorry, the Devs' version of "Load Balancing" astonishes me sometimes. That's the reason for my drooling sarcasm.

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It's this time again?

Adding more demand without adding proportionately more supply won't make anything better except maybe Masterminds at low levels. For a while.

Haven't we been down this road enough times before to know that it's not a good idea? Even the majority of pro-merger folks have piped down about this, realizing that supply is sufficiently tanked on Heroes to no longer offer the appealing subsidy it once represented in their argument.

Subsidies don't work if the subsidizer is also broke.

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The 3 MMs with the Crabs were completely worthless once the Arachnos Soldiers hit level 24. I usually left them at the door. Then I stopped even doing that.

The Zombie Team just isn't all that cool. Freezing Rain's Knockdown is just too awesome. It was walk forward. Rain. Win.

Plasma. Your guys are with the 2nd MM Squad. I might try and get everyone to level 35 by the end of the month. I know one of the accounts is being closed. You aren't attached to that one. Could also break the pact and you could log in your own guy and stand in a corner getting all the XPs. I know some tricks that aren't public (yet).

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This is less of a surprise than you'd think. I LOL'd.

I've been behind the ability to switch sides since Villains first came out. So, not only am I defending your right to write differently and chastizing the bigoted remarks about your style of communication, but I'm also /signing the idea, more or less.

Again.

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Yeah, nobody listens to Stephen Hawking because of that totally unconventional text-to-speech rig he uses to "communicate."

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People talking to Stephen Hawking generally aren't asking "Who the expletive are you and why should I care what you have to say?"

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OK, maybe so. But what about somebody else with a similar condition and method of speech? What about a tracheotomy victim who uses a voice box? Dismissing somebody you don't know as being of no value based on superficial impressions is bigotry, nothing more.

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Nobody pays attention to deaf people because of all those crazy things they're always doing with their hands.

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A person who goes to the effort of translating a deaf person's sign language is generally beyond the step of "Who the expletive are you and why should I care what you have to say?"

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Not really. They may be interpreting the sign language for a college interview, or perhaps a job interview. In such cases, they have no idea who the person is. Again, you're just making excuses for bigotry.

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One's sentence structure is part of the first impression, and doing things like capitalizing every word or being outright unintelligible can mean that no one cares what you have to say because it's too irritating to read. (Capitalization is one of my pet peeves, honestly. >_> It helps to be able to see sentence beginnings and important words.)

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I couldn't agree more about how capitalization helps to be able to see sentence beginnings and important words. But the simple truth is that not everything that's worthwhile is also easy. Get over it.

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I'm Sorry, Do You Have Any Way To Back That Up?

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Yeah, nobody listens to Stephen Hawking because of that totally unconventional text-to-speech rig he uses to "communicate." Nobody pays attention to deaf people because of all those crazy things they're always doing with their hands. And nobody I know cares what the little dots on the elevator numbers in the hospital are there for.

This is all sarcasm, in an attempt to prove Kusanagi wrong. I kind of hope nobody thinks typing in InterCaps isn't a serious disability, though.

In the context of illustrating the synergy between Illusion and Kinetics, I think it's fairly appropriately phrased. In order to get the full benefit of Fulcrum Shift, Transference, Transfusion, and Flash, the Ill/Kin controller must be up in the cut. Superior Invisibility and Group Invisibility both facilitate this. Obviously by "full benefit" I mean the benefit that is inclusive of the Ill/Kin Controller.

Of course you're right though, in order to use it on yourself you need to be up in the cut. Using it on others is just a matter of careful targeting (and a bit of luck). Individual playstyles may vary, but I stand by the statement as it stands in the context of this guide. Its scope was never to cover every conceivable playstyle, just the one that I've found to fully utilize the synergy between these two powersets.

Thanks, though, for pointing out that this is not the only playstyle that one can employ with Illusion/Kinetics. There are many ways to use the two sets!

It's probably worth noting that the same strategy should work for Siphon Power, too. It's kind of like getting a free red insp every time Confuse and Siphon Power are up congruently. And it's not just extra damage for you, but for everybody around you too. This tactic could save lots of time over the long grind from 1 to 50!

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All in all, I really liked this guide. It helped me with my Mind/Psi Dom quite a bit.

Thanks for a good guide.

/signed.

This would be almost as good as a Pegacorn!

Almost...

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I haven't leveled my Ill/Kin enough to test this out (having too much fun with my Ill/Rad), but it seems to me that Deceiving a villain before applying Siphon Speed should make the latter much more feasible as a travel-power replacement: you don't have to worry about return fire as you run off, and you'll be long gone by the time the confusion expires.

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Nice strategy. Very nice. Free travel powers for the win!

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Increase Density: Power Level 16

Activation: 2.0
Endurance: 12.0
Duration: 60.0
Recharge: 3.0
Range: 70'

In-game Description: Increases an ally's mass, freeing him from any Disorient , Immobilization, or Hold effects and leaving him resistant to such effects for a while. Increase Density also protects the target from Knockback, Repel and enemy Teleportation, as well as Smashing and Energy damage. Because the target grows more dense, his movement speed is Slowed. Although the Damage Resistance and slowing effect will not stack with multiple applications, the rest of the effects of Increase Density will. You cannot use this power on yourself.

Evaluation: Increase Density is an invaluable tool for helping your teammates remain unmezzed in combat. Its Slow component is relatively minimal, making it a non-nuisance. Increase Density does not protect versus Disorient , Sleep, or Stun . Though it isn't absolutely necessary, Increase Density is a very useful power and you should seriously consider adding it to your repertoire.

Recommended Slotting: I recommend leaving only one slot in Increase Density and using it to place a Damage Resistance Enhancement.

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Just to clarify - ID actually does protect from disorient and stun, in addition to immobilization, knock back, and holds. The only status effect I'm aware of that it doesn't eliminate is sleep, and that funky Ghost Widow "floating in the air spinning" thing.

I like to use it during combat when a teammate pops a wakie... followed by Transfusion, Transference, and Speed boost. ID frees 'em from the wakie stun, and then they're back in the fight.

Nifty guide though!

Personal preference, I like putting at least two recharges in Spectral Terror, since it doesn't move, so I can resummon it every 30 seconds at new fights.

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You know, this is good information. I was pretty sure it didn't work against Disorient/Stun, but I guess it's not that surprising that it does. Thanks for the correction!

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Put my guide in the guide to guides please. Link's in my sig.

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done

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You do the community quite a service, Muad_Dib! Thank you very much!

Tal_N, I think Muad_Dib handles the Controller Guide to Guides. You might try PM'ing her.

Good luck.

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See my sig.

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Yours don't help much sorry to tell you that, becouse there no guide to help me. Sorry man

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What, exactly, are you looking for? Perhaps I'll add it in a revision down the road. No need to be sorry if it didn't help you.

See my sig.

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It's really about controlling crowds at melee range, using Containment to help ramp up the damage. At a pretty low level you'll want to pick up a Pool Power attack. I recommend Air Superiority, because it's quick and does good knockup for soft control.

While I must admit that back in the day I actually did solo Shadowhunter, that was during Issue 4, not Issue 9! I don't really recommend trying to solo AV's with an Ill/Kin, but if you change your difficulty so they spawn as EB's, you'll do quite well against them.

Thanks for the comments, and be careful vs. those AV's!

[Edit: Oh, and welcome to the forums! I feel honored your first post was in my guide!!! ]

Sorry for the delay in responding.

I've personally settled on SI, because all too often GI gets refused by some (or most) teammates. That being said, GI still adds a defense buff, and does not interfere with taunt auras. In other words, an invisible Tanker with Invincibility becomes "visible" to anybody close enough to be affected by his or her Invincibility aura. So, your mileage may vary. Still, my personal choice is SI.

As for your question about stealth IO's...

I've experienced a very interesting phenomenon which is also fairly rare. With SI on, fighting against Freaks (who don't have much +perception AFAIK), I've noted that since getting a Stealth IO in my Teleport, occasionally the villains will see me when I teleport in. It's almost as if the Stealth IO interferes (occasionally) with the effects of SI. So for whatever reason, since adding the Stealth IO, I seem to take more alpha strikes than I used to.

As for the guide, you're totally welcome, glad you enjoyed it!

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This is really helpful. I have a level 20 Ill/Kinetics that I'm so-so on because I've found that Siphon Power doesn't help my Phantom Army, which is disappointing.

I'm thinking about making a new Illusion controller. Does anybody know if I can lock a toggle on a Phantom Army guy? I'm considering Sonic as a secondary but I want to be able to lock the AOE toggles on one of my guys so that he'll reduce the damage resistances of everybody around him which is pretty much the same thing as Siphon Power.

Thanks for the help!

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According to Muad_Dib's Illusion/Sonic guide, Disruption Field can be placed on a Phantom Army. I'm not an expert on Illusion/Sonic, but I'm pretty sure this will work.

1) Yes. Stack Siphon Power as much as you can! It may only help a little bit during each fight, but over the "long haul" it will improve your total damage output considerably.

2) No, you shouldn't feel bad at all. Illusion Control only has nine powers, just like the rest. As an Illusion/* Controller in the teens, your ability to control large mobs is really just wishful thinking. Flash, at those levels, is not very reliable. It's really more of an "oops" power, useful if you get in over your head. Other Controller sets get a variety of hard and soft control powers early on. Illusion is forced to make due with Blind, Deceive, and Flash.

It's not so bad, though. The other Controllers turn green with envy when level 18 comes around. In the meantime, fill some of the gaps in control with Siphon Power and Siphon Speed. They will help mitigate some of the damage your team would normally be taking. It also may help to choose a melee power like Flurry or Boxing, because they both have a chance to Disorient (for Containment)!

If the members of your team have some experience, they should know that your strengths as an Illusion/Kinetics Controller far outweigh your fledgling ability to control a crowd. In either case, communicate with your team to be certain they understand that you're not one of "those" Controllers!

Welcome to the forums, Cabanthe! I'm glad you liked the Guide. Maybe I can help you a bit with your damage dilemma...

In order to get the most out of an Illusion/Kinetics at early levels (early to mid-teens), it's good to take one of the Power Pool attacks. Always use the Power Pool attack after you Blind or Flash your foe(s) to achieve Scrapper-like damage. And remember, when their Hit Points get low, it's best to use Spectral Wounds!

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Either way, it is not completely false to claim that Illusion and Kinetics have synergy issues.

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The overwhelming majority of these powers synergize well. Illusion/Kinetics is about overwhelming sneak attacks. It is about high degrees of burst Damage, and leveling mobs quickly. Using the Phantasm power selectively and strategically, rather than dragging it around behind you mindlessly, is one example of the playstyle I'm trying to guide players to use. It is true that under certain playstyles, Illusion/Kinetics does not synergize as ideally as, say, Fire/Kinetics. But the point of this guide is to help people understand the playstyle that will help them get the most out of these two powersets.

When you play to your powers' strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses, the game can be a lot of fun. You can do well even when the preconception is that the powers you're using don't go very well together.