Call Me Awesome

It's a great buff for anyone who's ever been on a team of "Look, it GLOWS! KILL IT NOW!!" players.

Well so far the new build works; I just finished an ITF and never dipped below about 95% HP. Previously I solo ran the Maria Jenkins arc to finish Portal Jockey and I don't think I ever dropped below 99%, I WAS however facing EB's and not AV's. If it holds up like that for tougher challenges I may end up dropping Rune of Protection; so far I haven't even come close to needing it to say nothing of Melee Hybrid (once I unlock it, CMA only had Cardiac Alpha, Judgement and Interface slotted) Overall the numbers are comparable to a Granite tanker without any of the penalties, and even the lowest resistance (toxic) was ~70%. I'll try more challenging content as I get the rust knocked off; I definitely wasn't totally up to speed yet on that ITF since I think the last time I tanked in this game was sometime in 2018-2019. Still, it's like riding a bike and I at least wasn't screwing up too bad by about halfway thru the second mission.

I've been doing some more research and found Hyperstrike's Mo build. There's some changes due to a different secondary and slotting but I think this should work. Stone Melee is end heavy so I've stuck with Cardiac over Resilient on the Alpha... plus I already have the T4 Cardiac. Durability is very similar and it has slightly better end and healing. I tend to default to Rebirth for Destiny, a large "oh shit" heal is useful on almost anything. Is there any consensus on Interface? Back when I was playing before there were questions about the effectiveness of them and it seemed Reactive was the default choice. Lore seemed to change from issue to issue with Clockwork and Cimeroans being the popular choice. I'm asking because CMA never finished unlocking the Incarnate slots so apart from the Alpha he's a blank slate. In any case here's my thoughts now, I may tweak things slightly before respec. Mids, or at least the version I have, won't let me take a T2 secondary power at level 1. Hmm, post is broken, it won't let me post the build. Let me try just the chunk. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;2012;793;1586;HEX;| |78DAA594C94F136114C0DF74A6969662295BCB565A4AA10519C0E566E20262406A9| |A60BC1932E0088D638B6D51B9BBDE145C2EAE37B79B37B9B89078D18B4BC4F82718| |97C4FD541FF3E6C1D7424F7EC9B4BF79FBF7E67D5FFCD480FBD5CB919D20B9FB0D2| |D9B1D3BA0A58EEA19C77E2D3793D10CC0E5E9D70C2318D783BB4EEAD9F431DD81B2| |00998D0DE847F4545657875227668C949ED1C693463237EBB7D471DDD0757534974| |EE9C4E04EA4D3863AA26BD3C9D46485F932989C9CCAE11BA946D399093D33EB61BB| |C37A263B959CF6EE994E4EA889D90C06D2B239B4F06319BBF179E3C41F0978E5ED0| |0217CED50C0060184E665682589022D0CDB10FA14E8851849C22E10577EF9C1056F| |9D6274C8DB24F8249BAE1B202E59304A10C118B2606B97E19C626A5C709EE134811| |BCE329C21D8081708EAB0C3766147B21D8665CB6490A012F6320C112CC4001C621B| |1CF0833455BCC52AF849921AF8C3F09BA0077E11B4E3169CC2162427646D5415A40| |95EA3BE5CCC54CE51EA38A59F33F9CDB898BB8153F6C05F021FEEB2426C780544C1| |D448A8F1881A0F6CC77F4586254CED9556BE475EF672671AB8334DDC9926EE4C14B| |7542DD46BAB868FA409C0719B05D626654C5D2B6EBF167C344301D84C4E0A9AF8C4| |AFE3E31A825C43906B08720D1FB0F07AD1A91EF69126C4DE21F60EB1F77B746A149| |D1A797CC33CE2619EECB039EB08EFD0A95970529AD9B68D4DDAD8A98DE3B5F388CC| |45C094AD78B7C0431ACA76B8CB708FA003EE333C20E8C44EB78AF3DF0A37D9E4164| |10CEE305C67B86179C36D822E0C1311C344E00A9B5C66B848B0092E31CC31CC132C| |6117A3E25EA2F08434DDF094E119C373C51ACF458279ACA04B1CC22EBA0FAEA25C1| |5EF0395875EE563A0F2F47B71547A850AF0B6F94E9A98527869E59B94F5AF9F9112| |F28452782DE18B29FF8CBD93A40279379DAA2F6B35D679FB5AA4411EA6712883837| |4B37D5B6B728D4E4C19CC112C76169EE77C6789D27B4BC8FB4AC8B794906F2D2177| |5616DEC2C2AAAFC152A56255C255243D542CD08A05E3AEF502BDC016B488991FE36| |9E85BFD50F9FF5A3BAAD7CBB9BA1E15EBFF01D1AD687C| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Isn't bruising still a thing? Also Mids doesn't allow for taking a secondary T2 at level 1. I'll check out the Absolute Amazement; it didn't flag it so I didn't notice it.

Hey all, it's been several years since I last played to any extent and I've been dusting off some of my old characters lately. With all the changes I think CMA needs to step up a bit from where he was back in 2018 or so to handle it. I've been working on a new build and have come up with something that moves my defenses up considerably as well as adding about 20% to my resistances. Now the question is if you folks can knock any holes into the build? This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Call Me Awesome: Level 50 Natural Tanker Primary Power Set: Invulnerability Secondary Power Set: Stone Melee Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Temp Invulnerability (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (3) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance (3) Reactive Armor - Resistance (5) Reactive Armor - Endurance/Recharge (5) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance Level 1: Stone Fist Hamidon Origin:Nucleolus Exposure Level 2: Dull Pain (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime (7) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (7) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge Level 4: Heavy Mallet (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (11) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (11) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage (13) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (13) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/RechargeTime (15) Superior Gauntleted Fist - RechargeTime/+Absorb Level 6: Combat Jumping (A) Shield Wall - Defense (15) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (17) Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge (17) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge Level 8: Unyielding (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (19) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance (19) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (21) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime (21) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance Level 10: Taunt (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage Level 12: Resist Physical Damage (A) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance (23) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (23) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (25) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance (25) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP Level 14: Super Jump (A) Jumping IO Level 16: Boxing Hamidon Origin:Nucleolus Exposure Level 18: Invincibility (A) Shield Wall - Defense (27) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (27) Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge (29) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge Level 20: Fault (A) Absolute Amazement - Recharge/Accuracy (29) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge (31) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge/Accuracy (48) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Endurance Level 22: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (31) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 24: Weave (A) Shield Wall - Defense (31) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (33) Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge (33) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge Level 26: Tough Hide (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) (33) Shield Wall - Defense (34) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (34) Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge Level 28: Resist Energies (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge (34) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance Level 30: Resist Elements (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (36) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance (37) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge (37) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance Level 32: Hurl Boulder (A) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All) (39) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (39) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Recharge (39) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage (40) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Level 35: Tremor (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (40) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (42) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown (42) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage (42) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance (43) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 38: Seismic Smash (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Recharge/Chance for Hold (43) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (43) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage (45) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance (45) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (45) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Level 41: Char Hamidon Origin:Endoplasm Exposure Level 44: Fire Blast (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (46) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (46) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (46) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (49) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/RechargeTime Level 47: Fire Ball (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Recharge/Chance for Immobilize (47) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (47) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (47) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage Level 49: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Brawl | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1914;781;1562;HEX;| |78DA7594C94F137114C7DF74064BA158CA5AB6D21690B6482D6E271335200668491| |38C374306FC098D634BDAA27277BD296ABCB8DEDC6E2E68B87AD48B1BA07F827139| |68D4537D9D370F7E2DE924D37CE6FB9679EFF5CD2F7E76C8F9F64DEC0028CE4143C| |F66278FE8A99322631FD773F319DD00BC5C83BA61F8E2C277F08CC8A64F093B6A5E| |729B1C1227442A2B2223A9D3F3464A64F4A9A491CC2D782C735C1842442672E9942| |00667229D362231A1CF25533335E6C370726636874F649A4867A64566C1C57EC745| |263B9B9C731F9A4B4E47120B194CA46773E8E1C132A278BF77E08F027CE535003F3| |EF66A60032F42470102A468E063D88330A0415715C8571EEF7D786B2A7C70C86921| |6F53E0AB6AC66C81B862C104410F665137BCF3152A5CD44C4B155C623847E0840B0| |CE709B6C26582261C6D85D48A5A01A3AAE5324C500B8719460896430076B97F3BFC| |224B1D84A8DB3AF84D4A03FC65F843B00D2B77C8FD3B206B332DEF50AE96F356734| |C13BFA089F37AF84D1EF8474A33B65223E7AD81209816052D2ED9E2E289AFE21BDD| |CAFA18F3AA9BDB6FE5F65BB9FD766E3F880DD42B1BA357EB216EB35CC608BC1023D| |801E3042AD6D028D5A0344233AD8A1776525E1CA3A9ADE76DE662BC5C8C8F8BF171| |316BD8418B1CD40263EC6245FB39DACFD12B18D42607B541274DD3CF9BDCC50BDC6| |5AE34C2470CEA90FF9D8E0D5FCBA59B83BA395F37FF4D211C5AA7B4AF5A277CB1F6| |01D61856183E11F4C22A4118A303F2B607E08E66B9DC2508C17D865B0CB709C2708| |FA00FD3F4C8697AE006BB5C67B842B01DAE322C325C2328141594F729087B699F0A| |9DF4C933EA83C714D30F8F181E303C2188C24382CF181D91CB8BC02BB244E025C31| |2C30BCDDAB0E70CCF08DCB84751A9087C41231D1A21ADF8E0CAB76B9BCEA23C5E10| |2BA327B4E2130A1F4CFD1B0E56518AF47EFAF6BE6FB6585FE58F120BF228ED4A251| |CA57A7F6E76B9499F53252C1284CB541A2DA30F94D17795D17797D11DB585F3571A| |65026B1D90677BAC54D04B85A952E175B8F808A36B7F7D89DB72A04430AF968612F| |569214ECEF61F63A90628| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

It's not common but I've always liked Inv/Stone on a tank. You get quite a bit of soft control with knockdown and it feels like it hits like a truck. The biggest drawback is that it's fairly end heavy but that's manageable with a decent build. You have a great attention getter that knocks them on their butts with Fault along with Tremor to knock them down again and deal some decent damage. A MAG 4 HOLD combined with a load of damage in Seismic Smash rounds out the set.

Well, soft cap or near on S/L with recharge and regen worked remarkably well. The character was basically immortal once I reached the mid 20's and had decent defense set bonuses. I do recall looking up the combination in the list published a couple years ago and noticing I was one of 2 Fire/Regen stalkers at 50. Regen does tend to be squishy without help, but with 50% S/L resistance and 20-35% to all others along with 45% S/L defense plus what Regen brings to the table works wonders. No, it's not up with my Elec/Shield stalker but it's respectable. Clicky to be sure but it was fun.

It's been a few years since I've played but I've recently found some free time and decided to give it a try. In the process I've been thinking about the builds of some of my old characters. One that I've been stumped by is my Fire/Regen stalker... yeah, I know that's a unicorn build but it was fun playing to 50 shortly after Homecoming launched and surprisingly durable. Anyone have thoughts on improvement? This is very close to the current live build on the character, although it shaves 5% S/L defense for more resistance and recharge. This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Fire Dance: Level 50 Natural Stalker Primary Power Set: Fiery Melee Secondary Power Set: Regeneration Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Fire Sword (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus (3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance (3) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage (5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge (5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Hide (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (43) Kismet - Accuracy +6% Level 2: Cremate (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance (9) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage (9) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge (11) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 4: Reconstruction (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (11) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance (13) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge (13) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (15) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge Level 6: Assassin's Blaze (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus (17) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance (19) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge (19) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (21) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage Level 8: Fast Healing (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery (21) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (23) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance (23) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (29) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge Level 10: Dull Pain (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (25) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (25) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (27) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge (27) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance Level 12: Mystic Flight (A) Flight Speed IO Level 14: Build Up (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge (29) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge Level 16: Integration (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (31) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance (31) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge (31) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (40) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge Level 18: Breath of Fire (A) Superior Stalker's Guile - Recharge/Chance to Hide (33) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (33) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage (33) Superior Stalker's Guile - Damage/Recharge (34) Superior Stalker's Guile - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (34) Superior Stalker's Guile - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 20: Boxing (A) Empty Level 22: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance (34) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (36) Resist Damage IO Level 24: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (36) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (36) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge Level 26: Fire Sword Circle (A) Superior Assassin's Mark - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (37) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (37) Superior Assassin's Mark - RechargeTime/Rchg Build Up (39) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Superior Assassin's Mark - Damage/RechargeTime (39) Superior Assassin's Mark - Accuracy/Damage Level 28: Instant Healing (A) Recharge Reduction IO (40) Recharge Reduction IO Level 30: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (46) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 32: Greater Fire Sword (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Recharge/Chance for Hold (40) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (42) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage (42) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance (42) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (43) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Level 35: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (43) Recharge Reduction IO Level 38: Moment of Glory (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (45) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (45) Recharge Reduction IO Level 41: Char Hamidon Origin:Endoplasm Exposure Level 44: Resilience (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (45) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (46) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance Level 47: Fire Blast (A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative) (48) Apocalypse - Damage (48) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy (48) Apocalypse - Recharge/Accuracy (50) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge Level 49: Fire Ball (A) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage (49) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (49) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Assassination Level 1: Brawl | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1748;725;1450;HEX;| |78DA75945B4F134114C7CF76B796562AA540B9DF8A58E4B2B46A7C3652795030400| |12F31C10D8ED8D8B4645B126E5E3E8282C6471389DF4613AF6F26FA05401FF4C107| |83C73DFBD701D326CDFEE6CC39F3FFCFD9999D5CCDD6BE7E35718E8CE858C129971| |77215A77057B9A1CB4E65C5750A2611C5C7F3AEEAC93AC545D533B6E2BAAA580971| |B8D54F5D985405A5ECF1BC72D7843B309355B755B1ACEC19B5A48ACA752AF952916| |AA74AA5829D2BB98B5C10F506E3F9A53B957C7149A62694B3CC8388E42D2B752B7E| |6139BF689F2F38EB6A61D22957B8B0851DF4F37F2D45FA6FDF229AE567D2A2004D0| |3A6042C9A01E40466C3FC34FE553336F13F63D120FDE240A745EB293D83050C081C| |81400D046A201081C03C0B989A8065D29C0844685AA0966600398163342BB0C1DA4| |14D3B1884760C92319888433B0EED46BA49DE32736C22A49B08D1BC0834C24D026E| |1230D1011357B83AAC578751D482DC16E4B6612F6D586F9B5FD2516D0B3CE813579| |BBCB9A8366344E979C097DE11B8CAD275BA741DA4BBB07E173C74C1430A1EEEB340| |BD561DACA78FA637D3431F006F006F057AE91DE0BD80C187BD41DF4103EDF38FCC9| |01C16C4034D9430BC23D34BCD027D342C7BE58E7B31E49ACD38677DD40888091CA7| |068107ECBF557FFBADB461F929EB807B02276813B0065815B8CE4D6CD7FBDC4E43E| |477CA8704DBEBD4AF4127EC8DD025E9C24336D3AD9BE9A6A796BFCA138193F408F0| |18B065F9B7695B20C94A495D29090F83801B61B9D97FFBDA0F33C374CAF4C1CF7DC| |10768405B8E06E82C3FF9965DE35586F4B733443F51FCC3F4F7F65D608757B1F52B| |6E53460EE0280D036CC0A8408646045E72755A574AD32759374D5F009F05DAAD835| |FABFD8E43012FC8876BA24A7CCA3AF835E28117DF8D70DC38101F9116EDFD3F3320| |335F0FCD305FE461EACFDE76C5EFB7432901836F8ADFBC67E8C396C06015CBE92AF| |14C95F8E92AF13355E2E1187F62F59EFE068812E020| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Soft cap ranged damage on a Fire blaster and you'll do very well; mine's Fire/Energy and focused on ranged with Boost Range. Rain of Fire, Bonfire (with KB-KD proc) & Fireball work wonders with Blaze and other ST attacks for bosses.

Eh, stack up 8 sets of Leadership toggles, some buffs and debuffs and watch the mobs melt as fast as you can walk through the mission. One of the most fun super teams I was on was when my group started a new set of characters on another server. We had 2 Kin/Sonic defenders, 2 Fire/Rad controllers, 2 Ill/Rad controllers, one Rad/Rad defender and a Fire/Fire blaster. At level 25 we took out Lusca in IP by ourselves in under 5 minutes and by the time we hit 50 we had the Master of Statesman's TF in a 30 minute run. Yeah, 8 Fire/Rad controllers might have been faster but we never ran into anything that slowed us down... except for our suicidal Fire/Fire blaster who seemed to use ROTP as part of his attack chain.

I've had highly effective builds that would come in under 30 million, some even under 20 million. I've also had builds that would be well over 500 million. As an example, building a Blaster for ranged defense can be cheap since one of the best sets for that is Thunderstrike, an uncommon set that's pretty inexpensive to get. Building up an Invuln tanker to soft capped S/L defenses can also be cheap, maybe even as cheap as 15 million if you're willing to slot extra powers with low end sets. On the other hand if you're building for extreme recharge, say for a permanent-phantom army Illusion controller, it can get expensive in a hurry. The good news is prices are considerably cheaper here than they used to be on Live where there were one or two IO's that would cost you 2 BILLION EACH. Today I'd say save your merits to buy the more expensive IO's you need and use inf for the cheaper ones. If you're short of inf then I'd suggest buying some cheap uncommon recipes, craft them, and use IO converters to turn them into more valuable ones to sell. It's easy to rake in several million in 15 minutes or so doing that. I'll tend to do that when I'm waiting on friends to log in or in other down times.

I can only speak for the Stalker combo but it rocks. I can clear an entire spawn with BU/Shield Charge/Lightning Rod/Fireball, then clear the next with conventional AOE attacks and repeat from the top for the third spawn. AS finishes off any bosses.

While I have no clue what may cause respec failure I've done them in Atlas City Hall, an abandoned corner of a zone and, most often, in my SG base. Offhand I only recall one failure ever, and simply doing it again the same way worked. I just put it down to random connectivity glitches.

Welcome back, you'll find your Brute is a Go Go Go Go character; once you get Fury built up you want to keep going in order to keep it up. I suggest slotting accuracy and endurance reduction in your attacks for now, Brutes have a love/hate relationship with their blue bar and it tends to drain way too fast. Also get a couple of endurance mod SO's into Stamina. I found that all my Brute characters had endurance problems in the early and mid game until I got them under control via IO bonuses and the various +end unique IO's. I suggest getting the hang of the game first before you start thinking about more advanced concepts like IO bonuses. You'll want to consider the Miracle +recovery and the Numina's +regen/recovery IO's for Health at some point, save your Merits from running Task Forces and such for them as they'll cost around 4-6 million influence each. You can slot Miracle at level 17 as I recall and Numina at level 27, they'll help a ton with endurance. Oh, a quickie way to earn some cash for your enhancements early is to go to the Auction House and buy level 50 IO recipes that are really cheap and sell them to the vendors for a profit. It's fairly easy to find worthless Rare IO recipes for 1-2k and vendors will pay I believe 10k. Uncommon recipes can frequently be had for a few hundred and vendors pay 5K for them... the level 50 versions. That'll fairly easily get you the money for SO enhancements.

Question I had not long before shutdown: "Why is your Fire/Fire blaster named The Amazing Redshirt?" Along with "Why the shredded red shirt and black pants?"