Dark Current

Ok, just got my low 20s test in. Ran Posi 2 TF @ lvl 16, so I had my powers up to lvl 21. Here's the vid. Similar experience as with the lvl 30ish runs I posted earlier. Plenty of damage. Lots of attacks. Great fun. Didn't have a ton of Def / Res at that level, but the team was solid with defender, controller, MM for buffs. Plus, there was a tank and a dominator, so safety was high just from the team composition. I'd say putting everything together so far, I vastly prefer playing this toon in the 20s - 30s. Just a ton of fun and you have endless destruction options. I've found the lvl 50 experience to not be nearly as exciting because mez is much more a negative factor and everyone at that level can throw out lots of damage, so this isn't that special. The early levels I experienced on the DFB (pre-level 10), were ok, but a bit frustrating with lack of ST attack options and endurance issues with big AoE end hog attacks. I suspect the sweet spot begins somewhere around level 20 when you have fireball and firebolt to fill out the ST attack chain combined with all the AoE goodness of fireball, RoF, Fire Sword Circle. Need to confirm this still with some upper teen, lower 20s missions. I don't know if the build gets exciting once it has all its main attack toys by mid-30s. I don't think the powers picked up at end of 30s and 40s make an impact in the fun dept. Need to check that with an early 40s mission. I also still need to activate my incarnates. Plan is to do a head-to-head comparison of some lvl 50 solo missions with / without incarnates. How much do they matter and do they inject excitement into the late game for this Triple Fire?

Ok, I just ran another Level 50 test, but this time the team was set against 54 enemies and the missions were the harder I23ish stuff with the UPA. I did NOT slot my incarnates, yet. Survivability dropped a bit vs the higher level foes' greater to hit. Plus, these enemies have a decent amount of debuffery. I dove in a few times to see what would happen. I blame Chelsea for the idea! End issues with so many toggles. Mez = death in melee. Hot Feet's utility is minimal. I provide my thoughts on switching Hot Feet for something else. I repeat my assertion this is a superior 'beta' hitter build - if there's a tank or buffs, you can go off on every spawn without worry.

Yeah, the build gets lots of attention. I've been using that to my advantage... draw in the enemies and then roast em! Here's the other vid I made last night - I had level 33 powers (set to lvl 28 vs lvl 30 foes). So far this is my favorite level range (mid-30s). Build just burns the neighborhood down. I think Chelsea created a monster. I had recorded a bunch of other stuff the last couple days, but my OBS was pitching fits and had a bunch of frame drops that made the vids too jerky to post. Fixed it, so I finish out my testing. Singles - done Teens - done 20s - done 30s - done 40s - skipped 50 - done 50 + incarnates - done

Ok, it's DFB time! How does fire / fire / fire handle the lowest game levels? Check out the video to find out! (Spoiler: could use another ST ranged attack)

Okay, I just ran the test and made the video so you can see the results. The question is does Numina's proc work in Cauterizing Aura? Answer: yes, but with a condition. You must be in melee range of enemies. The proc is tied to an active 'to hit' check against foes. It is NOT passively firing as it does in Health. Video Link of Test

What I noticed was it didn't activate passively. Only when I stood in a group of enemies and dealt them damage did mine fire. I'm going to test again to confirm. I'll record results and post.

I really missed Hover during my 30s run tonight. But otherwise, the build was excellent - no End issues, plenty of attacks, tons of damage, high survivability vs +4s most of the time. It really felt planned out for mid-level challenge. I think swapping Hover for Fly as an earlier pick would be my move if building from scratch. Potential problems: Noticeable amount of whiffing versus higher levels. Lack of 3rd Defiance attack when mezzed. No hard control. Level 35 Video

Ran my Triple Fire for the first time last night in actual mission game play. Joined a PuG running Black Scorpion's patron unlock arc from the beginning (no speed run). Team was Carnelian Flare (Fire / Fire / Fire blaster) = me (lvl 50, all powers fully slotted, NO incarnates) - Illusion / Dark / Fire controller (team lead) - FF / Beam / ? Defender Mission was level 50 @ +1 x4 Here's the video. I review my first impressions at the end, although I have running commentary throughout. I reference my Intro Vid a few time (posted above).

Here's the video of my overview of the Triple Fire blaster inspired by the OP. I review the original post, my thoughts on the builds, and my testing parameters. I go through my build (Chelsea's) on Mids and discuss the minor deviations I made with the live character. Triple Fire Intro Triple Fire DFB Play Triple Fire Level 15 Play Triple Fire Posi 2 Play Triple Fire Level 35 Play Triple Fire Level 50 Non-Incarnate Play Triple Fire Level 50 Non-Incarnate vs 54 Foes Play Triple Fire Level 50 Solo Tests (+0 through +4, x8) Triple Fire Level 50 Incarnate Solo Tests (+0 through +4, x8) Triple Fire Conclusions

I appreciate the incarnate information. You two went pretty opposite directions here. I was torn who to follow, so I decided to split the difference: I'm going with Chelsea on Alpha and Hybrid. I'm going with Snarky on Interface, Judgement and Destiny. I'm planning to diverge from both and pick up Nemesis for Lore. My overall reasons were to get as much Fire as I could... Judgement pyronic, Interface reactive, and the Lore warhulk boss. Given the amount of defense in Chelsea's build (the one I'm following) I don't see much need for even more defense with Barrier, so I liked Snarky taking Rebirth for the heal and HP max. I like the radial option for Musculature that Chelsea took as boosting Immob and Def Debuff don't help much or at all in Core, but radial gives End Mod and Run Spd boosts on top of those, which are always useful I like the 2x hit option with Assault hybrid more than the dmg boost of Core. I think that gives a lot more upfront punch. A lot of builds are done and look good on paper, but how do they actually play? I've always wondered. So I'm going to take on this challenge. Going to create a new character based on someone else's build and test it out at various levels to see how good it is. Plan is to PL to 50 and slot as indicated by a posted Mids build. Then, I'll PuG it up at various level ranges: teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50+ to see how it works in game. I'm going to go with your build, Chelsea as it looks to be the cheaper of the two posted here. It's close to Snarky's original, so I think it's a fair assessment of both along with just testing the Triple Fire concept. Is it as badass as it sounds? I'll probably record some of the play and post to YouTube at a later date. Before I get too far into it, do either of you have your Incarnate selections? I didnt see any in the Mids builds, so wasn't sure if you'd taken them that far or not. Thanks for the inspiration!

A lot of builds are done and look good on paper, but how do they actually play? I've always wondered. So I'm going to take on this challenge. Going to create a new character based on someone else's build and test it out at various levels to see how good it is. Plan is to PL to 50 and slot as indicated by a posted Mids build. Then, I'll PuG it up at various level ranges: teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50+ to see how it works in game. I'm going to go with your build, Chelsea as it looks to be the cheaper of the two posted here. It's close to Snarky's original, so I think it's a fair assessment of both along with just testing the Triple Fire concept. Is it as badass as it sounds? I'll probably record some of the play and post to YouTube at a later date. Before I get too far into it, do either of you have your Incarnate selections? I didnt see any in the Mids builds, so wasn't sure if you'd taken them that far or not. Thanks for the inspiration!

Here's my contribution to these naughty videos: Umbriel Level 50 Dark / Savage / Psi Permadom + vs. Level 54 Council Team Size x8 Sewer Map Grandville Strategy: Rip, rip. Shred, shred. Tear, tear. Pop skittles as needed. Redlined HP a couple times. No deaths. Haven't played her in several months, so a little rusty.

I think this might help: na·ture /ˈnāCHər/ noun noun: nature; plural noun: natures 1. the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations. "the breathtaking beauty of nature"

The real problem with Vigilance is... everything. 1) My damage goes down if I team. 2) I don't get endurance discount if I do my job. Genius design for a team-centric protector AT.

So basically every dominator starting from Level 1 would be 'permadom' if your bar refilled after you clicked Domination instead of the current mechanic. Isn't that OP? On a large team you can refill the bar with about a dozen attacks, which would take less than a minute of fighting just spamming your T1 blast.

This is ridic! I don't pay a monthly subscription for servers to keep crashing!

Can the patron arcs be added to the WST rotation? A lot of people have to run these things and it's getting monotonous. Would be nice if there was some bonus reward. They are TF length in regard to number of missions, as well as requiring AV fights, which typically requires teaming. It would encourage more redside play and vary the redside choices for WST beyond the few options that currently exist. They could be balanced with blueside specific trials, which don't currently enter the rotation as there is no redside counterpart.

All the incarnate abilities are OP. They were not meant for 'regular' play.

The SO enhancement drops and upgrade from maintenance screen are great ideas. I'd like to see this go further by removing TOs entirely and replace with additional influence / infamy gain instead, or increase low level IO recipe / salvage drops. This system also doesn't diminish the need to visit stores and vendors because you still need to get the SOs you can upgrade anyway. Speaking of, can you look at the drop rate of various classes of enhancers? Range increase is still considered one of the cornerstone drops and it's practically useless. Meanwhile, endurance mod is a rarer drop when everyone wants those for stamina.

Never mind. I figured out that I was just stupid. It was a Lockdown IO and I hadn't trained yet to 27, so it wasn't letting me slot it. As you were!

I thought VG takes Hold sets. Now it doesn't. Am I imagining that it used to on live?

Madness! Ice slick is ice control's best power!

If you want to play in melee then your primary is the most important pick. I'd suggest one of the elemental sets: fire, ice or elec.

Doesn't appear on my blaster either.

Titan Weapons or Large Stick Affinity? Sonic Resonance or Sound Affinity? Dark Miasma or Smoke Affinity? Beast Mastery or Zoological Affinity? I could go on. The point is you're launching a new set. Giving it a boring affinity name isn't selling it. And if this game ever goes legit you need a creative team leading it that can do better. I think the new name should have Elec- in it so it follows shorthand naming convention: elec/elec. A simple change like Electrical Conductance (while not the sexiest) is more unique than Affinity and specific to what the set does. It also sounds cooler and fits the naming theme of other sets like Radiation Emmission and Sonic Resonance. And for the record Darkness Affinity is another terribly boring name. Please change.