EmperorSteele

So, in the combat log, the game will tell you everything you're doing and that is happening to you. You are flying! Hellion MISSES! Hellion has a 5% chance to hit, and rolled a 42. You activate Firebolt! Firebolt had a 95% chance to hit, and you rolled a 15.8. Firebolt deals 185 damage... blah blah blah. Well, when you activate Weaken Resolve, or if you have a proc which reduces resistance, it will report this 8 times in a row in the combat log. Now, this may be no huge deal, maybe it's just a text error. However, maybe it's the server sending this kind of information 8 times in a row. If that's the case, well, I know it's a drop in the bucket, but with all the debuffs that get thrown around, it might do a bit of good on the backend to clear this up!

So, question... If I'm trying to maximize my damage via procs, would putting Annihilation: Chance for Res Debuff in my AoEs be worth while, or am I better off with a damage proc instead? This is assuming I already have 2 other damage procs in those powers. I'm also struggling with the fact that, since I'm using so many procs in these powers, I'm unable to achieve a high enough global recharge rate to achieve perma-hasten (Posi's Blast and Ragnarok require 5/6 to be slotted to get their recharge bonuses). Would I be better off going for a higher recharge rate with less procs for sustained DPS, or does having more procs in powers that fire less often outweigh that? I'm not a math guy, and while I've been trying different things in Mids and on the Test Server, neither way has seemed "better" so far. Is there anything in your testing that has suggested one route over another?

This was a very thorough, yet simple guide that was easy to read. Thanks for all the work you put in! I would like to suggest one edit: When you say "All Attacks in this game are either melee, ranged or area ", perhaps you should change that to "Most" or "Almost all". It may be pedantic, but there ARE a small number of exceptions (usually psionic attacks and certain unavoidable AV attacks), and that probably deserves to be mentioned so that new players don't get caught unaware. Otherwise, as I said, you did a great job here, and now I'm itching to roll one of these...

Here's the thing with Illusion: It's not a great "control" set (it relies a lot on confuse and fear, which you can't get extra containment bonus from, and except for the long-recharge AoE hold that all Controller primaries have, it doesn't have much else, besides), but it's a really good "Controller" set. It's key power gives you invincible pets (yay!), but you can't buff them (boo...) and they're on a long recharge (aghh!). It's main attack power does a lot of damage (oooh!), but if you don't kill the bad guy fast enough, they get some HP back (oh...). All that said, Illu works best with a secondary that can boost your recharge, increase your damage, and debuff your foes' defense and resistance, to allow your un-buffable pets to do more damage. For this reason, /Rad is usually seen as the best pairing. It does everything i just mentioned above,, plus even has an extra AoE hold for you! It's also an AV/GM soling death machine when built right. The only downside is that Illu/Rad controllers are a dime a dozen, and you won't exactly be bringing anything unique to the table, if you care about that at all. /Time is also a good secondary. It does many of the same things Rad does, though it does its best work when you're close to the action. Again, very common. However, I believe it's easier to "conceptualize" this combo. After all, there's a saying: "Time is just an illusion", so you can work off that! I mean, I guess at some point in history someone may have said "Time is rad!" but I don't see that going down as one of history's great quotes. /Storm is another favorite. Now, it doesn't have all the same mechanical niceties Illu usually needs, but between Phantom Army and Phantasm knocking everything around, fear and confuses going off, thunderstorms and tornadoes and hurricanes all over, you become the anti-controller: CHAOS EVERYWHERE! Finally, /Dark is pretty good. Its best powers are front-loaded, so you can get your debuffs early, then work on rounding out your Primary. It even comes with another pet! Again, no +recharge powers, but that's okay. It's a good paring if you want to play as, say, a rouge Carnival Master Illusionist, who literally had Illu/Dark as their powerset before Dark ever became a Controller Secondary!

As someone who loves writing bios for my characters.... "meh". I find that the text restriction forces me to be a bit more creative, and no one wants to read a multi-page bio in between missions or when randomly hanging around. That said, I really like MetaVileTerror's idea of having additional formatting and such. Then again, it might start to get a little obnoxious reading tons of bios that randomly l👀k like this 😀! Idiocy aside though, I'd say add some basic formatting options, and increase the limit to 2000 characters. Yes, it's arbitrary instead of code-based, but I think that keeps the spirit of brevity without constricting people too much, but still gives us more to work with.

Woot, made it in this month!

I have about 400Mil on my main lvl 50, and that's about it. Y'all making me feel poor! That said, I don't actually need much more, so I don't really care all that much!

I don't think it works with terrorize, as it's basically "containment for non-controllers" or "extra containment for Controllers". And Containment only works on Held/Immob'd/Slept/Stunned foes. As for Pets, if they were to get the extra damage, I think you'd have to activate the Control power first, and THEN summon your pets. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the proc active on them on casting, and wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.

So, for "dealing 100M damage", what you can do is load up the first mission in Mender Ramiel's arc, where you're a super-powered incaranate and you're tossing around AVs like chumps. Those bad guys are ACTUAL AVs with AV-level HPs and Regen. If you can set up a way to throw out an AoE every ~30 seconds (no faster than that, though, or else you'll melt them!), you can AFK that badge super easy! Nemesis Plot hasn't happened on HC yet, but I'm sure they'll do an event, well, eventually.

What shocks me is not that someone would bid 10, but that it would be the highest available bid. Out of the roughly 90 or so. What, were the other 90 bids all "1" and there's really no demand at all for these?! Sucks for whoever posted for 5 hoping to make a few quick millions...

Haha, not really! It was "Partner", which most people got the first time the Cavern of Transcendence trial was the WST. I slacked off and ran it 30 times over 3 days ;_; (though actually I completed a Kahn to get the last ding on that badge just for shits and giggles). Besides, the whole point of this thread is to show off! A badge total doesn't mean much unless you can see who did it =D

I'm slowly building my way up with Super Packs. Between the ATO(s) and merits/converters/unslotters/brain storms (converted to rare salvages), I end up with a small profit, which is rolled back into more packs. I'm only doing about 5 packs at a time, so it's slow-going, averaging an extra 50M a week. Not really trying to top out or anything; the market is so cheap that I don't need billions for my alts. And even though buying stuff with merits is considered a bad choice, I for real have some characters with more merits than inf and don't mind just getting them what they need that way.

Someone bid on -AND BOUGHT- an ATO for 10 Inf. 10 was seriously the highest bid on something like this?! I mean, I clearly can't knock it, it apparently worked, unless this is some kind of mix-up?

BOOM! Done until Spring!

And DONE UNTIL SPRING!

Ah, you're right! My bad! I was still half-thinking that RoP was just an IW clone, when it actually has different functionality. I'll edit my post!

I was referring to Montegue Castanella's line when he first introduces you to Cimeroria: "To get to Cimerora, we're going to, er, 'bypass' Ouroboros. I'd prefer them not to be involved in this particular mission. I've procured an Aspect of the Pillar myself. This crystal has been attuned to take you to Cimerora and nowhere else. I've kept the crystal hidden within the Midnighter Club." Makes me think he believes he's pulled a fast one on the Menders.

Defense: Fluke of Fortune, levels 10-30 (All Uncommon except the Proc, which would be Rare) FoF: Def FoF: Def/Endurance FoF: Endurance/Recharge FoF: Debt to Riches. Unique. Whenever you pay off XP Debt, you gain an additional +25% influence. 2/4: + 2% Recovery 3/4: +10% XP Debt (That's right, you get MORE XP debt!) 4/4: +10% Regen Endurance Modification: Renewable Energy, levels 30-50 (all Rare) RE: EndMod RE: Accuracy/EndMod RE: Accuracy/EndMod/Recharge RE: EndMod/Recharge RE: Accuracy/Recharge/Range RE: Global -5% Endurance cost for all powers. This enhancement is NOT unique and may be placed into any powers which take End Mod enhancements. Rule of 5 still applies. 2/6: +2.5% Damage 3/6: -2.5% End Cost on all powers 4/6: +3% Res vs Energy/Negative Energy and End Drain effects, +7.5% Res vs Status effects 5/6: +3% Def Vs Energy/Negative Energy, +1.5% Def vs Ranged 6/6: +6.5% Recharge Sleep: Psychic Sister's Impression (all Rare, and yes I know I got Sister Psyche's name backwards, but dat acronym tho...) PSI: Acc/Sleep PSI: Acc/End PSI: Acc/Rech/Sleep PSI: End/Range/Sleep PSI: Chance for Hold (Mag 3, 8 seconds) - Unique PSI: Chance for -Res (20%) -Unique 2/6: +5% Sleep Duration 3/6: +2.5% HP 4/6: +2.5% Endurance 5/6: +7% Recharge 6/6: +3% Ranged Def, +1.5% Energy/Neg Energy Def

Actually, that would go against the lore, sorta. The Midnighters expressly state that they're working behind Ouroboros's backs and are trying to keep their crystal of Ice and Flame a secret. And while it IS eventually revealed that Silos knows and doesn't give two shits, I don't think he'd then be all "here you go, guys!" I could be wrong, though.

C'mon man, you gotta have your character in the screenshot, too! Show your awesome self off!

The "best AT" is probably going to be the one you enjoy playing the most. I realize that sounds like a lame "feel good" answer, but tbh, some content is NOT worth slogging through (sometimes multiple times) unless it's a character you really enjoy playing. I mean, take the crafting and selling badges. You're gonna be staring at your character's unmoving backside and the system interfaces a LOT while you grind those out, and you're gonna lose a lot of INF doing so, so you better get ready to refill your coffers with a quick TF or farming session after! Also, if you have to exemplar and lose half your powers, you want to make sure you can actually complete certain missions without too much trouble. That said, I'd probably either avoid a Brute/Tank, OR, be prepared to farm out damage taken/mezzed/debt badges, because if you're not getting hit and held and killed in the course of normal play, you're probably not getting those badges! Though I will say that their higher base HP will make farming the damage taken badges much easier than, say, on a Controller, so it wouldn't be too bad.

No, it does not, it's pro-active only. My mistake, RoP CAN be used as a Break-Free!

When you say you lost your level 50's... did you have non-50's that remained? Were these on the Bree server, perhaps (the first of the public servers that shut down after like a week iirc)?

Cowgratmoolations, BA!

If all you're interested in is damage, then Assault Radial definitely. The extra damage from Control only appears when an enemy is successfully held/stunned/slept/immob'd, AND, the damage proc isn't anywhere near as high! With Assault active, you have a 75% chance to do an extra 50% damage, but you also have a small global damage buff on top of that. It kills foes dead. Control is + 1 mag, and then, IF a foe is mezzed, has a 50% chance to do, like, 50 points of damage. Not percent, points. The problem is that in this game, Controls are a binary effect, so an extra point of magnitude won't do you many favors in most cases. As far as stacking mag goes, that's an even worse issue. There are very few foes in the game who have, say, 9 points of hold protection, where Control would be a better option since you'd be able to hold the guy in maybe 2 or 3 hits instead of 4 or 5. Most foes are either at like, 4 (easily controlled with the use of Procs and Overpower), 50 (you're not holding that on your own anyway), or 100+ (Unpossible!). One good thing about Control, though, is that it gives a passive resistance to control effects. If you don't have any other mez protection, being able to break out of control effects sooner might be a worthwhile thing to have.