Olerus

One small note. I've seen some suggest that Defenders have overwhelming defenses while still achieving blaster levels of DPS. The former can be true; Defenders can fairly easily reach the softcap. Some sets can even do so while maxing S/L resistance and getting a smattering of other resistances. The latter isn't really true. The single best Defender blast is Char from the APP, followed by Dominate, followed by Blaze, followed by a few Ice Blast powers. Slotted with two (2) 4.5 PPM purple procs and four (4) 3.5 PPM regular procs, Char has a DPA of 409 when use solo (Musculature and Vigilance providing +75% damage). This is good, but is also means that other powers will not have said purple procs. I have an extremely high DPS defender (Storm/Ice/Psy) as a concept, using a chain of: Dominate > Bitter Ice Blast > Ice Blast > Bitter Freeze Ray This deals 1556 damage in 6.6 seconds, or something close to 236 DPS. I'm fairly certain this is close to maxing out a defender's DPS from an attack chain alone. Now against a Pylon, said Defender would have Freezing Rain, Tornado, and 2x Lightning Storm also contributing -resistance and damage and would be cycling Aim every 35 seconds. Cycling in these powers reduces the base DPS to around 200, but adds in roughly 40% -resistance. Aim adds roughly 15 damage back, Tornado another 15, and 2x Lightning Storm roughly 43. So altogether with setup and against a static target said completely focused defender can reach around 382. How does that compare to Blasters? Well, a defensively specced blaster can easily clear 550 DPS. Virtually every blaster combination can reach the same level of damage output as the defender, without needing to setup up 3 pets. And the defender isn't reaching 90% either. Even a clunky set like Assault Rifle is going to pump out 300-350 DPS from its attack chain alone (especially mixing in melee). Even with procs helping to bridge the gap, it is hard to overcome the nearly double base damage. Defenders can match non-IOed blaster damage, but they will only come up to around 66-75% of blaster damage at equal investment levels. Blasters aren't even that much less defensive. They have higher base HP and regeneration, better ATOs, and can just as reasonably reach softcap defenses. My main blaster is a Water/Time with 45% ranged defense, 1527 Max HP, and resistance splits of 60 SL, 50 Fire, 40 Cold, 17 Energy, 10 negative, 10 Psy/Toxic. My defender is also a hover + ranged defense character, and has less resistances around the board with 400 less health. The point of this is just to give some harder numbers to the discussion. That's all.

One note on 'proc monster' builds it is possible to determine whether proc is better or worse than a damage enhancement for a given animation and recharge, so long as a power is following the damage formulas (0.2*(0.8*Recharge+1.8). Note that DoTs often break that rule. For instance, a 4s power should have a damage scale of 1. For an archetype with a 1.0 damage scalar, a +5 level 50 damage IO will increase the base 55.61 damage by 53%, or 29.47. A +5 Purple: Damage IO will instead increase the damage by 36.84. Meanwhile, a 3.5 PPM proc will add somewhere between 19 and 24 damage, based on the animation of the power. So the first +5 damage IO will add more damage than the first proc. Assuming Musculature Core as the alpha, the second +5 damage IO will increase damage by 30.15% or 16.77. So a 4s recharge power following the damage formula with no need for accuracy or endurance enhancements will be best slotted by placing the following priority on procs: Purple procs Purple damage +5 Basic damage +5 Regular procs Repeating that process, we see that the following is true for various recharge levels if we look at just normal procs and damage IOs (using animation values of 0.67 to 1.83 for sub 10s and 1.07 to 2.53 for 10s and higher) for : Recharge: Damage added by first +5 IO, Damage added by second +5 IO, Damage range added by proc 6s: 39, 22, 27-32 8s: 48, 27, 37-41 10s: 58, 32, 46-52 12s: 67, 38, 55-61 16s: 86, 49, 65 (capped percentage chance) 20s: 105, 59, 65 (rare) 24: 124, 70, 65 (rare) 32: 201, 92, 65 (rare) So what can we tell from this? Basically, that the first damage enhancement is always better than the first basic proc for an archetype with a 1.0 damage scalar. This is even more true for purple damage procs. The ratio of the procs vs the damage enhancements shows where this stops being true. In general, a purple damage enhancement will outscale a 3.5 PPM proc even for defenders particularly in the 8-12s range where most attacks that are used in top attack chains lie. A basic Invention: Damage+5, on the other hand, will be worse for Defenders, Controllers, Corrupters, melee AT ranged attacks, and EATs in this range. This doesn't account for crit mechanics that benefit twice from +damage. So the basic rules we can take from this are for single target attacks following the recharge formula: Purple 4.5 PPM procs are almost always going to beat any damage enhancement (Blasters and Scrappers do a little more in the 4-6s range). The first +5 Purple: Damage will almost always be better than a 3.5 PPM proc. The second damage +5 enhancement will always be worse than the a 3.5 PPM proc. The first Invention: Damage +5 will beat out a 3.5 PPM proc in all ranges except for Defenders, Controllers, Corrupters, melee AT ranged attacks, and EATs in the 8-12s range, barring critical mechanics (Scourge, Containment).

My personal experiences are that Storm/Ice and Dark/Dark are fine solo builds. Generally, debuffing sets will do better solo than buffing sets. I'd recommend against: Sonic Resonance - Ally oriented Pain - Ally oriented Empathy - Ally oriented Thermal - Ally Oriented Kinetics - Low mitigation Assault Rifle - Lowish damage Electrical Blast - Lowish damage Psychic Blast - Lowish damage

I had a post on this in the procs thread, so I'm going to badly paraphrase myself a little here. Before adding 'more difficult content', I would ask what makes difficult content fun especially as opposed to 'non-difficult' content, a bucket in which I'd throw in many very frequently ran content: ITFs, radio missions, DFBs, and AE farms. Obviously, difficult content has broad appeal both to play and to watch. The success of the entire Dark Souls franchise, and the explosion of content creators that focus on difficult runs of various games shows this. But difficult content is not created equal. If we accept that the Magisterium trial is more fun than Khan TF despite both being 'difficult' content, what makes that case? I would argue that 'fun' difficult content has the following attributes: it changes up gameplay it creates a narrative it gives an outlet for a player or team to show skill, knowledge, or planning it gives bragging rights / rewards Some of these are more thorny than others. Changing up gameplay I believe is a core attribute of difficult content and the one I'll focus on in this post. In CoH, the primary way this is done currently is through targeting requirements, positioning requirements, and timing requirements. An example of these would include: having to target Sappers first to avoid endurance drain (typically minions can be ignored as they will die to a flurry of AoEs) not standing on Carnie or Freakshow corpses to avoid endurance drain having to kill both Siege and Nightstar in close proximity during BAF trials These mechanics are often enforced by the same basic mechanics: damage that isn't mitigated by defense, endurance drain, and making mobs harder to kill. We see this with how damage patches in Apex, Rularuu and DE getting massive ToHit buffs, Psy/Toxic damage, Nictus defense drops in the ITF, and Nemesis Vengeance buffs all basically do the same thing: hit characters that normally wouldn't be hit. In general, I'd like to see other other mechanics explored beyond this: Extreme -Recharge buffs -HP effects Suppressing toggles More endurance drain effects Build interactions: bosses that ignore procs or gain some attribute when debuffed Must mez targets For example, imagine a trial where an enemy cycles between being nigh-immune to melee and ranged attacks and players have a massive -recharge penalty. They don't have much health, but players would need to carefully plan and time attacks to actually get in for damage. Or imagine a 'danger run' where players are debuffed to 100 HP regardless of archetype, and must kill 100 minions while avoiding auto-hit traps. I could also see a trial where control effects are a must. Imagine a boss battle with an invulnerability phase, where 4 players must activate glowies to end the phase. The challenge? Weak enemies that deal nagging autohit damage and explode into an even more annoying autohit field on death. A hold easily stops them and lets the glowies be clicked, but not holding allows the boss to heal. On control, I'd like to see AVs that are easier to mez but can still do most actions through said control effects. Like an AV that has a massive auto-hit nuke with a nasty debuff that will make a further event much harder, but can only use it they haven't taken 12 magnitude of Holds. Or an AV that takes 10s to charge up a powerful effect and is immune to virtually all forms of crowd control, but falters if knocked back with a high magnitude effect. This gets to the second point. Not only do these change gameplay, they create a story. Having watched plenty of difficulty runs, I think I have gained a new appreciation for this. "We managed to make it through despite the Battalion getting off their nasty debuff by the skin of our teeth" is far more interesting than "we took longer because the Battalion are at +5". Increasing clear times can be merited developer response, but it doesn't really interact with content in way that makes it more fun; it only really adjusts the reward progression side of content. Functionally, higher level enemies tend to just be bigger meat sticks: they don't gain new powers or change combat around. Content with a significant chance of failure does add this narrative factor, but can fail to change up gameplay. And new effects might fail to change up the basic gameplay patterns if raw destructive power lets the mechanic be bypassed: see how the strategy for Imperious on the ITF has changed with the escalation of damage. No longer is it necessary to try to separate Imperious from the healing Nictus thanks to damage proliferation outscaling the healing. As far as the others, showcasing players or teams can be good, but it can also be isolating. If the goal is to make the game more fun, it can't focus on hyper enfranchised teams because those are a minority's minority. While having options that only a coordinated team can take down, players probably want more engaging content that even a PUG can play and get the same narrative experiences from. Likewise, a distinct lack of coordinated supergroups means that content can't simply focus on providing an outlet for world records or world firsts. And one challenge of this is that if you change up things to make the average content more difficult, you might piss on the Cheerios of the player that is perfectly happy wiping Council off the face of radio missions. That players fun is not wrong. They might even spend just as much time optimizing their character as the player soloing +4 MSTFs, but focusing just on getting a little extra speed and gaining satisfaction from the arcade gameplay (put 'em up, shoot 'em down). But if mechanics are too hidden away, then it isn't worth the developer time to make them. I'd definitely support reworking the Flashback system to add more restrictions, but that system might be largely ignored outside of a small group of difficultly chasers if it is just the same content, but slower and harder. But give too much rewards, and the added difficulty becomes the new standard. You want optional, rewarding, difficulty not optimally rewarding difficult (see: +4/x8). I would probably use the SBB model for this: unique enhancements for opting into the system. Anyway, that is my rambling. I think difficulty can be increased beyond just more numbers (ITF computer and Reichsman, I'm looking at you), but we have to really ask ourselves why we are messing with difficulty before we make global nerfs or pump out tons of time for unused content. Good difficult content isn't easy to make or complete, but there are some things we can draw on when we design it.

My general content destroyer on live was a Titan/Elec Brute. My build was as follows circa-2012: Crushing Blow Twelly: Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Crushing Blow -- Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(5), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(7), Achilles-ResDeb%(7) Level 1: Charged Armor -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(15), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(15), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17) Level 2: Lightning Field -- SBrutesF-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SBrutesF-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SBrutesF-Acc/Dmg(19), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(21) Level 4: Defensive Sweep -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(23), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(25), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(25), Mocking-Taunt(36) Level 6: Build Momentum -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(11) Level 8: Follow Through -- SBrutesF-Rech/Fury(A), SBrutesF-Dmg/Rchg(9), SBrutesF-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Hectmb-Dam%(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(13), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13) Level 10: Conductive Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(17), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(42), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 12: Static Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(39), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(42), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 14: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 16: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(40), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(43), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 18: Rend Armor -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(21), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(23), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Achilles-ResDeb%(36) Level 20: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(37) Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(50), SW-ResDam/Re TP(50) Level 24: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(36) Level 26: Whirling Smash -- Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dam%(27), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(29), FrcFbk-Rechg%(31) Level 28: Energize -- Panac-Heal(A), Panac-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(37), Panac-Heal/Rchg(37), Panac-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Panac-Heal/EndRedux(39) Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31) Level 32: Arc of Destruction -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg(34), FotG-ResDeb%(34) Level 35: Superior Conditioning -- P'Shift-End%(A) Level 38: Grounded -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 41: Lightning Reflexes -- Run-I(A) Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- Apoc-Dam%(A), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(46), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 47: Physical Perfection -- P'Shift-End%(A) Level 49: Power Surge -- GA-3defTpProc(A) Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(3) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(46), EndMod-I(50) Level 1: Momentum Level 1: Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(42), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 0: Born In Battle Level 0: High Pain Threshold Level 0: Invader Level 0: Marshal Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Something similar to this: | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1367;665;1330;HEX;| |78DA65934B6F125114C7EFC054A4806D6D4BA1E55D5A68B103B8F315A3F69168316| |88D2EC9845EE95404324CA35DBAF00BB871A389DAD6474CFC0E7E12F79AD6EA52AD| |E39939FFC24212F8719EF77FCE9DA93C5E0C7E5A79725928816B4DBDDBAD5D35B72| |CE9BBA95B5BA6DEF40AFAF8E81B75DDB58A6C4AA9DD312CBD55BB27F54EBBD58D71| |6451DE97ADAED4969AB26E9946BD76C57CD83645A8DA6E37B565A3B16119AD46D0B| |556A9908CA163635D9ADD0DA333E8DA6B1D29D7A34B1DA3AE2DB5A4D9D8AE55F4AE| |25CD6D1616212D69FA7E0BD38FE2A8B307C4BC4788B22A3CB3608EA9E6C139E689C| |FC45155EC885EAD57E4E94F8E6259E6C91C38C3DC755291ABEC7ADD3E836FC057CC| |E023E1F22B697217266CD53BAE706C83CF3E65809BCCE107CC7DAA19E0FECAC04BD| |637FC827910E6DD3B33FAF6F8ACD3AFC11DE65881FB8CE9AC212C997B043F74FB31| |63183346305B04B3BEA5AC007203C89944CD247263C85548508835794355428662B| |79889DBE01AD34BB943E83B94E1FA4482994A8269E621CD3A825947D03785BE69F4| |4DA36F1AF738BDC9B3AA74CE2876388ABD4F8F31C3141BE79867FC387644665C15D| |91BBCC311CA9940FD0472B2A8FF41BAA278CEA21779D7D94BCCD973E079F00233F7| |94F981AAA6F03C4CC5F8AC5C1C4C30E792608A99212D716889179CF9FC620EFC495| |A92D092B4F98CF9DFE01FF08879E62F082D7E5A6E866B45E639FBDE913503DF8CB3| |00DAC97BB2F2F0E51778BF01AA2D608E42197D4BCC8522A8810BCC20D568E8A3E1B| |C8F6495B88F289DE57963AAC087DE45DC7B11F75EC4BD1771EFCB6AEFBDB557FB75| |8E69DBA2AA22481EC5F5EC0FF6DE5D78BEF73D8A729D9FBCF25DBEE983FFB20FFB1| |E8FE2CC401ACACF7896728A77F365A2A7C3FE45F75386BE7FA3BCC244| |-------------------------------------------------------------------| Said Brute build was able to get 45% S/L, perma-hasten, and 71S/71L/90E/37N/63F/63C/5T/46P splits. For a tanker, the main difference is the ATOs and how PPM has changed procs since 2012. There are also slight differences between the APPs/EPPs available. I would instead opt for the following build, which has softcapped S/L defenses and significantly better resistances. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Level 50 Natural Tanker Primary Power Set: Electric Armor Secondary Power Set: Titan Weapons Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Hero Profile: ------------ Level 1: Charged Armor UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 1: Defensive Sweep LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 2: Crushing Blow SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(A), SprGntFis-Dmg/Rchg(15), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25), SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(27) Level 4: Lightning Field SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 6: Conductive Shield UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9) Level 8: Static Shield UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(11), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11) Level 10: Grounded StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 12: Energize Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(25), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(40), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(42), Prv-Heal(42), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(42) Level 14: Fly BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 16: Follow Through Hct-Dam%(A), TchofDth-Dam%(17), Mk'Bit-Dam%(17), ExpStr-Dam%(19), HO:Nucle(19), Dmg-I(21) Level 18: Lightning Reflexes Flight-I(A) Level 20: Build Momentum GssSynFr--Build%(A), RctRtc-Pcptn(34), RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg(37) Level 22: Hover LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(23), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(46), Rct-ResDam%(46) Level 24: Afterburner LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 26: Maneuvers LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(27) Level 28: Rend Armor AchHee-ResDeb%(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(29), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(31), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(31) Level 30: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33) Level 32: Power Surge GldArm-3defTpProc(A), Ags-Psi/Status(46) Level 35: Whirling Smash Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Arm-Acc/Rchg(36), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(37), FrcFdb-Rechg%(37) Level 38: Arc of Destruction SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(40) Level 41: Boxing KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(43), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(43), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 44: Tough UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(45) Level 47: Taunt MckBrt-Taunt(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(48), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(48), MckBrt-Rchg(48), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(50), MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(50) Level 49: Weave LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 1: Brawl Empty(A) Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Sprint Empty(A) Level 2: Rest Empty(A) Level 2: Swift Flight-I(A) Level 2: Health Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(33), Pnc-Heal/+End(33) Level 2: Hurdle Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(34), EndMod-I(34) Level 1: Momentum Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1363;691;1382;HEX;| |78DA6594CB4F135114C6EF74A694B660AD859657A52D20604BA5262E548C3182264| |A0D0AD16533812B8C0C6D33AD895D9A888F9DE25BA9BA75E3FF60A2F8886BDF895B| |5FA8891A1F9B7A3AE70B347192E96FEE37E79CFBDD7BEE347D62B8E1DEDE933B85D| |2B0DBD40B85CC849E9D9596EB805E3C6EE9A6A85E2EBAC3AC6786E551992DC8E488| |29278B963199D965CDE5AC36BC4D4B53CAE48451D4B3992352CFE7B205E11DCBE5C| |CE41ED3989E29FAECE751A94F49AB3063E43DF6783C2FE554238755A38CEC746024| |6F4C2647B2D29A2E65D27AA128AD520BD988D2FDC0473F4AD55845153F5421529A7| |0FC047F31B5DFCCCB2181AB2244B3626B57485338DFA99CD26C6DCD3CB3E9343378| |86D97296D9768EF990E656B99EA62EB2A695990DB7C0DBA87987B944394EF875C26| |F1DFCD6C16F3DFC3EA25817625D88AD47AC07B11EC43EA65837C70A77881EC29A78| |429A97FD39BDCB1CD7F289D9FB99D9FF117C0F7E607AA9CF8DD8ABC6B70E5BBB4E7| |BE5433D5F9CB5B5191AF61267853D5E57223D401CA2B1A68AA630EB4F29D10F7FFE| |2ED66E50BD006B8EC05DAE172D737EF722D3EDE25655F7A0193D0B363107F6B3D78| |1EF4C11142204CF21C4FA29BF95F39556686DC8BF49C1ED584FFB7D9EAFE312F7A9| |E32273FD0278013CCF8C51DD30EA86E3D5F5B845047C466BEDE4BA4AE76678DCC27| |32ED29C319CB7D80E5E73D710B81DDCC6ECDE0ACE33CB94DB83DC9EE75C77C30BF0| |25F80AFD7D0DBE612AE4B78F3DA97D63849826361E040F81E34C9562E3D8F3F81FC| |E4FE0FC2570FE12387FD7C853127B989C619F9B0CD004E798A963E02C53A37906B1| |8783E84D0ABDE9D06ABED50A5DA25F5BF9D22BA3FFBD1DD3F09214C556963D2B5FB| |65070E2BEAE6A0E659F629FDCC8619E3112E5157DA9CDB32B7DABCDBA8A73BAE0B0| |7B1D8D70CFDFADFEB754FED2394CC1E93F9AFCD527| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

I had a NW. The damage is okay, but SR has significantly more survivability. DDR isn't necessarily the factor that hits hardest here, as excess defense works on the same beat. I find that the Scrapper ATOs are better, the scaling resistance helps more, and the set is less prone to getting gibbed by a single hard boss hit thanks to hit points. Fortunatas are also, unfortunately, nigh objectively better thanks to proc mechanics (Dominate is the best or 2nd best ST attack they get thanks to an extra purple proc) along with far better AoE which makes playing second fiddle on NW feel bad. SR tankers are another beast altogether, and can be built to have MUCH higher resistances than either with great HP. I think I ended up with around 300 DPS on my Night Widow, which while fine it nothing exceptional by today's standards. It is far worse than my Ill/Cold controller for instance.

I would argue that the game needs more 'easy to kill' dangerous enemies, not more difficult bosses. Consider the following: Sappers Cimeroran Surgeons Devouring Earth crystals Nemesis lieutenants None of these are hard to defeat by themselves, but substantially change the gameplay patterns. If a sapper survives an AoE burst, it can mean death despite it being a minion. Surgeons aren't as lethal, but because they don't rush into melee they can be a major timewaster especially if they heal a Cyclops or Minotaur that has gone Unstoppable. Nemesis lieutenants, on the other hand, are almost deliberately easy to kill in bunches but punish wanton AoEs with their vengeance buff. The Devouring Earth have the Rularuu aspect of almost flat-out ignoring defense buffs, but do so in a way that is more engaging (find the summon or kill the summoner, rather than eyeballs just being always on deathbots). This is far aside from the proc discussion, but I think the fun of difficult content comes from a variety of factors: changes in gameplay excitement from risk/storytelling planning/puzzle solving personal achievement/bragging Higher level enemies do not change gameplay. The same 'force mobs to group, nuke, use single targets to finish off bosses' gameplay is still present, it is just slower. Likewise, it rarely presents a more interesting narrative. Either a player or team can defeat them thanks to sufficient defenses, or they cannot and get destroyed. Recently, I've been watching Nuzlocke Pokemon challenges, which made me consider this narrative issue. Nuzlocke challenges are more exciting than a generic 'Lets Play' because of the storytelling they present: being forced to adapt to challenges, potentially being screwed or saved by luck, etc. A narrative challenge in City of Heroes might be a mechanic that reduces your character to 100 HP, and forces you to dodge traps while defeating relatively weak enemies, for instance. Random trap areas might make a run easy, or very difficult, and this lends to the storytelling aspect of difficulty. "I beat this even though the odds were against me" is much more compelling than "I beat this even though it was slow." Or a section may be difficult because of a massive undodgeable recharge debuff, but a character may plan for this and easily clear the challenge by building to resist recharge debuffs or playing a resistant powerset combination. The latter two aspects are more problematic, because they are only realistically a factor for a small minority of the player base. Players that like designing strategies for an organized team or claiming "World First!"s aren't and can't be the majority. Ideally, making the game more difficult would still focus on making it more enjoyably difficult for all types of content, not just for hyper-enfranchised groups (which are even more rare than hyper-enfranchised individuals). And ultimately, even the fun some players get from having to change tactics or create narratives isn't present for others. Even some players with hyper-optimized builds have perfectly fun times going slightly faster through TFs and turning Council and Cimerorans in rolling pins, and that's okay too.

Having lived through I6 when it came out, I have a hard time imagining anyone seriously considering that round 2 could happen without a mass playerbase departure. It would be exactly the type of thing I mentioned before that would make it hard for me to keep playing on the server: a wrecking ball to virtually every build that changes the rules they work on. One could imagine what would happen if set bonuses were capped at 4 instead of 5 in the next patch, for instance. I highly doubt I'd want to invest the mental energy to rework all of my characters. And what, really would this improve? Was the I6 to I8 metagame so fun that we want to return to its powerscales? It was regarded as far from a glory age in the game at the time, and I honestly believe that inter-archetype balance right now is better than it was at any point on live. Every class can do good damage, every class can be extremely survivable, every class has a decent leveling experience. Right now, the most obvious balance issues are the underperforming powersets, not overperforming combinations or ATs. Some people obviously enjoy a more 'competitive' game with slower clears and less certain outcomes even at the peak of performance, but I think the peaks and valleys of the game's playerbase has shown that this isn't the popular opinion. Extra difficulty from general nerfs needs to be done with extreme delicate hands and for good reasons: to delivery more satisfying and engaging endgame content to promote inter-archetype and powerset balance to keep rewards and progression at intended rates I don't think proc ED and inspiration limiting does the right things, for the right reasons. I do generally believe that Incarnate systems need a balance pass, both for what they do to trials and to their impact on 45+ content, because they do increase progression rates considerably and because iTrials may be better if ATs each have a specific purpose, which is difficult with how much a character can gain outside of their AT's specialty. That said, I will always support additional levers on the difficulty system, particularly those that go beyond numbers and level. Which is to say, I support the no-inspirations limit people can choose to go under in the taskforce system, and would support a system that could put limitations on builds. The challenge is that players that want harder difficulties often aren't satisfied with being able to put higher difficulties on themselves, especially for no added reward: they want to face the same difficulties in generic team content. And if you make optional subsystems optimal for rewards/time, you may screw up the progression rate the system is balanced at (see: +4/x8 missions). But I do think build limits would be a thing for the Flashback system and could potentially give added rewards (chance to drop new enhancements for instance) and/or badges. I also wonder how people would react to enemies that made procs less generally viable. If neo-Warriors for instance were retrofitting to have an unlucky aura that reduced PPM rates to 0.5 PPM, then 6 slotting procs suddenly has a limit to where it increases damage. I don't think the CoH system would make it easy to make enemies immune to procs or reflect them, but it might be possible to mess with PPMs dynamically.

This is true with non-damaging procs: Gaussian's, Force Feedback, Theft of Essence, Decimation, Lockdown. This isn't really mathematically true in most scenarios for damaging procs. It can be pretty clearly shown that the difference between a 4s and an 8s recharging attack is minimal in most areas where single target is desired, with most of the difference being due to animation times. Which is to say, PPM does do what it says. At 0% global recharge, a 4s attack will trigger a normal damage proc 3.5 times per minute and an 8s attack will trigger it close to 3.5 times per minute as well. Basically, if you capped proc chances at half the current max (45%) but doubled their effectiveness, damage procs would largely be unchanged. Some powers that reliably 1-shot minions will now have a slightly higher chance of not doing so, but the time to clear bosses and AVs will not change and might actually decrease with more local recharge being slottable in big powers. This is not true for Gaussian's allowing you to reliably 2-shot bosses or nuke away non-bosses, or Lockdown reliably taking out a boss with a single hold. Make those unreliable, and the entire playstyle and viability changes. The real thing boosting proc rates is global recharge. Instead of each 3.5 PPM proc adding 4 DPS, it adds 12 DPS at 200% global recharge. Likewise, instead of 11 DPS, 4.5 PPM procs are adding 33. This was true even with flat proc rates though, as high global recharge made it possible to do things like keep Force Feedback nigh-permanent with Foot Stomp and also made it easier to chain low-animation time powers together even if the recharges were long, making sets with low animations fundamentally even better at dealing damage. So realistically speaking, this wasn't new to I24 (even discounting the P2W PPM procs). Global recharge has been making procs more powerful since 2007 and the invention of Inventions. And as mentioned, the difference these are adding is not as large as what Incarnates add. Judgments add 200-300 damage per second when hitting max targets, something no amount of single target attacks procced to the gills will match. Lore pets add 200-300 damage per second while out to a single target, and Banished Pantheon can functionally add much more than that by lowering resistances for an entire league. Hybrid Assault acts as a massive, crazy strong proc.

The earliest procs in the game are the five P2W enhancements, along with ATO procs. A character can slot 5 of them by level 5 into a strong early AoE and be effective for no cost; a bankrolled character could 6-slot said power with a decent ATO at level 7 or mix and match at level 5 with auto-slots in another power. PvP unique procs and a small number of other useful procs are available at level 7 as well. This includes Achilles/Shield Breaker for defense debuff, Impeded Swiftness for Slows, Cloud Senses for ToHit debuffs, Neuronic Shutdown for holds, and Explosive Strike for Knockdowns. So ideally you'd want different types of attacks (Ranged/Melee/Hold/AoE/PBAoE), with multiple of the above effects, with some way to mitigate accuracy issues. A Dark/Rad Dominator could reasonably do this at level 7. Dark Grasp, which normally deals 14.5812 damage, would deal 41.1157 on average. Contaminated Strike, which normally deals 24.7652 damage, would deal 36.8800 with a 29.43% chance of triggering Achilles' Heel. At this level, a minion has roughly 58.80 HP, so they would survive either power but not both. This isn't exactly setting the world on fire and is probably weaker than a blaster or scrapper slotting the P2W enhancements in their early AoEs and comboing them with BU/Aim. This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.3.1 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Level 49 Magic Dominator Primary Power Set: Darkness Control Secondary Power Set: Radioactive Assault Villain Profile: ------------ Level 1: Dark Grasp NrnSht-Dam%(A), GldNet-Dam%(3), GldJvl-Dam/End/Rech(3), CldSns-%Dam(5) Level 1: Neutrino Bolt AchHee-ResDeb%(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(5) Level 2: Contaminated Strike ShlBrk-%Dam(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(7), GldStr-%Dam(7) Level 4: Living Shadows JvlVll-Dam%(A) Level 6: X-Ray Beam AchHee-ResDeb%(A) Level 1: Brawl Empty(A) Level 1: Domination Level 1: Sprint Empty(A) Level 2: Rest Empty(A) Level 2: Swift Empty(A) Level 2: Health Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 2: Hurdle Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina Empty(A) ------------

It isn't that it is impossible. Rather, it is that having to do the effort is a big part of why inventions work as a system. I heavily used the system even back in I9 when it was first introduced, and I can tell you that all of the one-offs and proc heavy attacks have made it tremendously more interesting. Back when it started, it was pretty simple: slot defense powers with 1 luck of the gambler and 5 red fortunes in every defense power slot 5 crushing impact in melee attacks, 1 touch of death or mako's bite proc if you were feeling spicy slot 5 positron's blast in ranged AoEs maybe slot impervium armor in resists for the recovery etc. It wasn't as easy to get softcap defenses, sure, but it was also significantly more formulaic. The alternative of just slotting a purple set where possible and avoiding things that don't give balanced enhancements and set bonuses would lack this element. Procced out powers outside of their impact on balance present a much more interesting puzzle than just "what 5/6 slot set bonus does the most", which was a something that dominated IO system for many years. Now there is much more interesting interplay between enhancement values, set bonuses, and 1-offs and far less 1-slot or 5/6-slot reliance. And even then, most changes wouldn't fully address any balance discrepancies, it would just scramble builds temporarily. Even with the old proc behavior, optimized builds still used as many procs as possible, they just slotted them in Smite and Shadow Punch instead of Midnight Grasp or Char. I know because I soloed most of the GMs, AVs, and task forces with a Dark/Shield Scrapper back in the day doing exactly that. Current proc mechanics aren't what is broken about bypassing the ED damage softcap. The only real proc that behaves significantly better in comparison to its live version is Gaussian's. And even then, the biggest issue with balance at this point isn't IOs at all. It is incarnates. An Empathy/Dark defender with no IOs but T4 Incarnates can outdamage a TW/Bio Scrapper with maxed IOs but no incarnates, on the virtue of: A pet that does significantly more damage than the average player with no buffs, can be buffed to do even more, and pumps out -resistance to buff a whole league (BP Core) A nuke that wipes away minions/lieutenants every 2 minutes Near complete endurance mitigation and +15% recharge from Ageless Double-hitting attacks that also bypass the ED softcap thanks to Hybrid Assault less purple patch hit +33% damage from Musculature These features mean that a team of Incarnates steamrolls both normal mobs (rotating Judgements) and AVs (Lore pets, particularly BP core). While Incarnates are a part of builds now (I've certainly build around Ageless keeping Hasten permanent or Barrier keeping up softcap), the free nukes and lore pets (and arguably Ageless) aren't really something impacts planning and could easily be toned down with also putting a wrecking ball to virtually every IO build in the game.

The thing is, to actually achieve 353 DPA from that power you need: * 84.1% in accuracy buffs (after Kismet's +6% Tohit boost) * some way of accounting for 12.34 endurance/second being added into an attack chain These aren't minor considerations, and honestly I enjoy the fact that a build can get to the point that it can get a powerful attack but needs to make substantial sacrifices or planning decisions to fully optimize it. And barring the help of a coordinated team, it is unlikely that a build could do that on all of its powers and get away with it. As far as that power goes, it is intended to be a high damage attack. It isn't listed as an Extreme damage 'massive attack' for nothing. The point of Controller APPs is to give them things they don't have in their Primary or Secondary powersets, namely attacks and defense/resist toggles. The question of scale is still present, but adding procs is not creating new functionality for this power, but enhancing its primary function. I think a bigger aberration is the fact that the best blasts available to defenders are Char and Dominate from their APPs.

All of the builds are unique. I have an Ill/Cold with a duo-only build that plans to softcap with the aid of an ally playing the same build. My Stone/Dark tanker is built to be ridiculously, unnecessarily tanky, eschewing all Gift of the Ancients and +movespeed IO buffs to fully max resistances and get incarnate softcap defenses along with plugging the PSI hole; it only uses Combat Teleport and Teleport to move. My Water/Time Blaster is all about recharge, trying to hit and stay and the recharge cap by using Agile/Ageless/Haste/Time Lord and Force Feedback on Geyser and Water Burst. My Electrical/Radiation Sentinel is all about maximizing Endurance Drain and turning Ground Zero into a dramatically more effective AoE blast. Most of the time, these builds do try to reach some type of softcap defense and pair it with a large source of recharge. The puzzle comes from fitting everything else the build wants to do in without: running into endurance issues (common with an entirely procced out attack chain) missing more than 5% of the time versus normal +3 mobs (48% accuracy base) lacking a travel power when exemplaring to Posi 1 levels neglecting resistances or vital supplementary powers lacking 4-12 knockback protection missing any major build goal The esoteric build goals I've had include: max +range on a Psi/Em blaster maximizing nonsuppressed +movespeed on a Claws/SR scrapper being able to break through an AVs purple triangles with a MM hitting incarnate soft cap defenses (59%)

My perspective on this is pretty simple. To me, my gameplay pattern since coming to Homecoming has tended to be: Get an idea (theme, set, power combo, etc.) Make a Mids build Play a character up through whatever pops up in the LFG chat Convert merit tokens to converters and slowly get build pieces as I level Hit 50, respec into build (play market if needed) Run that level 50 for a couple weeks getting Incarnate abilities maxed out Play the 50 on rotation with other 50s as the mood arises after that Get an idea Nowhere in that gameplay loop do I want or plan for remaking character builds en masse because the fundamental behaviors I designed those builds around changed. Are those builds typically fairly powerful builds with high recharge and defense? Yes. Part of the enjoyment I get from the game is puzzlecraft of making a build that is as efficient as possible, or does unique and interesting things. To me, getting that hidden part of the character just right is an artform and I am proud of my creations and their performance. If the game decided that those artpieces were just obscene and unbalanced and broke all of them, I probably wouldn't just remake them to the next closest thing. It would take extra time and effort, and it is possible that changes would fundamentally warp the things that even attracted me to play a given AT or powerset combination. And while I can easily commit time and effort into making a build when I have the joy and excitement of a new idea, I think the opposite is true playing doctor to salvage builds decimated by changed. Most likely, this would push me away from the server. It would directly affect the gameplay loop that makes me continue to want to play and create new alts and force me to immediately put a substantial amount of time and effort reworking every character I want to play at 50 to get the closest possible experience to what I had before. I don't think I'd easily climb that wall and continue playing the characters I've made on the server, and that would put a damper on making alts. I don't think the reward for changing procs is commensurate with the risk it presents. It effects a small portion of the playerbase and requires significant effort to do right. It would be different if procs changes were a new invention that could be recalled with little sunk cost, but they have acted this way since Homecoming went public. Virtually every IO build has been made based partially around procs performing as-is, and that is a sunk cost of time and effort.

A couple comments on earlier discussions in this thread: Mids' has three ways of showing powerset information: Damage, Damage per Activation, and Damage per Second. I am assuming that the commenter confused on how to reach >500 DPS was on the Damage Per Second way of showing power information, which tells you the damage the power deals divided by the time it takes to cast and recharge (or the damage you'd deal per second if you left the attack on auto). A max damage Bitter Ice Blast with 200% or so global recharge would be hitting about 100 damage per cycle. It would also deal well over 500 damage per activation. The latter is more useful because a good attack chain will be constantly attacking, not waiting for one power to recharge. I have never used the Mids DPS calculator and I'm skeptical that it would work. Mids does not seem to properly account for procs (counting global recharge last time I looked), and finding the best attack chain is a fairly complex algorithm that would need such information to be accurate. A perfect calculator would even need to take into account the utility of sacrificing damage per activation for a better chance of applying one of the three -resistance procs earlier in the chain. The best way to figure out DPS is the pylon test. The second best way is by hand, i.e. figuring out the expected damage by procs and dividing the proc + regular damage of each power by the total arcanaville animation time. That won't be perfect if you have Achilles' Heel or other resistance debuffs in your kit, or things like Decimation's chance for Build Up, but it will get you close. As far as comparisons go, I'd basically use the following scale: 100 DPS: Roughly what a defender deals on SOs at 50, accounting for gaps in a chain and not using procs (Gloom for Dark Blast dealing ~130 DPA). This would be your lower end corrupters, most defenders, most controllers, and tankers that put little investment into attacking. (Note that all of these can be pumped much higher in the IO world). 106 DPS: The minimum needed to kill a Pylon 150 DPS: What I'd expect most damage focused archetypes to deal on SOs, accounting for gaps in a chain and not using procs (Gloom for Dark Blast Blasters dealing ~190 DPA) 200 DPS: This roughly what most damage oriented archetype will deal with a few IOs and a clean attack chain, and may be about the incarnate level damage for a poor single target set (Electric Blast, Spines) 250 DPS: This is what I'd expect the 'average' damage archetype sets to deal with IOs and incarnates (Kinetic Melee, Radiation Blast) 300 DPS: This is what I'd expect the 'good' damage archetype to deal with IOs and incarnates (Katana, Claws, Beam Rifle) Past that, most things are exceptions. Lore pets for instance add a flat 200-270 extra damage per second (with the top being Banished Pantheon). Certain sets are outliers: old Titan Weapons, Bio Armor, Ice Blast, Fire Blast, Street Justice on Stalkers, Energy Melee. These sets can usually reach a much higher damage DPS number punching a Pylon than other sets in their archetype. Numbers also get amped by temporary powers, Hybrid actives being on, inspiration usage, prebuffing, etc. An Ice blaster can deal a lot of damage in the 5s it takes Build, Aim, and Gaussian's to fall off. Pets also tend to do great damage, if they can live and focus their full damage on a target. Masterminds, Crab Spider Soldiers, Controllers, and Dominators can all get a lot of benefit out of this. Other archetypes can use powers like Water Spout or Tornado that can deal a ton of damage against an immobile target to increase their numbers. Even defenders can buff up an ancillary power pool pet and use it to temporarily impress on the DPS scale. So something like an Ice/Em blaster could get up to 800-900 DPS by going all-out with procs, getting musculature, having Hybrid Assault active, maintaining high mileage from Build/Aim/Gaussian's, using inspirations or temporary powers, and adding in ancillary pets and lore pets. I can't tell you exactly what combination of these was used to achieve that high number. However, even something like an attackless Empathy defender could deal north of 350 just by slapping Fortitude on an Incarnate pet and ancillary pet. Right now, the characters I play the most are a Stone/Dark Tanker (150-200ish), a Water/Time blaster (200-250 ST, insane AoE), a NW/Fortunata (400-500), an Ice/Cold Controller (500+), and a TW/Bio Scrapper (500+) for some reference. The latter three can also pretty easily clear +4 AVs and GMs. and they all have full purple builds and incarnates.

If you are used to using Teleport for travel, I would probably respec Recall Friend to Combat Teleport, and use a macro to switch up keybinds (shift what lshift+mouse button activates).

Below is my version of the Ill/Cold. Strategy was to pre-summon and buff Toxic Tarantula and Phantasm (including Clarion to avoid knockback), keep debuffs at a maximum, and otherwise spam attacks. Times are with Hybrid on. I started each run when I cast Phantom Army. Times: 2:02 - Messed up rotation 1:52 - Ran out of endurance, should have turned off Tough/Sprint 2:05 - Let Phantasm, Toxic Tarantula take shots before summoning PA, didn't let Hasten reactivate 1:39 - Didn't run out of endurance, all pets survived run Overall, I feel the last run is most indicative of the build's potential. The high number of procs, -resistance, capped defenses (S/L/R), and Perma-PA without needing Ageless (Clarion = Perma Mez protection) overall I feel make a very strong build with more DPS than builds missing Poisonous Ray or procs. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1535&c=717&a=1434&f=HEX&dc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

I had success pulling Nictus Romulus using a non-damage power (Benumb) and then hightailing it off the square and to the left which I had cleared of 5th Column beforehand to keep the pets focused. Originally this build was meant to be played in a duo, maxing S/L defense but going through the fire epic pool for high resistances as well. However, I found relying on the duo to be a bit more limiting than I thought. The character concept is pretty open ended (sentient illusion created by a Russian cosmonaut that was affected by the Nihilus force, sort of an anti-Phoenix force), so it wasn't hard to justify the tech. The harder part was that redraw, as originally I had a really nice attack chain of Blind > Spectral Wounds > Fire Blast / Arcane Bolt and now I have a really clunky chain that often needs me to fill the gaps with debuffs.

Just finished a marathon +4/x8 solo ITF with an Ill/Cold (12:10 time, but actual mission time was about 3 hours as I took several breaks). No temporary powers used, but I did use inspirations and kept the heroes alive for most of the last two missions. Softcapped S/L/R, perma-Haste + PA + Benumb + Heat Loss + Toxic Taranula, using Clarion for Destiny to avoid mezzing when appropriate. Between Annihilation, Achilles' Heel, Poisonous Ray, Benumb, Sleet, and Heat Loss I can stack a tremendous amount of -Res and -Regen, plus I have my powers slotted to the 9s for DPS. For instance, the humble Blind can hit a level 54 AV for 360 damage and a normal opponent for over 750 with all debuffs active thanks to a lot of procs. Mission 1 was rather easy. Did not need to use any powers outside of Deceive. Cleared with no deaths. Mission 2 was much harder, as the ambushes, defense debuffs, crystal exploding, etc. all had a chance to hurt me. I could Deceive my way through it, but it was slow. Maybe 5 deaths here, could get by with none. Mission 3 was a fairly simple task. I moved forward slowly, using Deceive to thin ranks and keeping Daedalus alive for speed. Once 4 generals and co were down, I proceeded to the computer. Daedalus was a pretty spazzy pet, so I had to clear a pretty wide swath before he would target the computer. No deaths from computer, though I did kill most of the robots through incidental pet damage. Requiem was fairly easy with Clarion to avoid getting stunned. With Daedalus helping on DPS, Reqiuem went down in a matter of minutes. Romulus on the other hand took nearly 30 minutes and 3 deaths, and was done without Daedalus as he spazzed out and ran off to his death. Romulus's AI is absolutely horrid. Unless he is constantly taunted, he runs. I easily had the DPS to take him down, even without Assault active or Lore pets, but not if he spent his time sprinting around if I didn't get PA down the instant they dropped. I believe he regenerated to full 3 times through his sprints, and I ended up dying twice to overaggro from pet's following Romulus. Mission 4 wasn't particularly hard. I knew I had the DPS to kill Romulus, I just needed to separate him from the Nictus Essences that are a couple hundred times more dangerous than he is. They love to hug you, and they have an auto-hit ability that will rapidly drain your life. Imperious followed me over the hill after I cleared the square, and after a couple attempts at different strategies (Deceiving him + trying to take down a Nictus Essence wouldn't work), I decided to pull him away from the square and his Nictus helpers. With Imperious's help, killing him took about 5 minutes. I imagine I could run this straight through ignoring inspirations, Daedalus/Imperious but it would likely take 4+ hours.