Frozen Burn

We can already purchase these badges during 1 month out of the year. There is NO, zero, 0, nil, nada, nyet, harm in making them available to purchase all year round. This will not spill into any other badges - because they are not purchasable - it's only these specific badges. And as @Ukase states - it's "a no-brainer" and that it's expanding an existing merit reward sink that the game can use - not to mention a quality of life update.

I don't know the circles you play in, but I see few farmers. I know of people who do, but they also play content. I, myself, and many of the people I play with prefer running content - yes, over, and over, and over again. Same content on all toons. I never farm (unless I'm shy on purples for a build and I don't want to spend the inf or merits on them). Not including TFs, SFs, and Trials, there is SO much content, I will run a toon through one set of story arcs, and then run the next toon through a different set for a new experience, and the the next new toon through yet a completely different set of arcs for yet even another new experience - and still, I will not have touched all the hero arcs. I can do the same with villain arcs and Praetorian arcs. And when I've gone through it all, I'll repeat the process and go through all the arcs again. And I don't need all badges on all toons - only my 1 badger. On my other toons, I'll get the important accolades (not all), and any badges I get beyond that are just icing on the cake and a nice "Ooo, cool!" moment. But anyway, there are plenty of people out there that like to run content. And as mentioned above, if you make badges account-wide, it's less incentive to run the content.

Hahaha! Yeah - invisible. What a fun typo! lol

Welcome back to the game!! /Ninja and /Martial are great sets and pair well with any Primary - so your combo is fine. The key thing is, if YOU are having fun, then it doesn't matter what combo / build you have. 🙂 And that can even mean... don't worry about end-game content - just have fun. Given that, certainly tweaking and refining what you have is good too. So, here are some suggestions I can offer for your build to take or leave any of them: Get rid of Victory Rush it's better in lower levels when End is harder to get so it's mostly useless in later levels and end-game - and doesn't generally help teammates as most have their end management under control or are teaming with others who provide end. But most importantly for Blasters - you have your own end management tool with Kuji-In Toh! All Blasters got their own "sustain" power and endurance should never be an issue for a blaster anymore. Given this - Kuji-In Toh: put the Absorb proc and Numi special in Health, 3 slot Kuji-in Toh with End, End/Acc, and End/Rech and call it a day. Since you have the Panacea special, you may not even need the Numina's regen/recov. (I think you'll gain 1-2 extra slots for elsewhere here.) Get rid of the Defense Debuff sets in Sting of the Wasp and Golden Dragonfly You're a Blaster - deal the damage! You're gimping yourself by not slotting for damage here. The Winter's Gift Melee Set in Golden Dragonfly is an excellent choice: 5 or 6 slot as you want for Def bonuses and use the proc even if 5 slotting. Mako's Bite in Sting of the Wasp 6 slotted is nice for ranged defense bonus - even if fighting in melee range, having high ranged defense helps against ranged attacks and especially most mezzes that will come your way. Charged Bolts - Thuderstrikes for ranged Def, or Devastations for more HPs Lightning Bolt Move the Blaster's Wrath set to Thunderstrike and have it 6 slotted. Then use the other Blaster ATO set, Defiant Barrage in Lightning Bolt and 6 slotting it for the Def bonus - you'll want the status protection proc in Lightning Bolt which can help free you earlier from mezzes since this power can be used while mezzed. Ball Lightning and Short Circuit - I'd swap sets in those powers. With the KD in Ball Lightning, you can cast at range and run into the group as it hits and knocks them down, giving you time to cast Short Circuit safely - a much safer chain. Then only 5 slot the Posi's - the 6th set bonus is not worth it. Then you can use that slot elsewhere. Charge Up You don't need all those slots in there, and you can use those slots elsewhere better. Normally, I put the Gaussian proc there, but it's better served in Tactics sine you have it. So, just a the +Perception IO or a Generic Recharge IO is fine. Zapp - I'd put the Winter's Gift Ranged set in here for the Defense bonuses instead. Fly - put the Blessing of Zephyr +4 points KB protection in there. That's all you really need for KB protection. Voltaic Sentinel - This is like free extra damage - slot it up for damage! Tesla Cage - if you can, at least 5 slot the Winter's Gift hold set in it for the Defense set bonus Choking Powder You didn't take this, but it will serve you better than Blinding Powder or Smoke Flash, as this will stack with Tesla Cage so you can hold a boss in a quick 2-hit. I'd get rid of Blinding Powder - it has lower base Acc and takes more slotting to make viable. It's a fun power, if you can devote the slots to it, but Choking Powder will serve you better, and Smoke Flash only needs 1 slot Smoke Flash - putting a damage proc in it defeats the purpose of the power. The damage will negate the placate. So I'd just put generic Recharge IO in it. (or drop it for another power.) Maneuvers - try to 4-slot it if you can. The extra defense is always good. Body Armor.... If getting rid of Victory Rush and get rid of Smoke Flash (still swapping Blinding Powder for Choking Powder) - this gives you 2 power picks.... Then take Fighting pool: Boxing/Kick and Tough. Then drop Body Armor for Mace Mastery Epic and get Scorpion Shield for more S/L/E Def (the most popular damage types). 4-slot with 3 Shield Walls or Reactive Defenses + another LotG +Global Rech Then you can slot Tough with: Steadfast Prot: Resist/+3% Def and Resist/End Gladiator's Armor (PvP): +3% Def special and Resist/End Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP and Resistance (Impervious Skin not really needed) If sticking with Body Armor, then still drop the Impervious Skin and just slot the 3 specials from Steadfast, Glad Armor, and Unbreak Guard and use the 3 slots elsewhere. The more Winter's Gift IOs for Defense set bonuses you can get, the better. But also don't sacrifice doing damage. Again, you can take or leave any of these ideas. 🙂 Having fun is more important. Forgot to add: Also put a Celerity +Stealth IO in Sprint so it can stack with Shinobi and you can be completely invisible. 🙂

Piercing Rounds isn't for a standard attack chain. It's a nice finishing shot for those that are running away and while you're Executioner's Shot is recharging. It can also be a nice opener when you can get things lined up to take advantage of the cone. I personally love the power despite the long animation.

Receiving a Vanguard Merit for defeating Lost is normal as the Lost are people mutating into Rikti. Rikti spawn at lvl 30+ and Lost can spawn up to lvl 29. If you do a lvl 30 Rikti arc, but set to -1, you can spawn Lost in the Rikti's place. But getting your Vanguard Merit fits story-wise.

You are pretty much right in that you really do not need the End/Rech or straight up Recharge IOs in toggles or auto powers, but sometimes, recharge can be useful in toggles for those times you get sapped and toggle drop, and especially if there are slow debuffs added on top of you - every little bit can help. Also, there are click Defense powers where those and the Def/Rech IOs benefit. Also, I will 4 slot my Def powers with a Def/End, Def, Def/End/Rech, and Def/+Global Rech (LotG) - this gets you to the ED max of Defense and an SO's worth of end reduction. (On the first defense-based power I have, I will add a 5th and 6th slot for the Shield Wall +Resist IO, and the Reactive Defenses +Scaling Resist IO.) And even more personally, I slot 3 shield Walls or Reactive Defenses (Def/End, Def, Def/End/Rech) + the LotG Def/+Global Rech in my powers. I like the Shield Wall and Reactive Defenses set bonuses far better then LotG or Red Fortune.

I am sure this is intentional. Not all rescued NPCs that fight alongside you are set to aggressive. In fact, most people hate it as they tend to aggro things they don't want and/or get themselves killed and failing the mission (like Lady Jane in the midnighter arc or rescuing the Dr in the Moonfire TF). There are quite a few other NPCs out there set to Defensive, so it's quite normal.

Get rid of knock back and make everything knock down instead - no. KB has its uses and advantages just like KD does. There are powers that should inherently KB: Gale, Hurricane, Ki Push, etc. However, in the case of Wormhole, yes, that is a power that should be inherently knock down instead. Your premise really solves nothing. As you said, people are divided - hate it or love it. So, blanket switching everything to the other side (KD) and creating/switching procs to turn them into KB, doesn't solve the issue - it just flip flops the side. Perhaps just a look at certain powers (like Wormhole) and see if they truly deserves to be KB (which Wormhole doesn't in most people's minds I would assume), and readjust certain powers that way. But powers like Gale and Hurricane - strong wind forces against your foes and they only KD - doesn't fit the theme or the nature of the power and they should remain KB. Ki Push - only KDs? Nope - goes against what it is and should be. Each power should be evaluated on its own merits, theme, and purpose to whether it should KB or KD.

Boosting a proc does nothing but waste your booster, except in the rare cases like the Steadfast Protection Res/+Def or the LOTG Def/+Gloabl Rech (as noted above) and any similar with a dual "normal" component and a proc. The boosters boost the "normal" aspect of the IO, but does nothing for the actual proc portion itself. All those damage procs, perf shifter, numi's miracle, etc, etc, etc - boosting does nothing. As far as attuning your procs.... If you are relying on them for a set bonus at an exemplared level, then attune them. If not, then don't waste it. The proc will still work when exemplared to a low level even if it's lvl 50 - the IO itself will still function and will proc. For example: You slot 4 Performance shifters with 1 being the proc. The 3 are attuned and the Proc is lvl 50. You Exemplar down to lvl 25. The proc will still work, but you will only get the set bonus for 3 Perf shifters since they are attuned. If you attune the proc as well - you'll get the set bonus for all 4 when exemplared. I hope this helps.

I love this combo and it's fun to play. I took fold space so i can pull things back into PBAOE range. 😄 Here is my build.... Celestial Thunder - Blaster (Storm Blast - Temporal Manipulation).mbd

I don't remember the Graveyard Shift arc, but in Posi 2, you do not HAVE to defeat Cortex to complete the TF. Sometimes he spawns in an out of the way spot and you have to specifically look for him to defeat him. I have had the Posi 2 version count towards the badge. So, perhaps you missed him in Posi 2?

I think everything pretty much has been said already above, but some additional considerations/reminders: For stopping, hit the back button near the end to stop the drift - this is how you had to Fly since 2004 when the game launched and before HC recently allowed Hover and Fly to stack. You can also STILL take Hover from the flight pool and have it stack, if you want - also, Combat Jumping helps. Yes, an extra power pick, but it's possible to do if the drift annoys you that much, Rune of Protection is largely not needed at all due to the unchangeable duration and recharge. I have only 1 character with it so that I can say I've tried it. It rarely uses it as inspires are typically always there when I need them - even in the worst of content: 4-Star TFs/SFs, iTrials, incarnate, etc. Power Pools are meant to have the "good" powers at the end and have prerequisites to take prior to getting them - always been that way. That's the trade off for the "good" powers. As also mentioned above, there are other servers out there who do allow you to pick any power in any order, and some also mix and matching many power sets across several ATs. I too am in the camp of finding the inherent TP very useful. I would be sad to have it go away from Mystic Flight. Too many times, I am trapped in a room or hallway by a horde of mobs and the TP helps me escape/relocate. Or it helps me to better position myself within a mob (in the case of my fairy Brute that wants to be surrounded by foes - sometimes, mobs stay in a cone and I can TP into the middle of the mass to force them to surround me. 🙂

Any primary with a snipe would suit your need, not just Energy. But you don't have to limit yourself to /Energy for Boost Range power to be a successful ranged solo blaster. You can do so with any secondary powerset. Yes, some lend themselves better to being at range and others towards melee, but you can be successful with any. If you are considering a Corruptor and want a range boost, /Marine has a buff that boosts range.

There really is no need for all that on every toon. I understand the want, but there is no need. So, if you've maxed out all the possible +end and +recovery options in your build through procs and set bonuses and are still coming up short - then you have to just make the hard choice of want vs. need, and perhaps eliminate some of those extraneous toggles. It may also free up slotting or provide room for extra attacks that allow you to kill faster, thusly saving overall endurance. Your toons do not have to be capped on def or resists to be effective. Leadership is a nicety, but is not a necessity. I rarely take Tactics - while it is a great power, I hit fine without it with whatever global accuracy I get from set bonuses, and that's even in elevated/higher level content. Maneuvers - great power too, but Combat Jumping gives almost the same amount for far less endurance usage. But again, capped def or resists are nice, but not needed. Only for specialized content do you need such specialized builds. So, of course, I can see doing this type of building for that specialized content (like 4-star TFs/SFs, and such). But you'll also most likely be teamed with someone who will provide you with some sort of end/recovery. Even most incarnate content, you will be fine without (and also probably teamed). Remember those things called inspirations?? Those shore up any shortfalls in your build when you need them. Play comfortably, kill quickly, and use inspires for the really tough moments. That's all I can think to suggest. 🙂