Frozen Burn

@NorseStar, @Mister Mass, @Ironblade, and all..... Here is an old Excel workbook that was circulated back during Live for tracking your crafting. I wish I can remember who created it to give them credit - so if anyone knows, please speak up! This is really a masterful sheet, and easy to use, and you can load multiple characters if you want. I love pen/pencil and paper too, but if you (or others) feel like moving into the modern era, give this a try.... IO Mem Tracker v. 1.09.xlsm

New Zombie twist! The dead guy Zombifies running away screaming, "[Player Name] killed me! They're murderers!" and then the ambush of troops come to get their revenge! 😄 Then in the following mish, you can use one of the Zombie / Banished Pantheon / etc foes as your guy that you have to put down again. 😄

First time seeing this thread, but the recharge isn't that bad. Any more and it is too OP. It's base recharge is 200s and lasts for 90s. With max recharge, you can get that down to 40s. That allows you (1 character) to have 2 out at once and doubling the regen buff (it does stack on itself from same caster). Now, not everyone gets max recharge, but even my Traps Defender with Beacon recharge down to 62s can double stack them for ~30s. When I cast Ageless, Beacon goes down to 50s Recharge with 40s of overlap, and if the battle still goes on, I am basically having 2 out perma - as one drops, I cast another to stack. Reducing the base recharge any more would allow for triple stacks, and that is WAY OP. They would then have to also reduce the duration, and that is not beneficial either. So, the current recharge on the Beacon is fine, in my opinion.

Doing the same thing over and over again is not insanity - it's just rhythm, habit, cadence - some find comfort in this; others, boredom. Insanity is: doing the same thing over and over again AND expecting a different outcome each time you do it. 🙂 So, of the characters you listed, they all have swords, which is melee - and you state you prefer range.... so your insanity is playing melee each time and still expecting to shoot stuff. 😄 Well, how about breaking your mold - pick a Blaster, Corruptor, or Sentinel, and instead of creating an homage... just create your own unique hero/vigilante/rogue/villain. I am sure you know enough about the game to know what you like and don't like. You've seen other sets you haven't played and they might look neat. Pick a combo, create your own concept for the character, and try it out.

Completely against this. Accolades are just that - a reward for doing something great or difficult. One should not be able to just purchase them for any amount of in-game or real currency. Too many people are requesting "easy-buttons" for this game and then we hear "the game isn't challenging enough." This request only adds to making things too easy and skipping content. And yes, I get these accolades on ALL my alts and I am happy to do the work, play the game, and achieve these rewards on each character. Again, they mean something to me to have them on my characters.

Hi. Welcome to the game and forums! This is a classic combo and can be quite heavy hitting, however, you are gimping yourself in some areas. Gun Drone - Best slotted for damage, not taunt. Yes, it will taunt anyway and will help keep pesky melee foes off you, but its primary function is providing DPS for you. Most other Blaster secondaries have melee powers, other ranged attacks, etc to add to your overall DPS. Given /Dev has a lot of utility and "ambush" style powers... you don't use them that often on a team and doesn't contribute to your DPS. But Gun Drone slotted for damage helps to fill that gap for you. Additionally, with enough global recharge, you can have 2 gun drones out at once (and if a lot, when speed boosted, you can get 3 out). ....Something to also consider for your build. Flamethrower and M30 Grenade - AR is mostly lethal damage which is one of the most resisted damage types. Having Fire damage mixed in helps increase your damage output. Flamethrower will be used more and is more effective than Buckshot, and does 100% fire damage. M30 Grenade helps with this as well and also does fire damage, but some do skip it because they hate the KB - but it's a great AOE. It's great you have ignite which is also 100% fire damage, but foes generally run out of the burn patch, so you don't get full damage out of it, unless the mob is held/immob'd/locked in place somehow - it's great for AVs, though. I would suggest having all three in your build. Web grenade - don't need that much immob slotting. Slots probably better used elsewhere. The base duration is already pretty long and it recharges really fast. I generally slot just a single Acc/Mez HO in it. If you're looking for set bonuses, then try to find a damage set for the bonus instead of an immob set. Taser - big missed opportunity here. It does really high damage and will stun. Take it and slot it for damage. If you take beanbag too, you can stun a boss, which removes them from the fight (ie 100% damage mitigation). ...just something else to consider/think about. Trip Mines (and Time Bomb that you skipped) are situational. It's very hard to use these on a team that is rolling. If you know spawn points of potential ambushes (like in TFs or some missions), you can set up your own ambushes with these and they do great! These are better for soloing, and more difficult when teaming - but still doable and worth taking Trip Mines, at least. They did make it so you can "toe-bomb" a foe with Trip mine, but it lowers your over all DPS, despite the high damage. Still worth taking, but just wanted to let you know on practical uses vs. seeing it in the planner. Targeting Drone - you don't really need the +perception proc in it, unless you plan to PVP. Targeting drone already gives you +perception and that covers all your PVE needs. 6 slotting purple sets in Full Auto & Sniper Rifle - unneeded. The buff you get from that 6th slot is useless overall and you can use those 2 slots elsewhere, like some endmod IOs in Field Op to help your overall recovery (which is low for your output). You could also potentially get rid of the more expensive Numinas and Miracle in Health and put those slots in Field Op for cheaper Perf Shifters Endmod, Endmod/Acc, and Endmod Rech - would probably also net you more recovery overall, as Field Op is that good. ...something to tinker with. But still don't need those 6th slots with purples either - so plenty of slots you can move around and play with.

Absolutely not! Teammates help keep you alive when it happens! 😄 ....plus, it's just too funny to bounce along with teammates as a monkey.

Dark Armor is a great set! Love it. It can be end heavy with all the toggles, so you have to manage them all early on and as you level up. Once you get to your 30s and 40s with your IO sets and most of the slots for them, you'll really see it shine. Of course, all the extra end management things you can do for a toon early (Panacea, miracle, numina specials in health, slotted up stamina, etc) all as early as you can is advised and doable. Spines is a great AOE set to pair with Dark. You get Quills, which is another PBAOE toggle damage/taunt aura, Spine burst, Ripper (melee cone), Throw Spines (Ranged wide Cone). I would lean towards a Tank over a Brute since you get more HPs, higher resist caps, large AOE radius, and larger aggro cap. With the recent boost to Tank damage output and since you're duoing with a blaster mostly - the better defenses and better aggro management would be more beneficially as the Blaster fills in the DPS hole. Again, it might be frustrating with end management early on, but again, stick with it and it will a beast that you love.

No, but it does use the mobs to buff you. It is working as intended and not a bug.

That what Secondary Mutation is for - it is a self-buff. Mystic Fortune is for those that want to share a buff to stack.

All ATs are good in the end game. And the end game is nothing but min/maxing your character with incarnates. So, pick something you like to play for the journey and ride to the end game. And if you can't decide... that's ok! You have 1000 character slots for all your altitis - make all of your choices! 🙂

Contrary to others, I solo Blasters just fine and at increased levels. It is completely doable. I will always choose a Blaster over other ATs, if given a choice. Blasters also get some very heavy hitting melee attacks - all depending on your secondary, of course. You will also get controls, which will increase your survivability while you dish out all that damage. Sentinels, will provide you with an easier time given they have a shield set, but they aren't infallible either. But they have only the primary ranged attack set. No melee powers, unless you can find one in the epics. In my opinion, they are rather the "easy button" of ranged fighting and kind of boring. Whenever I play mine, I'm always thinking - "I could be doing more damage and killing these the mobs faster if I was on my blaster." 😄 Many also solo Corruptors quite easily and are happy with it. You get a buff/debuff set to help you survive. They can be fun, but when I play mine, again, i think "I could being doing so much more on my Blaster." (Some even solo their Defenders because they get a damage bonus when solo. But you're not going to be near the damage output as other ATs.) Dominators are a ranged/melee class that can deal a lot of damage are soloable. They can be fun, but it's tough until you get perma-Domination. ...So, it depends on what you want to do and play.

Mutation is your origin (which is superfluous) and Blaster is the AT... what are your powersets? We'll be happy to share build advice. All Blaster powersets are good and viable. Like anything, some combos shine more than others, but all are worth playing.

It's been a while since I've played my Rad Defender or Corruptor, but both have this issue: It seems the button for Radiation Infection (-Def, -ToHit) and Enervating Field (-Dmg, -Res) have swapped. This button is SUPPOSED to be for Radiation Infection, but it is casting Enervating Field. It has the Shield and Crosshairs with the downward arc below to show it's a -Def and -ToHit debuff so it's supposed to go with RI - but hovering over it in-game, it says it's "Enervating Field" and it actually casts EF. This Button is SUPPOSED to be Enervating Field, but it's casting Radiation Infection. It has the Damage symbol with the downward arc signifying it's a Damage Debuff so it's supposed to go with EF - but hovering over it in game, it says it's "Radiation Infection" and it actually casts RI. I searched the forums for this issue but found no mention... was there an intentional swap? Or is this truly a bug? Can we get this fixed and switched back? This really hurts my brain from looking at all these button symbols over the years and knowing them, but then trying to reverse these two in my brain so i cast the power I want - owies on the noodle! 😄

YES! MOAR QUIVERS, PLEASE! 🙂

I agree Ice/Cold Corr would fit the theme well, and you can have the shields they cast and other powers different colors if you wanted. You could also perhaps have The Glass Fox be melee instead of range... an Ice/Ice Tank, Brute, Scrapper, or even Stalker to be even more "darker/devious" thematic-wise. If you want to get away from Ice on The Glass Fox, then Energy Blast with different colors could look like refracted light. Or even Energy melee. Energy Shield set could be an interesting light-refracting set.

Yes, there are explore badges in the regular Sewer Network as well as the Abandoned Sewer Network. So, that's 16 badges and 10 merits!

IVy arc in Neutropolis.... CAsey Chen gives you a clock robot to help out... [NPC] Dismantler: GREETINGS. I AM BEING CONTROLLED BY CASEY CHEN. PRAETOR BERRY IS STUPID. THAT IS ALL. [NPC] Mender: CHEN SENDS ME TO AID YOU. [NPC] Mender: HE NOTES THAT IF YOU DIE, HE WILL NOT CRY AT YOUR FUNERAL. [NPC] Mender: NOTHING PERSONAL.

Agreed. There are story arcs that are very long and nothing but clock. I avoid all clockwork story arcs too. But with the story arcs, you can take other missions from other contacts to break up the monotony - a Task Force, you cannot.

Yes, it' FAR more tedious than the Shard TFs. I run the shard TFs a lot and they are some of my favorites, even though DR Q is long. I actually solo that one in the same time it takes to do a Synapse and it has more varying missions and varying types of foes to face. Justin Augustine is fairly tedious because of all the hunts, but there are different mob types and it goes quick - unlike Synapse. And if you say your memory of shard TFs is old... you should run some now. With travel as easy as it is now, these TFs can be done in 30-90 mins. The days of 8+ hours of a single shard TF have been long gone. 🙂 So to me, Synapse is THE most tedious and worst TF in the game. 😛 (But still worth the occasional run for the low level xp, merits, and a badge!)

Synapse isn't long... 1-1.5 hrs is fine.... it's just the TF is TEDIOUS to no end. You face 1 enemy type, and then the majority of it is defeat all missions. That is what makes that 1-1.5 hrs seem like 10 hours. We start out defeating all, then hunt and talk to a guy who suggests defeating all in a substation, then defeat all in the next station, and then just to be sure, go to a 3rd and defeat all of them there too. Do a small patrol (which is annoying) and then defeat all in the HQ. Do a larger patrol (which is a larger waste of time), but then you can go all the way to the back end of Boomtown for the shortest map on the TF and ONLY defeat the final boss and their room (yay!). You get another defeat boss only mission (yippee!). You get another defeat boss, but you also have to rescue a bunch of hostages, so it's basically a defeat all anyway. And then finally, another kill final boss - but watch out for the GM ambush, and then after running to another zone just to double back to where you were to get a temp power that is largely not needed anymore, we get to race to the end to defeat the King. We also talk to and deal with Posi more than we do Synapse! This should be named Posi 3! Especially since the majority of it occurs in Steel Canyon. How about maybe doing that, and then create a whole new TF for Synapse that takes place mostly in Skyway? (Wishful thinking, I know.) Chop out 2 of the defeat all in substations, remove 1 or both patrols, and either get rid of the clock immobilizer altogether or have it auto drop on leader to eliminate the need to go back to Posi - any and all would make the TF shorter and tolerable, but still have some meat on it.

Yes, a lot people convert the merits into inf by buying converters or boosters and selling them on the market. You can also use your merits to buy AT IOs, Event IOs, or Purple recipes at the merit vendor. You said you don't have any purple IOs, well, you can get some now. They cost 100 each. 🙂

Correct. They are also found in Striga in larger numbers - maybe that's where the mission could refer to to help promote people leveling up to go there.

The Sunflare Surfer is the all-time galaxy champion of solar and sun-flare surfing. Growing up on Talos Island, he spent most of his time surfing and hanging at the beach. When he eventually developed his mutant fire powers and tolerance for heat and radiation, he successfully tested himself by surfing the plasma waves and flares of the Earth's sun. He now goes from star to star looking for the biggest waves and flares to ride and competing in the galaxy's sun-surfing tournament circuit. There are very few who can compete with the Sunflare Surfer as many are just not that talented or can't stand the heat--literally! Even though the Sunflare Surfer is also a registered "hero" with Paragon City's Hero Corps, he would rather be on a beach or the nearest star. Lately, he can generally be found off the coast and beaches of the Rogue Isles where the waves are "totally rad, dude!" Oh yeah... there is some villainy to stop there too. (Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster)