Frozen Burn

You need to have some Accuracy and Confuse duration slotted in it. The downfall of WoC is that it will get only minions and they all have to be in melee range too. So you have to be fine with having your blaster in melee range (i do!) and slotting the purple Contagious Confusion proc will help you get LTs - maybe Bosses too (can't remember) - but that proc can't be slotted until you're lvl 50. World of Confusion can be good but generally best left for taking in mid to late levels when you can devote slots to it. I think most people skip the power altogether. But since I like to play my blasters in melee range, Any little bit of damage mitigation that I can get is great!

Typically, if a group wants to reserve a public space, they have to go to City Hall, the Parks Dept, or etc and get a permit to reserve that public space for their private function. ....so.... ask those players if they've secured the necessary permits to reserve that public space and have them email you a copy! I bet there is no one inside City Hall that would issue their permit. 😄

No changes. RNG is being good to you! The first week after release, I had 4 drop from rando missions. ....2 in the 2nd week. ...none since, though. 🙂

Yeah, they made those improvements for Blaster /Devices with the Aug 27, 2019 patch after the page 2 release, but unfortunately, these updates didn't carry over for Traps: It would be great if they did make those changes for Traps too (not sure why they didn't). And as for multiple Gun Drones - it's certainly doable.... The base Rech is 180s and it lasts 90s. You can easily have 2 out for a little bit with only max Rech in the power and Hasten (~170% total Haste) which gives Gun Drone roughly a 67s Rech. If you can get to ~295% Haste, it will get down to ~45s Rech and you can have 2 out perma. At about 370% Haste, you'll be down to max bottom Rech of 36s (capped at 1/5 or 20% of base Rech) and you can have 3 out, but the first one will self-destruct soon after spawning the third. To get 3 perma Gunnies out (30s Rech), you have to have outside help from another player like with Speed Boost, Accelerate Metabolism, Ageless, etc.

The only Page 4 defeat badges are for the twin robots in the Advanced ITF (1-4 star) and for the 100 Ravenna Clan members which you get from running Sister Valeria's arc.

EBs are fine the way they are. Anything more and some ATs would struggle too much to defeat them. And... they are Elite BOSSES... so if anything, they should be closer to boss lvl than closer to AV/Hero lvl. I also recognize the need/want to have something between an EB and an AV/Hero, but I think that starts muddying up the rankings. Not opposed to it, but would have to see how it would implement / spawn. They would have to have their own toggle "solo sub-AVs" (or whatever they will be called) to be separate from "solo Bosses" and Solo AVs."

I love the idea of TFs for Praetoria! I love starting toons there and running through the content - and TFs there would be a great way to draw to others to those zones too. However, since it seems most people are concerned about any TFs messing up story progression... I think the the TFs should be lvl 20+. This would give more content in the main zones outside of First Ward and Night Ward - that I think most praetorian players skip since there is nothing content-wise in the main zones that draw them there (since First/Night Wards came in after the others). But maybe a TF can cover this content gap? Anyway, I would think any TFs would have to start at lvl 20. Perhaps, Praetor Duncan in Nova gives one lvl 20-25 (maybe it could be about her revenge regarding the Destroyer incident?). Then Sinclair in Imperial City can give us one lvl 25-30. And then maybe Anti-Matter can do one in Neutropolis at lvl 30-35 (something about how we do something nefarious in an attempt to show how much he loves Praetor Duncan)? There is SO much lore in Praetoria that could be tapped into for TFs there that we could have TFs all the way up to lvl 50. Ooo, and Emperor Cole lvl 45-50+ TF that is all about setting up the invasion of Primal Earth could be fun! Calvin Scott (primal) used to be in IP standing near Aurora / Sister Psyche and he had his own TF that is now in Ouro (last I heard). Perhaps he can have a new Resistance themed TF in the Tunnels (obviously he'd have to stand outside of the Resistance Base for any Loyalists/Vills/Rogues to talk to him. I really like this idea @KingCeddd03. 🙂

/Devices is great in that it pair with everything. So it's your choice! I have an Archery/Devices Blaster that is one of my all-time favs. I built for +Rech and +Acc/ToHit to leverage Archery's inherent accuracy and fast firing. /Devices is perfect for ambushing mobs.... this can be slow going while you set up, whether solo or on a team. Your team certainly won't slow down so you set up, so sometimes you have to think ahead of your team and stealth ahead to set up the ambush point. But when the mobs do run into your Trip Mines covered in your Caltrops - it is glorious! On a team, you may not use Trip Mines, or Time Bomb all that much. Improvements were made so that these are more team-friendly powers. You can toe-bomb enemies with Trip Mine now - you used to always get interrupted but now, not. Do not skip Gun Drone. That is your big source of damage outside of your primary and very team friendly. With decent recharge, you can have 2 out perma. With lots of Rech like my toon, you can get 3 out (and with speed boost from someone else, that 3 will be perma). Gun Drone also has a small taunt component to it so foes will attack it instead of you - and they also gave Gun Drone some decent armor to hold up a bit for taking that aggro. Also, do not skip Field Operative! That is your endurance sustain toggle. It also gives a bit of Def to all as well, which is nice. I've seen other people skip this power because they didn't want a stealthiness, but then they scream they have no endurance. Taser: even though it's a single target stun, it does high damage. Devs did that to all blaster single target mezzes... make them do really good damage. I slotted mine for damage too. It still works great for stacking with my Stunning Shot to take a pesky boss out of the fight. Caltrops seem "meh" but they are amazing for keeping those annoying melee mobs off you. It mitigates their damage while they try to flee. Web Grenade seems "meh" too, but it has its uses as well. It will do more damage than your T1 primary and has a -fly component which is always useful too. Good luck and have fun!!

Defeat badges never award retroactively. You'll have to run that content again to get those kills. That's what I had to do on my badger. ...just like I had to kill 50 of those 5th column soldiers that turn into a werewolf - i've defeated many over the years the game has been back, but badge credit starts at 0 when the badge was released. Posi 1&2 will be WSTs next week - so, if you can wait a couple days, perfect double-excuse to run them again. 🙂

Never Combustion. Too long of an animation and too low damage for that time wasted. Consume is best slotted for Damage and used as another AOE and those rare occurrences when your recovery and end is stolen away - even slotted for damage, it can get you enough end to sate you until your recovery returns from the debuff. Burn is situational depending on your playstyle and other powers you might take. if you take fire epic and take Bonfire with a KB>KD proc in it, it's great to drop the Bonfire and then a Burn patch while they flop in it. Burn has some use for releasing you from immobilization, if you don't have protection from elsewhere. My main is an Ice/Fire/Fire blaster and I drop a burn patch on things I hold and then go about killing other things while the DoT eats away at them. Blizzard, Ice Storm, Bonfire, Hotfeet, Burn, Fire Sword Circle, Consume - glorious AOE to devastate multiple mobs - you just have to be comfortable standing in the middle of an angry mob of enemies. 😄

HA! That is great! I hope you are also using the Ninja Run stance for the hunched-over look and the flip at the top of your jump like the Redcaps do. 😄

Welcome back to the game and glad you are finally getting IOs and Incarnate figured out. As others have stated above, "speed" runs are not for those that want to power through and feel "useful" or feel like you are doing something. Speed runs are all about getting the entire task over with ASAP and typically maxxed out toons on the lowest setting all them to easily burn through the objectives to quickly get the end reward. To continue growing your incarnates and feel "useful" on a team, look for teams that are "steamrolling" or just fighting through content - typically anything "non-speed." Every Saturday around 3PM ET, there is a group that runs through all the incarnate trials - try to get in if you can as some trials have a 24 member league cap and others have a 16 member league cap. iTrials can also be found ad hoc throughout the week as well, typically in the evenings (ET). These are the best way to build your incarnate powers as you can get component drops as rewards. Running the Dark Astoria content is a great way to get incarnate components for your toons as well. Speak to to Captain Nolan (he dropped into your contact list when you unlocked your Alpha). He'll intro duce you to Ephram Shaw that gives repeatable missions in DA and Heather Townsend that will take you through all the arcs. At the end of the arcs, you get a reward table where 1 option is a random incarnate component (common through very rare). Other than that, just running content and defeating enemies will get you incarnate thread drops and veteran levels, which will also grant additional threads and empryean merits for building incarnate powers. defeating enemies and running a WST TF/SF will also grant a Notice of the Well... these are used with Incarnate Shards to help build your Alpha (only). They drop at a lower rate, but they can help you build a tier in your Alpha and you can save your threads and Empyreans for other things. So use them in conjunction with your threads on your alpha - it can help you get your Alpha to Tier 4 pretty quick. Good luck!

Yes, I am aware they took away Emp/Astral conversion to Reward Merits, but that's not how your post read or alluded to. 😛

iTrials never rewarded Reward Merits before page 4. Not sure where you got that from. But all Reward Merits received for an iTrial now are ON TOP of normal existing rewards. I run all iTrials every weekend and all my rewards are the same, but now I get bonus Reward Merits and Aethers. And, like other Trials, TFs, SFs, Hami-raids - there are diminishing returns for Reward Merits for repeating content, which includes iTrials. This is normal. And sorry if you don't like all the iTrials or running all of them - but that's on you. I like every single one. And I team with a lot of people that also like to run every single one. But still... like anything else... if you run a BAF many times over and over again, you'll only get the reward merits for the one - BUT you still get all your Emp, Astrals, and components like normal. So you still get everything you got before page 4, but you get bonus Reward Merits for at least 1 BAF. Nothing is being lost with the iTrials in Page 4 and there is only gains.

The assumed stressed is perceived from all your lengthy posts and well, this thread in general. There is a lot of back-and-forth over something so minor like Aethers. That typically is a sign of stress - even if you don't think you are stressed, you may be. Stress is a silent and hidden killer. (Ooo... maybe a new Stalker name! "Stress" 😄 ) I don't think Page 4 was rushed at all, we had 6 weeks with it on Brainstorm. And that is certainly plenty of time for even a casual player like myself to get on and test it out. I'm sorry you missed your chance. And there is purpose to making these Aethers not as readily accessible and that is to give their worthless value some longevity. The Devs didn't want to drop something new and have everyone be able to get all their characters the new shiny at once - because then people would be bored with the new shiny sooner. It would be poor implementation to use a current currency (that most people have stockpiled and would instantly get all the goodies at once) and/or make the new currency SO easy to get that people have all they need within a week or so of the release. ...this is NOT poor planning on the Devs part. You just seem to be in a rush to get all the badges on all your alts... but embrace the journey. 🙂 I casually play. I am 13 Aethers away from getting the last badge on my main from running content (never purchase off market). I'm not pushing to get the remainder and I'm certainly not buying any of them... I'll get them as they drop. iTrials are not the only way to get them (Running TPN and UG first is best so you get 3). Running hardmode ITF or ASF is the best way to get them. That is how I got most of mine at 1-2 stars, ran couple 3 stars and one 4-star ASF) and since they are transferable, I can play whatever character I want and then give them to my badger. Running the WST with a lvl 50 is a good way to get them, while you may only get a couple at a time, they add up since typically one runs the WST multiple times a week on many different characters. Anyway, sorry you feel disappointed in the release. PS - thanks for the decently priced PVP IOs.... when they don't drop, they are the only special IOs I purchase off market and not with reward merits. 👍

Dude, you're getting butt hurt over something SO minor here. So what if a new currency was added in? It's mostly useless unless you want the new NPC costumes. You don't want the costumes - then why do you care so much that they didn't use an existing currency? And I for one, would NOT want reward merits to be chewed up to use for these. It's like Halloween Salvage and Candy Canes... would you really want Reward Merits to be used for those un-necessary / frivolous items you buy with them as well? I do NOT. Reward Merits are too precious for me as they are how I get all ATO/Event enhancements as a good number of purples, as I refuse to pay the stupid prices on market for these things and purples rarely drop for me. (I am a casual player who doesn't farm and doesn't have billions of influence lying around.) But nevertheless, at the end of the day... these Aethers impact you 0 (zero). They do nothing but give some people something to strive for and collect. And you can see by how they are traded on the market that those people are enjoying them and others are enjoying selling them. If you want no part of it, that's fine. The game still plays like it did before and you can continue to enjoy it. I feel like you're getting all stressed out over something that is SO minor and negligent. Plus, you're also treating the Dev team like they are paid employees of a company to build out and develop this game like it used to be. These are VOLUNTEER devs... give them a break. They ARE producing new content and new powersets as they can. They are also producing some new events, and yeah, new frivolous costume thingies that were requested by players and was a low-hanging fruit to implement because the system was ALREADY in place from a previous event. Give them a break, dude. And give yourself a break - I feel like you're giving yourself an ulcer over this and I don't want you ending up in the hospital - we need all the people in-game that we can get! 😄

So I don't get all the beef and gripes about the Aethers. It's pretty simple... Aethers are are worthless unless you want an NPC costume. They are just like Halloween Salvage (and even Candy Canes) that now drop from various things all year round. Yes, they started off be being worht a LTO onthe market because there are people out there that HAVE TO HAVE all the NPC costumes and badges NAOW! ... and they paid for them. I think most everyone saw the bottom dropping out on the market of these as more Aethers hit the market. And the price of them will continue to plummet - even with new additional NPC costume items being added later. Not everyone wants these and I am only collecting them (slowly as they happen to come) on my badger for the badges. Once I get my 4 shinies, I'm done. As I collect them after that, i might sell them on the market or save them for a goof costume an alt - maybe. But, they'll eventually sit in my inventory like all the Halloween salvage and candy canes I have. I have no problem with the Devs putting this in the game. It's something new, something different, and some people really like it. Just 'cuz it's not my jam doesn't mean i'm gonna hate on it. It does nothing to impact my game play or what i do other than give me 4 more badges to collect - which i enjoy doing. So again, not sure what the big issue is about Aethers. Collect them if you want - many paths to get them. Or don't collect them if you don't want them - and sell them or in a month or so, buy a rando NPC costume on a lark with all that you saved up.

If you're talking about character creation time included... it can take all day to several days. The concept, name, and costume all have to be something that I really like or i will never the the toon. Sometimes a bio is included in that creation. Sometimes, I have to do a Mids build ahead of time to see if i like the pairing of power sets - that can take hours too. Once the character is in game, then it's just a couple mins to see P2W vendor, fix the UI, and then running through the tutorial or running one of the initial contacts.

In the past week, I've experienced more Group Flyers than I have since the game has been back. Mostly MMs wanting their pets to fly - which is fine - they need this! I would love to have this ability with my MMs, but I refuse to take Group Fly or Team Teleport as these choices SHOULDN'T have to make me/everyone else take ALL my/our characters to see null the Gull to turn it off. What needs to happen... and I know this is HUGE ask... but Group fly (and Team Teleport) should automatically be OFF for other players and only on for the character and their pets. Everyone else should have to opt in. OR.... Give everyone the ability to turn on/off Group Fly (and Team Teleport) through our Options Menu. That way we can do it on the fly as we encounter people with these annoying team powers.

Taken Sept 5, 2022 - US Labor Day Holiday.... Even Giant Monsters need a rest form work....

This right here is your answer to everything. If you like it... great! if not, ok too. Not everyone likes Picasso, or Renoir, or Anne Geddes, or whoever made "Dogs Playing Poker" .... There are a lot posted on the forum that I don't particularly care for either and I think "what were they thinking and why are people liking that? But okay, whatever... glad they are happy." And then there are a lot that I do like too and I am happy to give them a like or thumbs up. I post some of mine too... it's great when people like them, but ok if they don't... I make them to MY liking first and foremost. I share them in case perhaps it inspires someone else for something they want to do. I also get inspiration from others. But at the end of the day.... it's subjective and is what appeals to you. 🙂

Thanks. I appreciate the clarification. However, i'm kind of disappointed that she can fly in the last mish because it's WAY too easy. It's like... why have this mission? You free her and then fly her out without ever killing a thing. The entire mission takes 5 secs. Always seemed like a waste to me. Yeah, I know people would raise hell, but people want everything too easy these days. Perhaps if reward merits were upped, people would be onboard for her staying grounded in last mission. ??? ....but that's for the suggestion section. 🙂

Patch notes says she no longer flies... but in final mission of the Katie Hannon TF, she still flies.

Hi, thanks. Yes, I know flipping a 2nd of SOME items - like the flat flooring piece you described will work.... and I have done that in the few places that I can make it work. However, there are so many 3D objects that you cannot add a bottom to by flipping another piece or a piece of flooring because size doesn't match, other types of incongruity, or the design just doesn't fit. I appreciate the thought, though! (and nice looking library!)

1. I have a Roman themed base and could use: more of the Roman building blocks - small to large brick block for building platforms and ledges. Currently, I am placing stairs, and flipping another set of stairs to put on top of it matching up the steps to create a solid block - this is painful, time consuming, and difficult to create a city. I'd also like the rest of the Roman archways - the bridge / platform pieces. We get "Roman Archway" large and small, but they really just columns... we have no pieces to create the platform to bridge across. 2. What is HUGELY needed are pieces that have a bottom or back! MANY times I find a piece I want to use in an elevated position, but can't because it has no bottom and you can see right through it! This is SO frustrating and disappointing. 3. Way to move pieces with the keyboard only (no mouse) - from nudging a few pixels to moving several feet. I have a base of islands in the shadow shard and using large rocks to cover the underside and sides of the plot to hid sightlines. However, it is now extremely hard to impossible to select an object on the plot, unless I go to the "Room Items" option and find the piece in the placed list. If I do, and select it, Whenever I try to click on the piece to move it, rotate it, or whatnot, I end up selecting the large rock instead because the "box" takes priority, apparently. Being able to nudge or move a piece SOLELY with the keyboard would help here. 4. This brings up another problem I have, because there are so many rocks placed on the ploy to cover sightlines, I cannot even select the plot floor when inside to raise/lower the floor or ceiling. Someone above suggested being able to "lock" pieces into place - perhaps this is what would make my issue here and in point #3 go away - Lock a piece in place and the bluebox goes away and you cannot select the piece again, until you unlock it. ??? If that is possible - that could be a game-changer... or a base-building changer! 😄