Frozen Burn

You could try this route.... Hats - any of the Warrior or Ninja Hoods Detail 1 = any goggles / glasses you like. Although, this is less ninja / tied on mask looking, but it is a "textured" look.

Yeah, no great options for decent half masks. There are none that are textured. Only the "tight-look" from the Face option seems to be anything that gives a half-mask. The best I could come up with is below: Full Masks Face option = Half Detail 2 = Tied Headband

Could be. But it /Martial Combat for blasters came to us in issue 24 right before the game closed, which is significantly later than issue 18 when Going Rogue came out. But he could have been an influence.

Hmm...I don't know... I normally wouldn't say Maelstrom is the reason we have Dual Pistols, since Malta Gunslingers have had them from the start. While they aren't at Maelstrom's level, I do remember many people asking for Dual Pistols long before Going Rogue (and thusly, Maelstrom) came out. But, perhaps Maelstrom was the catalyst to make it all happen.

I just looked myself. Apparently, Desdemona is not in AE as an option, sadly. (Didn't see Maelstrom either.) She can be found in alignment tip missions and in the iTrials. Check out: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Desdemona for the tip missions you can find her in. The pic of her on the site isn't very good, unfortunately.

@desarix, I don't farm and I don't buy recipes or "big-cost" IOs off the market. (I may buy some of the cheap ones, though.) By running normal content, I get all my AT enhancements or Winter set enhancements through merits. And I min/max each build with purples, AT sets, Winter sets, and PvP IOs - and I get all these without farming. I prefer running TFs and Trials to get merits - and you also get good money too, especially if you run at +4. Look for completing the Weekly Strike Target TFs/SFs/Trials as you get double merits for the first time you run one that week. Story arcs give really good merit rewards too. Run any that you missed through Ouro. Run them multiple times too, if you want. Plenty of merits to be had there. Someone above mentioned the nightly Hami Raid and converting merits to inf. I prefer keeping them as merits as you can generally get more IOs that way and you don't have to worry bout fluctuating market values. 1 raid (3 hami kills per raid) which takes roughly 30 mins of time total, and you can walk away with 160 merits. Do the second raid that night and get another 160 for 380 merits total in 1-1.5 hours' time. That is 3 purples, or 3 AT IOs, or 3 Winter Event IOs (each cost 100 merits) + 80 merits leftover to add to the next night. Or run a TF to get over 100 more merits for a 4th purple/AT/Winter IO. Crafting, Converting, and selling the recipe drops you get will also get you money too, as others have mentioned. Just look at the market to see what is going for what. You'll eventually get to know what sells for good prices and what doesn't. As long as you make money (even just a little bit) from your crafted IO, you're golden. But you can easily get what you want for your builds by running normal content and not having to farm.

@Psyonico is right... It only boosts your generator's def for about 12-13 secs since you have to hit power buildup and then cast the generator. I took Power Build Up thinking it would boost the generator until it despawned (like the bubbles from my FF Defender), but sadly, no, it does not.

What about a human form only Warshade? Warshades have "dark" / negative energy powers, do a lot of life draining, and even consume corpses. Especially with powers named: Sunless Mire, Essences Drain, Orbiting Death, Dark Extraction, Eclipse, and etc etc etc. 🙂

I like it! I think you did well with blending the looks of your inspiration and I can totally see this as a Psi Tank.

I'll jump in and share some. In addition to Temporal Manipulation's Time Lord (and Chrono Shift as mentioned above), for powers that can give +Rech to SELF, there is: Super Reflexes: Quickness Electric Armor: Lightning Reflexes Radiation Armor: Beta Decay Radiation Manipulation: Beta Decay Tactical Arrow: Gymnastics Electrical Affinity: Energizing Circuit - even though you target an ally, the buff chains and can buff you as well. Kinetics: Siphon Speed Arachnos Soldier/Bane/Crab: Mental Training There may be more out there that I can't think of at the moment. And can't remember if any of the Bio or Staff forms grants a self-buff to Rech.

Distortion Field: YEah, it's a little lack-luster at first. But it's good with the Lockdown chance for +2 mag proc in it. Also, if you stand in it with your Time's Juncture, things literally can barely move, giving more opportunity for the chance to hold to activate. Also, foes with Time Crawl on them have a higher chance of being held too.

As @arcane said, Blasters endurance issues were solved long ago. Each secondary got a "sustain" power that provides endurance and some other buff like regen, absorb, or etc - sometimes a 3rd buff tacked on like +res to sleep or whatever. When slotted, the sustain power (like Cauterizing Aura) can be even better than slotted Stamina. So the Theft of Essence proc is not needed at all on a blaster - especially a /fire blaster that also gets Consume (which, if taken, should be slotted for damage and used as a PBAOE damage power - even with damage slotting, it still gives enough end to top you off if you've faced a sapper or something else that gives -recovery / end drain).

Well done! Love where and how you went with this. And the new look is awesome! I will do the same thing with some of my toons that I have good concept and/or backstory for. I'll give them a new look depending on the content and/or foes they fight. My Praetorians usually get a new look for when they come to Primal, A hero gets a new look when they become a vigilante, A villain gets an upgrade in their quest for new power. As you said, it doesn't affect the game itself, but it really does make playing the character THAT more enjoyable. 🙂

I understand this concept. However, that's not the case.... I had a ton of common salvage (all random items and random quantities) posted for 100 inf each. The bid history when I looked over the 2 days they were posted, showed people were buying at 200-500 inf. Yes, people could have been posting for less, there is a display bug, I was in no rush so I let it stand another day. But generally, when I post for 100 each they sell within moments or at least overnight. Never has it taken 3 days to sell common salvage at that price. So when they hadn't sold on that 3rd day, I took them down and reposted them at 100 each - they immediately sold. So yeah, something is screwy with the queue system.

Yeah, I knew about the seeding. But not about the salvage converting to something else to fill an order. Thanks for the info you gave and I appreciate you looking for the Dev post, though. There is definitively something screwy with the queue system. I've posted a ton of salvage for cheap and they never sell over 2 days despite bids being filled at higher prices - so I chalked it up to display bug and let them sit for another day or 2. Still didn't sell. They only sold (and instantly) when I reposted them -- even at the same original selling price! So, yeah, something definitely screwy. And when purchasing, when I get some and not others, and then get further items and still not the ones I bid on in the middle... I can now see how that could be the queue system messing up -- but I didn't recognize that was the case since it's on a smaller scale as I'm only purchasing 3-4 different items (1 or 2 each) at a time. So it appears like this "bucketing" things doesn't exist and I'm just waiting on a specific piece of salvage. Thanks to you, @Andreah, @iBot, @AboveTheChemist, @Yomo Kimyata, and everyone anyone else for the assist in figuring all this out. UGH! ...but relieved I now know where to focus my bug reports! 😄 Hahaha.

I get the appeal of the new Endmod/damage sets. But quite frankly, they're horrible. Not only are the set bonuses "meh," but they do not boost the power's damage enough -- so you will have to boost the IOs themselves to get the damage you want. You say you want a cheap build -- and I am all for that -- but buying all those boosters, is not cheap -- unless you have a stock pile of them from buying a lot of packs. Sure, Infiltration + the Stealth IO for complete invis is fine and yes, does help running around caves better. But you do not need the Stealth Power added in as well - that is completely redundant, unless you plan on PVP'ing where you want the extra invis. You're still all over the place with travel powers. Sure getting across zones faster and getting to the mission quick is great, but if you're a "support" blaster and wanting someone to eat your alphas, then you're still gonna be waiting at the door while they get to the mission -- so a lot of wasted slotting and power picks to be the first one in the mission just to wait for the team. ...something to think about. Teleport vs Flight - pretty redundant especially now that Fly gives inherent Afterburner. If you prefer flying, that is fine (I do too!), keep Evasive Maneuvers, and Hover... but then just keep Combat Teleport in addition. Fold Space is great, add in too if you want, but it does require some accuracy -- even double slotted acc for higher level mobs. Teleport Target also seems like a wasted power pick and you could get something else. The Blaster set bonus is Ranged/Energy/Negative. You get 5% Ranged + 2.5% Enrg/Neg on one, and 5% Enrg/Neg + 2.5% ranged on the other = 7.5% to Range/Enrg/Neg... that's huge. And even if you are in melee range, have a defense to ranged attacks is still good as some mobs will still shoot at you until they close in and/or switch to melee-mode. And having +7.5% extra Def to Enrg/Neg is always good since Energy is one of the most common damage types out there. Yeah, mids hasn't updated Tesla Cage to reflect the change. See the patch notes here: You can also read about Voltaic Sentinel there too. No, it doesn't wander off (too far) like other pets. It stays fairly close and attacks mobs. Mobs will also try to attack it, but since it is untargetable, they can't and the mob runs in circles around it not knowing what to do. It has a soft control that way. Yes, it's a heavy toggle if unslotted, but end redux greatly helps and plus, you have Touch of the Beyond, Stamina, and Dark Consumption - you shouldn't have any end issue at all between the 3. You are exactly right with Dark Consumption - slot for damage instead of end drain. Use it like a PBAOE attack. Even slotted for damage, you can fill your bar off a few mobs. 1 target will still give decent end back, but with the right slotting and use of Touch of the Beyond, you won't need it. Dark Pit - yep, as you said good for taking minions out of a fight. However, still skippable since you are not eating alphas and only coming in after the fact. Take something that helps you kill faster, better, quicker? It is REALLY useful with Oppressive Gloom, like @Nemu build. Toss the Pit, teleport in, and let the Opp Gloom stack to get the LTs and Bosses. But that also means taking a Resistance armor (which I am all for -- I did that with my Dark/Dark/Dark Blaster and they survive quite well even at +4 / other end-game content). ...something else to consider. Totally get that you don't want to melee, but selecting at least the 2 I suggested (Smite and Midnight Grasp) can get you some juicy Defense bonuses with the melee Winter set and either Mako's or Touch of Death (my preference, as it gives similar bonuses to Mako's but with melee defense instead). Even if you don't use the melee powers, they'll give you great bonuses. Good luck! If you make changes to your build, please share what you settle on. 🙂

I have a StJ/Shield Tank and love it! StJ is a very fun set. 2 AOEs plus a 3rd from Shield Charge. With the Tanker buffs, the radii are huge - love it! However, even with end redux in all my powers, stamina slotted, and a Miracle in Health, I have struggled with endurance issues all the way up until I could take Conserve Power from epics. I guess powers recharge fast and I just burn through my endurance. 🙂 I also have been leveling up an MA/SR scrapper - old school, I know!! 😄 Felt the need to go retro for a bit. I forgot how fun it is, despite it being all single target except for Dragon's Tail. I also DID NOT do the alternate animations. I just didn't like them. I was tempted on the one for Crippling Axe Kick, but in the end, just wasn't feeling it. So I did keep the toon completely "old school." hahaha.

You seem to be all over the place with this build. You seem to want to play ranged since you didn't take any melee attacks, but you will need to go into melee for Soul Drain, Dark Consumption, and Short Circuit. Also, Combat Teleport and Fold Space aren't for someone who wants to stay at range either. Given you'll be using SD, DC, and SC - commit to being a melee blaster and add in Smite and Midnight Grasp - they are heavy hitters worth slotting. And I personally would also add in Death Shroud - if foes are in melee with you, let them take more damage! You can also get more Def from melee and PBAOE sets - especially the Winter sets. Too many travel powers - pick 1 or 2 and go with it. I would ditch Flight pool, personally, and that would free up slots for other powers I mentioned above. You don't need Stealth + Infiltration + Stealth IO. pick either Stealth +IO or Infiltration +IO. I'd suggest Stealth (lower end cost) and then put your Stealth IO in Sprint to free up that 2nd slot for a Shield Wall special, Reactive Def Scaling Resist, or Karma KB prot. Touch of the Beyond / Stamina - Don't really need Acc in TotB. The Acc is for the Fear component only. The power is already at base 90% Acc and with enough global Acc bonuses, you'll achieve the Fear on your target - but who cares, since this power is primarily to give you end and regen. However, you have to remember to click the power at least once every 2 mins to get your end/regen buff (which is auto-hit). You will forget to click it. And you may run low on end when no mobs are around - so a couple slots in Stamina may be useful as backup. Feel free to use sets in TotB instead of generics as well. Combat Teleport - Jaunt not needed in it. A single generic range IO will suffice. But the beauty of this power is the +To Hit bonus you get when teleporting. So you could also slot +To Hit in it. Teleport - all those enhs are not needed. Warp Set bonuses are not worth slotting for and those slots can be better used elsewhere. A single End redux and possibly a single range is all you need. Slotting Blessing of the Zephyr is a good way to pick up a little bit of extra Def and some KB Prot. Blaster AT IO sets: Blaster's Wrath and Defiant Barrage, since you said you had extra slots, why didn't you 6 slot those two sets? That's 7.5% to Ranged, Energy, and Neg! Do it. 🙂 I've never seen that many +5 Boosted IOs in a build before! That is a LOT of money for all those boosters. Is that intended or did you have "Show all IOs at max level and +5" selected in your options? This can make you think you're more uber than you are, if that was not intended to have them all at +5. Now for Electric Blast.... You're missing out on some of the best things they changed about the set by skipping Tesla Cage and especially Voltaic Sentinel. Tesla cage is used to execute your Static Charge and it's now a targeted AOE that holds the target and then chain shocks nearby foes doing additional damage. Voltaic Sentinel is now a toggle - so no more constantly clicking! it's an un-targetable pet that constantly does damage and drains foes end. You're missing out on a LOT of added damage and end drain by skipping these. Cold Mastery - I assume you didn't want to go the Scorpion Shield Route, and that's ok. However, I'd switch from Snow Storm to Flash Freeze. I'd think the AOE sleep would be more handy to deal with annoying mobs than having a heavy slow toggle running. I'd also consider switching to Scorp Shield - you can save on power choices, get it earlier, and you can get to or near max +HPs with set bonuses and Accolades - making Hoarfrost not really needed.

Thank you for explaining the "bucketing" theory. I do realize this is the case with IOs and their levels and attuning/un-attuned - I posted about explaining about those. However, for salvage, I find this to be the exact opposite of what I experience. I can put in bids for 3 different types of salvage (same rarity) and sometimes I only get 2. I let the 3rd wait. I put in a bid for a 4th type of same rarity at same price and instantly get it... but yet, I still do not have the 3rd piece I wanted. If what you said was true... I would have gotten that 3rd piece before I got the 4th piece. Also, I've put in a large bid for a rare salvage piece and not got it, but I let it sit - then I put in a bid for another rare salvage piece at a lower bid than first and got it while still never getting the first piece. If the "bucketing" system was true, I would have gotten the first piece at the higher price first. I know the Devs flooded the markets with millions of each type of salvage (albeit, very inflated prices), but why would they do that if there was a "bucketing" / "Converting" system? I looked for the Dev post / patch notes about them saying they did this bucketing system with salvage, but I am not finding one anywhere - do you know where it is? I feel like this is all urban-legend and rumor-mill gone wrong. And if this system truly does exist, then there are several bug reports I need to file.

I tried Poison back on live when it first came out and had a hard time keeping people alive with it and I felt like the debuffs weren't making a difference either. So I never finished playing it or even getting to the T8 and T9 powers, let alone sets and such. I believe there have been buffs / tweaks to the set since, if I recall correctly. ??? Dunno for sure. But maybe I should give it another go this time around and stick with it to see how it goes.

Thanks for the elaboration on the hold mechanics. Good to know! I do realize that Deafening Wave is broken in that it doesn't accept +dmg from other sources. And yes, that is a big part of it's underwhelming performance. But what I meant was, the base enhanceable damage for the power is ALSO lower than other sets with similar PBAOEs. Deafening Wave's base dmg = 60.92. All others are: Atom Smasher = 86.31 Fire Sword Circle = 97.05 Frozen Aura = 79.19 Dragon's Tail = 65.62 Psychic Shockwave = 68.82 The Lotus Drops = 75.63 Thorn Burst = 65.96 End of Time = 68.51 Having played all these other sets, this adds to it really feeling "blah." I noticed it as I was leveling up and before I got my Build Up and Aim and set bonuses. I had always hoped it would get better, and obviously, it didn't since it is broken. But even with the enhanceable damage being the lowest out there, I still felt it.

Correct, a single character cannot buy what it is selling on the market. However, another character on the same account can buy what the first character is selling. I do not find this to be true. Please provide specific examples of these unique "bucketed" items. As this is not the case for invention salvage, recipes, or enhancements. The slight exception to this is recipes and enhancements have no level when buying on the market - you can post a lvl 30 recipe/enhancement and purchase it at lvl 50 - provided it normally exists at that higher level. And you can also buy IOs attuned already as well. So someone can post a crafted lvl 30 Numina's Heal IO and someone can buy it at lvl 50 and already attuned. But in essence, it is still a Numina's Heal IO... You cannot post something and it become something else. A Kinetic Weapon piece of salvage put on the market will always be a Kinetic Weapon piece of salvage until someone buys a Kinetic Weapon piece of salvage - it doesn't turn into a recipe, an IO, or even another piece of salvage. Same with Recipes and Enhancements. Please explain what you mean by an item is "just a collection of a bunch of them" and "just because you put an item up on the AH doesn't mean it sold as that widget." This is not entirely correct. To "BUY NOW" you have to bid at least the asking price AND more than anyone else. So you can still "BUY NOW" equal to the asking price, if no one else is bidding or they are bidding for less than the asking price. A buyer CAN buy the item at asking cost. They do not have to bid OVER the asking amount. Nor does the seller have to post under the amount. So if the seller posts for 1000, the buyer can bid 1000 and get the item, provided: there are no other bids larger and no other bids of equal amount ahead of theirs in the queue. I attune a lot of IOs through the market for my alts using my other account. I can post a crafted IO for a random number that I know is not going to instantly sell and then I can use my other account to purchase that same IO at the exact asking price of my first account's posting. I do not have to bid 1 inf over to get the item. The reverse is also true. You do not have to post an item for 1 inf less than the bids for it to sell. If there are standing bids for an item at 100 inf, you can post for 100 and it will sell to the first person (oldest in queue) who put in the 100 bid, provided there is no one bidding 101 or more.

I agree with @Chelsea Rorec. I found /Sonic to be "meh." It sounds good, but just doesn't sing (puns intended). I made a DP/Sonic and designed him to always be in point blank range. Combat teleport, Fold Space, fighting pool, Scorp Shield, and all the fun sets to help keep him alive while in melee range. He's fun to play in that regard, but his performance is underwhelming. The -Res aura is way too small. Deafening Wave does the least amount of damage for similar powers from other secondaries - and it shows - it's very underwhelming, however the occasional chance for hold on minions it has is nice. Sound Cannon, I skipped because it was a Stun/KB cone with no damage - it didn't fit with my "point blank" killing theme. However, this can be useful with Energy Blast. So for an Energy/Sonic Blaster - fortunately, the lackluster powers are the ones you'd want to skip! For the /Sonic set, I'd take: Sonic Thrust (you have to anyway, but even if there was a choice, I'd take it! It's that good and useful.) Strident Echo - always good to have a melee power for when mobs rush you and it has a chance to hold minions. Sound Booster - gotta have Build Up! Sound Barrier - solves your end problems and gives other buffs (a MUST take and at lvl 20 when it's available) Sound Cannon - the Stun/KB cone will stack nicely with Energy Blast's KB Earsplitter - having another high damage melee attack is always good - also has a chance to hold LTs. Add in the hold, if you want. And as someone mentioned above, if you want to add in Disruption Aura for the little bit of -Resist for when mobs rush you, then take it late in the build - otherwise, just skip it.

I did a Water/Time Corruptor and it lays waste to pretty much everything. It's very sturdy as well. Water has a lot -Speed that stacks with Time and the -Def and KD is great too. As others have mentioned, pretty much everything pairs with Time.

This makes a lot of sense regarding your previous comments - definitely, there is a different experience on more organized iTrials versus random PUG iTrials. You certainly have to adjust your playstyle to adapt tot he situation... if lots of people are dying, then you probably have a lot of people who don't know how to do the iTrial or they are still trying to learn how to play their newly PL'd 50 who are there just to get it's incarnate abilities so it can farm. ...I've been on those leagues, and you do have to play more conservative. However, you also mention you rarely soft cap defenses on any of your toons. While you don't have to always be at the soft cap on all your toons, being close enough to down a purple insp or 2 should be good enough to keep you alive during these iTrial messes - as well as keep you alive when running back from hospital, if you have to.