biostem

I gotta be honest - I have very little interest in the clean sci-fi aesthetic, (outside of the more farcical/satirical take found in Portal 1&2), not to mention the world doesn't seem to have very much character to it. Fallout 76 has let me down as of these last few months, but CoH is more than enough for me for the time being...

Kinda seems more like he'd be a necro/pain/soul mastermind... On a somewhat related note, I tend to weigh concept over actual effectiveness, so if you want to stick to blasters, maybe dark blast? Also, I rather like the earth manipulation or devices secondaries, so give them a look...

I mean, you could go to the Hive or the Abyss, try to solo some of the monsters there, then try to solo Hamidon. On a more realistic level, the far north of the Rikti War Zone has some pretty tough groups of 54 enemies, and there's always the Pylons you can test your mettle against.

You can get thugs and mercs of different skin tones, so there is some variation possible. MM customization is something highly sought after, so in general I'm in favor of it...

"Resist" and "Defense" were probably not the best ways to describe the differing ways the armor sets function- it's better to look at whether a set helps you avoid damage or whether it just reduces it. That being said... Ice armor is supposed to create a barrier that prevents damage, hence defense. Fire armor takes the hits head-on and just lessens what makes it through, so resist. Dark actually has a little of both, plus other tool, like fear & disorientation. Invulnerability similarly layers, therefore resists, defense, etc.

I have a kin/elec defender which is quite good at "sapping" enemies. The key, IMO, is stacking -end, -rec, and -rech/slow effects to really maximize the end product.

Beyond the complexity issue with "either-or" type powers, as mentioned before, Kheldians get a lot of free powers by taking the forms, with the tradeoff being that they can't get everything at once. Kheldians are, by intent and design, a "jack of all trades, master of none". You want to go human-only, fine - there are ways to compensate for the lack of status protection in dwarf form or damage in nova form, especially when you factor in the invention and incarnate systems.

The only place slotting the ATOs really matters is with Critical Strikes, since it has a proc rate of 2 or 3 times per minute, (so you'll want an attack with roughly the same recharge, or some convenient fraction thereof). Scrapper's Strike is just a passive bonus to crit chance for all your powers, so it really wouldn't matter where you slot that one. I think a better question would be what other melee or tohit debuff sets might serve you better.

Absolutely not! The game should NOT take away my character's autonomy unless they are actively under a mez effect or I choose to move them around. You are free to move and jump around as much as you like, to go along with your interpretation of them actively dodging. The only person forcing your character to stand there doing nothing is yourself!

Perhaps, which is why you need to be both computer savvy enough to work on your own machine and to only buy from reputable resellers. I also favor freshly installing Windows to avoid any undesirable software that may remain on said machine, either by accident or intentionally, (though this also goes back to my "only buy from reputable" comment).

It is a lot cheaper. Some people are hesitant about loading games or other "non-productivity" software on their main computer. If you are in a household where, for instance, you have other people that work from home, attend classes, or do any of a number of other online activities, you may want a completely separate environment where the activities of others will never impact how the machine performs.

The alternate animation options would have to become locked-out if you took shield as your secondary - basically a more specific extension of the aforementioned restrictions.

Now I'm hungry. Thanks a lot! 😡

Not really - it'd just be excluded from being taken along with shield, like other powersets already are...

Primary: Fire for pure damage. Secondary: Devices, since I prefer staying at range, and it offers stealth, some area denial tools, a great tohit buff toggle, and a pet! APP/PPP: Mace Mastery, since who doesn't love a defense shield and some cute widdle spiderlings to clean your room!

If you are at all handy with computers, buy a used tower, (from a reputable seller), then a mid-priced graphics card, (new or used, your choice), and you'll be set to play CoH for life. No need to break the bank or go through multiple layers of emulation or the like. Heck, you could even pick up a cheap KVM switch and stick with your other computer to get the best of both worlds...

TBH, I don't see why they couldn't add recipes to craft inspirations. That being said, there is already a system similar to what you described: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Workshop

I much prefer radiation armor. Particularly, the absorb shield and extra recovery granted by particle shielding. You also get some extra recharge and even an AoE/team heal.

To add to what @Without_Pause stated, you can also right click then choose to track certain attributes on your main screen at all times, but it is limited to only showing 10 at a time. These stats also include things like XP to next level, influence/infamy/information (money), and even your stealth radius.

Defenders get the largest buffs from the leadership pool; Maneuvers is good overall since it gives extra defense to you and your teammates, (and can be slotted with that LotG +rech I mentioned earlier), but where it really shines, IMHO, is tactics. Tactics grants a buff to tohit for you and your allies, which is actually more powerful than regular accuracy - this means you may be able to go with only 1 acc slotted in your attacks, (I usually recommend 2), which in turn saves a few slots if they are needed elsewhere. Another power from leadership to consider further on in your build is victory rush - it grants a temporary recovery buff when cast on the body of a defeated foe, (with tougher foes giving a greater buff). You can't directly improve its recharge, but I believe it does benefit from global recharge bonuses. It doesn't require any real investment in slotting, and can really save your butt if you alternate it and recovery aura. With regard to other powers to consider - Mace mastery, which is one of the Patron Power Pools you can unlock at level 35, has a shield for yourself that provides defense against samshing, lethal, and energy damage, while again serving as a convenient place to slot one of those LotG +rech IOs. There's also the Power Mastery Ancillary Power Pool that provides a special power called "power build up" that temporarily boosts your damage, tohit, and secondary effects, which can be very very useful when used in conjunction with recovery aura and the like. The Soul Mastery Patron Power Pool has a similar power, "power boost" as well as a slightly different selection of powers. If you find your build is getting tight, I would skip taking the fighting pool. Here are some useful links: Unofficial Homecoming Wiki Mace Mastery Power Mastery Soul Mastery List of enhancements with special effects

There's a 'costumes' folder within the folder the game is in, (for me it's c:\games\homecoming\costumes). Save those .costume files to there, then go to the costume creator/editor and click 'Load' in the lower right, then select the one you want.

I came up with a few ideas, all based on the same theme. I won't post screenshots of them all, but here's a few samples, (I did include all the costume files though): fire blaster mk1.costume fire blaster mk1d.costume fire blaster mk1c.costume fire blaster mk1b.costume fire blaster mk1a.costume

For me, it's about realizing different and obscure character concepts, neat costumes, weird or unusual powerset combinations, or more recently, seeing how the IO system can best compliment, compensate for, or otherwise fundamentally change how some powers or sets function.

I can't speak to a specific build, but in general, you'll want to make sure recovery and regen aura are available as often as possible, so you'll want to make sure you have some recharge reduction enhancements slotted in them. Similarly, fortitude is a very powerful buff, so you'll want to try and keep it on as many teammates as you can. Further still, you'll want to look into getting 5 of the special "Luck of the Gambler +global recharge" invention-origin enhancements, (IOs), to increase how often those key powers are available - they can be slotted into any power that allows slotting a defense enhancement. If you find that you are running out of endurance when trying to keep all the buffs and attacks going, look into the following special IOs: Panacea: Chance for HP & end, Miracle: +recovery, Numina's Convalescence: +regen/+recovery, and Performance Shifter: Chance for +end. Assuming you get any endurance issues under control, one nice thing about electrical blast is you can just keep the voltaic sentinel out, so it'll attack for you whilst you focus on buffing & healing. With regard to the latter, you can click on the teammates name in the team window, so you can more easily select them. Depending upon how tight or free a build is, I'll usually just throw 3 heals in each heal ability and leave it at that. I also tend to skip powers like absorb pain, since it locks me out of healing myself for a while.

Are you looking to stick with the same color scheme as your screenshot? Are you trying to go with a "clean scrap" a la Iron Man Mk1, or more of a rusted-out junk/steampunk aesthetic?