biostem

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It would be nice if multiple applications of a sleep power could put an enemy into a "deep sleep" that would be harder for them to wake up from, or perhaps add a "grogginess" debuff on enemies waking up from a sleep effect...

What if they are all just really long double-headed tacks, and pushing on one side makes it longer on the opposite?

And healing arrows! And blackjack!

I'm always on the lookout for new sent combos to try - could you elaborate upon this one a bit?

Within the scope of CoH, your rank-and-file military personnel are actually pretty ineffective. Now, depending upon how upstanding you want the U.S. Military to be depicted, you could see them simply trying to recruit heroes and/or dealing with the more legitimate organizations within Paragon, but if you wanted a more "grey" or corrupt take, they could be dealing with Crey or maybe even trying to appropriate hero and villain DNA samples or tech for their own use. Instead, maybe expand the story around the PPD Awakened division, having them do community outreach or trying to reclaim previously destroyed/contested areas. Imagine PPD Awakened in Nova form scouting wrecked buildings for survivors, while ones in Dwarf form clear debris, and human form ones healing the injured, etc...

I'd rather see them add Drudges or Spectral Pirates as separate lore options entirely. Heck, there are a bunch of groups that could stand to have lores made out of them...

Maybe do something like ice armor's energy absorption, only granting absorb per target hit, instead of defense...

Just go in there and do it. If what you're really asking is for a guide on how to create a top-tier effective build, then you're starting point is having a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of all the different ATs, powersets, and IO set bonuses. Almost anyone can slap together a build that will work for most content, but if you're looking to do things like capping defense or resist values, have some powers be permanently on/available, and be able to pull off some extreme feats, then you'll need that innate knowledge first. To use your metaphor - nearly anybody can throw together a shack that'll stand on its own for some time, but whether it'll be draft and leak-free, with safe and functional electrical outlets and lighting, needs expertise. Get that game knowledge down pat, know what works and what doesn't, then putting together a good build should be a piece of cake.

Are you looking for general advice or a specific build? I mean, if you're look for something pretty simple to play and that's quite effective, I really like radiation armor paired with savage melee. There are really only a few things to keep in mind with this combo, as it is quite easy to play: 1. Savage melee provides a special stacking buff called "blood frenzy". This buff stacks up to 5 times, and grants both a recharge time and an endurance cost discount. Some powers use up these stacks for added effects, but you actually DON'T want to do this, so just avoid using any powers that get a red circle around them, until you lose a stack of blood frenzy, then the red circle goes away, and you can use them like normal. Only like 3 powers have this added effect, so it's no big loss to wait a few seconds for 1 stack to go away, or just use another power. 2. Radiation armor has a special click power called "particle shielding". Not only does this provide a layer of extra hitpoints or "absorb", but it also provides a significant recovery buff. It can nearly be made permanent with 3 recharge single-origin or better enhancements, but coupled with the above mentioned bonus from blood frenzy, it definitely can. You'll pretty much never run out of endurance this way, so can keep fighting at full-tilt forever. 3. Radiation armor also has a power called "beta decay". Not only does this lessen an enemy's defense, but it makes it harder for them to hit you, makes them want to keep trying to hit you, and provides an additional recharge reduction buff on top of the aforementioned ones. And keep in mind that these buffs are global, so all your powers will benefit from them! 4. There's a pretty unique power in radiation armor called ground zero. What's cool about this power is that it damages enemies near you, but also heals any friends/allies within its range. Great for aiding your teammates! 5. Finally savage melee's "tier 9" power, "savage leap", allows you to quickly close the distance to an enemy, and deal some AoE damage at the same time. It generates several stacks of blood frenzy as well. Other thoughts on this combo: Radiation armor also has "radiation therapy", which is your typical self heal, but it also generates some endurance for each nearby enemy it hits and deals some damage. I generally use this power for its emergency healing ability, but you can use it for damage or the endurance, but it doesn't excel at either. Like many armor sets, radiation armor has "meltdown", which is its ultimate ability, granting a significant boost to damage, damage resistance, and endurance recovery, but after a couple minutes it "crashes", leaving you in a weakened state. I tend to avoid such powers, but it can be good in a pinch. I'm also not a huge fan of maiming strike or hemorrhage from savage melee, as I find them less useful overall, and would rather put those power picks toward something like boxing and tough from the fighting pool. Hope that's of some help. Best of luck to you!

For copyright reasons, I vote we call this monster "The Chirng".

Obviously the specific values would have to be worked out. Either way, it seems like you'd likely be an outlier, and not a typical case. It'd be like assuming containment shouldn't be implemented because of what a fully IO'd-out controller can do...

So while you're running up to 1 enemy, clicking to begin the interaction, then have to wait for the bar to fill/drain, you can't do anything else, which includes refreshing the holds on the other targets, moving, clicking other powers, etc.

I was doing some testing in AP, and the present spawns seem to reflect the threat level of that particular area - so opening a present close to Ms. Liberty yields like level 1-3 enemies, but in the red zone they were like 5-6. Perhaps you were in the top-end section of Imperial City when you opened that present.

Not really. You slot your single AoE for damage, which is pretty much the norm, and you're good to go. Maybe fire off a 2nd one or others, but you don't need to undertake some unusual slotting strategy to pull this off. I also explicitly never said that this would be a controller/dominator-only ability. Many blasters can access more holds or knocks than some controllers. The key, as I've said again and again, is that you'd have to go up to each target, in a very specific time window, to begin the interaction to deliver said killing blow. Not just click click click like you do with Aim+BU+AoE.

Perhaps not, but there's a chance to be interrupted and said opportunity only exists during a very narrow window.

Uptown Funky Druid...

Just be careful - if you go too long between showers, those Druids can start to get pretty funky...

So do you have a problem with the existing ways of 1-shotting underlings, minions, and LTs, because that's all I'm talking about, here. If a blaster hitting aim+BU then taking out en entire group with an AoE, then why would you have an issue with someone holding an LT, running up to them, then delivering a killing blow?

Answered in my OP - "lower tier enemies". Does the game differentiate between an enemy that is knocked down and one that is flailing around due to ragdoll/geometry issues? If not, then it might have to have a set "window of opportunity" or something similar.

Add some sort of "disaster response radio", similar to the police radio, but have it provide missions for characters of any level. Have it utilize enemy groups appropriate to that zone, but leveled to the character in question.

That, like how many powers already work between PvE and PvP, would have to be evaluated.

Players can do plenty of things that NPCs can't, and NPCs can do plenty of things that PCs can't. Unless using specific self-rez powers, players can be insta-killed after using a rez, unlike many NPCs that can do something similar...

You'd have to run up to an enemy, while they are on their butt, then initiate the interaction. IF and when they stand back up, you lose that ability. So, sure, go ahead and try to do it en masse, but I think you'll find that, while it delivers an instant kill, it's not an "I win" button.

It wouldn't be a power, per se - it would be an interaction, with a little timer bar - sort of like how you interact with a quest objective. It would also require precise timing and each coup de grace would take time, so while it may be safe for a controller or dominator using an AoE hold, it probably wouldn't be as time-efficient as just spamming damaging AoE powers.