biostem

It could be due to a few factors. First, many of the hud/menu overlays are actually quite taxing - try disabling such labels unless its your selected target or on mouse-over. Second, reduce the world draw distance - I've noticed that sometimes the game tries to render objects that are quite far away, and it can also be quite taxing. PI is rather enemy-dense, so maybe trying to draw and track all of them is to blame. Third, CoH seems to sometimes have an issue with Phys-X/debris objects - try dropping those all the way down. Hope some of this helps. Cheers!

It's the same way you can justify your level 1 character taking repeated gunshot wounds and not being disabled/killed immediately. Soldiers: High-end armor and training Ninja: They're just that good at dodging Beasts: They are enchanted or super-agile Other possible "outs" is that your pets aren't actually all the powerful, but you have lots and lots of reinforcements to replace your losses. Maybe your henchmen aren't real at all, but manifestations of your psyche/holograms/cleverly disguised robots. How do you rationalize that regular Malta soldiers can stand toe-to-toe with heroes in that level range?

I haven't played it firsthand, but over at Rebirth, they are working on a "Guardian" AT, which is basically assault primaries + support/armor secondaries...

Champions Online has several gloves with "palm projectors"... are you sure you didn't see them there?

Objection!

I wonder just how difficult it would be to add mutually exclusive power choice options at different tiers, similar to have SR has - like you could pick up haunt, or you could take a cone hold or something...

That's not a "need" per se - it's a "want". Very important distinction.

Are you collecting tons of temp powers or just doing things like playing a shapeshifter where you change costumes and entire power loadouts?

You are misunderstanding - the "hangup" I mention is this notion you have that you "need" set IOs to play your character - That is patently false. But this is not "the real world" - it is a game world (Homecoming), and you are talking about in-game items that basically render any character they're used on "OP". It is no more "our game" than any other F2P game is those players'. Because of how drastically IOs elevate the performance of your characters, and with power creep already being an issue, some method of throttling it is very much called for. Since you seem so keen on identifying other people's motives without providing any evidence, I'm going to do in kind, and say that you just want everything "now" without having to work for it. Why not just run missions, buy other recipes from the same set, and use the enhancement converters? I don't play the market, and I have very few characters that have multiple full sets, much less completely IO'd out, so my only stake in the game, so to speak, is to simply be able to play and realize some of the character concepts/ideas I happen to have and/or find fun to play. I'm only familiar with Homecoming and a teeny bit of Rebirth, but if "Pineapple" is a server where you can get any IO you want very easily or for free, then yes, it is probably the server for you. The fact that it has a low population is a tradeoff you are going to have to consider, just like the rarity of those highly sought-after IOs are here...

Well, the attacks could entail a little gun turret or other device "popping out" of you, kind of like spines, then firing off the attack. There are some blaster secondaries that are more toward the self buffing side than additional melee attacks, or you could go with a sentinel...

This seems to be more a hangup of yours, than of the game/AH itself. You absolutely *can* create any character you like. Try playing your characters with regular IOs and run missions for recipes, craft them, and use the enhancement converters as needed.

This seems super specific, and probably better suited to an "integrated weaponry" blast set.

Personally, I've been enjoying bio armor or radiation armor on my brutes - the simple reason is because you get some powerful +recovery buffs early on in both sets, so you can keep going-and-going-and-going, with little to no downtime. Willpower and regeneration do get quick recovery, and while willpower can be quite good, I find that their other powers are somewhat lackluster, (but that's just my opinion). Cheers!

I wonder what would be involved in making this a reality - from my understanding, character models have "attachment points" and there are only so many per character...

Start here, paying special attention to the Apple/Mac portions...

Well, it'd be interesting if the heal chained, (as you indicated). I wouldn't make it enemy-dependent though; Just have it chain from 1 ally to the next. I'd also give the set a lot of different ways to aid yourself and your allies in recovering end - either through a direct buff, or what if you summoned some "support voltaic sentinels" that floated around and emitted a +rec and +regen effect or something? Maybe there could be a power which is a toggle damage and -regen -rec aura that you can place on an ally as well. Another idea would be a sort of "electrical link" power, which connects you to an enemy - they suffer a DoT and/or -end while you simultaneously emit a HoT and/or "end over time" effect to you and your nearby allies. I feel like a res shield for allies has already been done in other sets, so maybe have i be an absorption over-shield or something that protects against *everything*, only at a lesser value than the separate typed ones...

Why not just allow *any* damage type to ignite the oil slick, or change entangling net arrow to electrified net arrow? I certainly agree that TA needs a lot of love, but either of those solutions should be (relatively) quick and easy to implement...

Well, MMs can already get an extra pet in dark miasma, and some of the primaries can summon additional ones. If they were to implement some sort of summon/control or control/summon AT, I'd imagine that having all those pets would be factored into whatever damage numbers/scalars they'd get. Still, I think they could make for some very fun play experiences...

I was trying to create an homage character to the Martians from Duck Dodgers, when I realized how difficult it is to create a character with regular eyes but no mouth; The closest I was able to create was achieved by using one of the bandit/assassin/ninja masks...

I often lament the lack of bindable in-game slash commands for adjusting the value of voice, SFX, and music...

Agreed. It'd be nice if you could have options like applying some bandages, maybe using a wand, and so on.

Great minds think alike!

There have been a few rare instances IRL, where I have heard that distinctive hum of a "glowie" in real life, (or at least close enough to it to trigger memories of playing the game). In that case, my first reaction is to look around for some key item, only to quickly catch myself and feel embarrassed...

AFAIK, no one gets control sets as a secondary, so it's hard to say if they could be adequately scaled down to fit such a secondary roll. I suppose you'd have to reduce their duration and other effects; Lowering the magnitude would be to great of a reduction in their effectiveness, IMO.

Not that I agree with it, but I think that some people want to be able to wear a costume piece, knowing that no one else who hasn't completed some task or set of tasks/conditions, couldn't show off said accomplishment. If you allow everyone to choose how they get access to such stuff, then person A, who has grinded out some "Kill X enemies" task doesn't have anything over the person that simply chose to cut out the middleman...