Glacier Peak

Oh I see now, well I think that is kind of an interesting idea. On one hand, you have a badge that requires collecting inf to acquire - creating a shortcut would negate the purpose of the badge and potentially open the door for other types of "I don't feel like grinding the requirements" types of requests in the future. On the other hand, epic badges like that one do require a good deal of investment to acquire - for folks who haven't snagged it, that may seem needless, to others that may be irrelevant. My philosophy with badges, and really anything in this game, is if you want it bad enough, you're going to need to put in the time and effort for the reward. That may be finding the most efficient way to achieve that reward in the end, but it takes some amount of time and effort to do so.

I don't see a question in the above post, so I'll just add my two cents. Been playing my main since June 2019 and I still don't have the last inf badge. Sitting at around 364 million inf gained. Vet Level 88. Completed all story arc content, task forces and strike forces, Blue, Red (4 more story arcs for Recluses' Betrayer), and Gold side outside of Incarnate content. Collected 1493/1550 badges. I could farm the inf badge if I wanted, but I think I'll hold off until I have everything else. That amount is just through normal content (soloing mostly), without the 2xINF thing when it was still around either. For the folks who've got 16 badgers with all the badges, they must've figured out an optimal method for the last inf badge, maybe they will share their thoughts for the folks who want it bad enough.

Agreed on your last point. I think with these changes Electric Blast will be in a good place on Sentinels.

There's also a great temp you can purchase from the Elf dude in the Ski Chalet for Candy Canes, drops a bunch of rings on the enemy. There aren't a lot of requirements for anything in this game, except for team size to start (then teammates can quit) and level range.

Cross-posting from the Seismic Blast thread: Jumping in with my anecdotal feedback on Seismic Blast (and Earth Manipulation): Short and sweet: Amazing sets, both visually and mechanically. I don't play Blaster very much, I am more of a Corruptor sort of player. The added effects (looking at Knockback/Down specifically) add SO MUCH survivability to these sets. Drawback is currently my own learning curve, I don't understand the mechanics well enough yet, lots of circles showing up in my tray around powers. This is not a fault (haha get it!) of the set, I just need to play it more to better understand it. I was able to enjoy Water Blast and Street Justice after a while, I know this will occur eventually for the Seismic Blast/ Earth Manipulation sets. Seismic Blast 1. Testing on an average (subjectively), SO-only Level 50 build (Seismic Blast/Earth Manipulation), with NO RESISTANCE OR DEFENSE powers or set bonuses, fighting mobs in Peregrine Island. I was capable of juggling and manipulating enemy mobs in to the air with my knockback/down powers that they didn't even manage to set off attacks. The viability of knockback/down powers are so underrated in my experience (only played a Storm Defender) but holy smokes - why even bother with chasing resistance or defense when you can just glass canon everything with knockback/down powers. I've got every power from the set selected, I open with Build Up and Seismic Force, drop a knockback/down power (either Upthrust or Tremor) then Meteor (good lord this is such a beautiful power, so much props to the designer, please don't change a thing about it!!!). After this point it is just a matter of juggling the enemies or targeting the main threat in the mob (usually the boss, but maybe the mezzer or special enemy). 2. Power icons are excellent, I may sort of echo what folks have said about certain ones not visually explaining what they are, but at the same time, it is a new set that will be learned eventually so this isn't worth changing IMO. Tombstone is a great power, in fact, all of the powers in the set feel balanced damage-wise (on SOs). The problem isn't that there are a few good ones and the rest are terrible, its that they are all effective and I have to prioritize which to select (this is a great thing to have to do for a build!). 3. As I mentioned above, I am not adept at the set's mechanics just yet. It is not a set you can just pick up and know how to use effectively immediately (I am thinking Fire Blast as the easiest example of this). This is more along the lines of Water Blast and maybe even Psi Blast. That is not to say that is a bad thing, in fact I love the added layer to the set and I hope it continues to exist as such when ported to live. Earth Manipulation 1. Fracture has a hella long recharge. 1 minute 30 seconds base for a power that does Mag 2 stun for 15 seconds? Okay, I am not a controller so that is fine. I can always build around recharge and +special effects to make this power worth it. 2. I dig the two toggles, Mud Bath and Beryl Crystals. Not much to say about them, but they are a welcomed change from the Absorb Shield I've seen a lot of added to recent Blaster secondary powers that feel too much like Sentinel armors. 3. Seismic Smash is a very heavy hitting power. And it's nicely procable! And it has a Mag 3 hold! Wow! Other 1. Why is there a ton of powers in the power window: 2. Not seeing the +33% accuracy in my combat attributes window from Beryl Crystals

Jumping in with my anecdotal feedback on Seismic Blast (and Earth Manipulation): Short and sweet: Amazing sets, both visually and mechanically. I don't play Blaster very much, I am more of a Corruptor sort of player. The added effects (looking at Knockback/Down specifically) add SO MUCH survivability to these sets. Drawback is currently my own learning curve, I don't understand the mechanics well enough yet, lots of circles showing up in my tray around powers. This is not a fault (haha get it!) of the set, I just need to play it more to better understand it. I was able to enjoy Water Blast and Street Justice after a while, I know this will occur eventually for the Seismic Blast/ Earth Manipulation sets. Seismic Blast 1. Testing on an average (subjectively), SO-only Level 50 build (Seismic Blast/Earth Manipulation), with NO RESISTANCE OR DEFENSE powers or set bonuses, fighting mobs in Peregrine Island. I was capable of juggling and manipulating enemy mobs in to the air with my knockback/down powers that they didn't even manage to set off attacks. The viability of knockback/down powers are so underrated in my experience (only played a Storm Defender) but holy smokes - why even bother with chasing resistance or defense when you can just glass canon everything with knockback/down powers. I've got every power from the set selected, I open with Build Up and Seismic Force, drop a knockback/down power (either Upthrust or Tremor) then Meteor (good lord this is such a beautiful power, so much props to the designer, please don't change a thing about it!!!). After this point it is just a matter of juggling the enemies or targeting the main threat in the mob (usually the boss, but maybe the mezzer or special enemy). 2. Power icons are excellent, I may sort of echo what folks have said about certain ones not visually explaining what they are, but at the same time, it is a new set that will be learned eventually so this isn't worth changing IMO. Tombstone is a great power, in fact, all of the powers in the set feel balanced damage-wise (on SOs). The problem isn't that there are a few good ones and the rest are terrible, its that they are all effective and I have to prioritize which to select (this is a great thing to have to do for a build!). 3. As I mentioned above, I am not adept at the set's mechanics just yet. It is not a set you can just pick up and know how to use effectively immediately (I am thinking Fire Blast as the easiest example of this). This is more along the lines of Water Blast and maybe even Psi Blast. That is not to say that is a bad thing, in fact I love the added layer to the set and I hope it continues to exist as such when ported to live. Earth Manipulation 1. Fracture has a hella long recharge. 1 minute 30 seconds base for a power that does Mag 2 stun for 15 seconds? Okay, I am not a controller so that is fine. I can always build around recharge and +special effects to make this power worth it. 2. I dig the two toggles, Mud Bath and Beryl Crystals. Not much to say about them, but they are a welcomed change from the Absorb Shield I've seen a lot of added to recent Blaster secondary powers that feel too much like Sentinel armors. 3. Seismic Smash is a very heavy hitting power. And it's nicely procable! And it has a Mag 3 hold! Wow! Other 1. Why is there a ton of powers in the power window: 2. Not seeing the +33% accuracy in my combat attributes window from Beryl Crystals

Thunderous Blast on a Sentinel recharges way faster than other sets, I think it's around 120 base recharge actually. With all my set bonuses, Hasten, and Agility T4 active, it's back in around 30 seconds. Makes for a greater opener and finisher, and can proc really well. Drains a bunch of endurance from the enemy too. Even so, Sentinel damage is anemic so it's gotta be used multiple times per fight.

Reducing max particle count helps too.

Some what of a tangent, but I remember getting badges way back when they first came out and thought they were actually things a character would wear on their chest, sort of like military service uniforms, at least the accolades. As more badges were added, I kind of lost the connection - its kind of fourth-wall breaking now.

If you've got a second account, you can set up someone to have the villain contact [Lord Schweinzer] who provides endless supply of bank missions without needing to do newspapers. Easy way to chew through the badge if you're getting it multiple times instead of the harder ways out there. Prerequisite for the contact unlock though is to have the Hero Slayer badge and be Level 10.

Bank heists actually.

If we get any more 'Master of...' badges, can we maybe get a separate badge section to display them? Really starting to crowd out the Accomplishments/Achievement sections.

I can see it now... arguments will abound, "if THEY get harder difficulty options, WE want easier difficulty options." But just telling someone something is easy is just as subjective as saying art looks good or playing a regen is fun. This game is easy enough for me because I've paid down the risks with my experience over time. Newer players aren't as vested, thus the risks appear in greater number. My point is what may be difficult is entirely subjective. I can guarantee everyone who has played this game has been defeated at least once. Let me ask you something, has the same thing defeated you again or are you better at mitigation that threat with the tools at your disposal? Keep dying to the same thing, but refuse to change your playstyle? Well, as long as you aren't expecting a different outcome, I hope that is fun for you. Otherwise that is a popular definition for crazy. These advanced difficulty OPTIONS are just that.

Anecdotal input ahead; Electric Blast on Sentinel is in a good place. Level 50, T4 Incarnates, fully maxed Set Bonuses with a focus on recharge, Thunderous Blast coming back every 20 or so seconds, VS dropping stacks of Static, end drain city and I'm defeating Level 54 minions and lieutenants like they're conned green. Level 54 bosses are another story, but I'll attribute that to the fact I'm playing a Sentinel.... but it is odd that they take minutes longer to defeat than their minion and lieuts that go down in seconds. Follow up question. Does the Static mechanic scale against enemy Level? What about enemy rank? Is it only based on their endurance drained?

Ya great work! On beta, hope it makes it to live! Oh a hidden(?) Easter Egg with this emote - if you are using Granite Armor it tilts the tube a bit! Sadly, no animation yet for Dwarf/Squid forms.

Advanced Difficulty Options [Focused Feedback: Advanced Difficulty Options and Challenge Mode] With the release of the Dr. Aeon Strike Force, we’ve completely rewritten the challenge settings code and greatly expanded what we can do with future content in terms of accommodating difficulty options and delivering curated challenges to players seeking that type of gameplay experience. These optional difficulty settings are accessed from the Challenge Settings menu for content that has been added to the feature (as of Page 3 this will only include the Dr. Aeon Strike Force). These options require being level 50 to select and change the content in various ways. These new difficulty modes were hand-crafted and balanced, and are not based on the previous Challenge Settings that exist currently. Facing content with these Advanced Difficulty Settings enabled will grant the team more rewards for overcoming challenges, additionally, some badges may only be available by going above the normal difficulty setting. The design goal of these options was to ensure all roles on a team (tank, damage, control, and support) could contribute in a rewarding way, and give Incarnate level characters using Invention-Origin enhancements something to test their fully-built characters against. Challenge Modes [Focused Feedback: Advanced Difficulty Options and Challenge Mode] The old TF and Flashback challenges have been rewritten using the above code. This has resulted in several changes to the way certain badges are obtained: The various Flashback badges for completing challenges at various levels now do it based on the story arc maximum level, instead of the hidden Stature Level which made it difficult to know which story arcs counted for what. Only story arcs that reward 5 merits or more will count towards the challenge badges. Options for 'No Incarnate Powers' and 'Only Alpha Slot' were added to the powers options for any arc in the SL9 (Level 45-50) categories. Completing a Flashback arc using these two new options rewards two new Ouroboros category badges. Task Forces & Strike Forces that have a "Master of X" badge associated with them now have a dedicated challenge option for the badge. The individual power restriction and defeat limit options no longer work for receiving these badges. Selecting the "Master of" challenge for a given TF will set the team size to 8, maximum defeats to 0, disable temporary powers, and disable Incarnate powers. When successfully completed, the challenge will award the "Master of" badge and a Rare Incarnate Component.

Yeah! Just like the Banished Pantheon band that plays in the Tiki Lounge of Pocket D (see my signature for a tour!). Maybe add on that the vendor only shows up on a Tuesday between the hours of... 😁

This actually looks like the resurfacing of a similar bug (dare I say exploit) that was patched last year involving the use of the old Teleport T4. I am assuming it used your /loc when you were editing your base to load in to the next zone that was chosen (or the last one you visited before entering your base). When you returned, you were teleported back to the previous zone using the coordinates in the buffer(?). Being someone who is naturally curious about geometry errors and exploring spaces outside zones (see my signature) I will look to replicate this bug and report back here with my findings (or if serious enough, file a bug report).

I did not know that. The context is appreciated!

Yeah it is not a word I use in my day to day so I googled it, and Google says:

But.... Benumb be like... no sets allowed 😭 Edit: Come to think of it, Benumb doesn't even allow slow enhancements. Carry on 😅

Any Slow/Acc in the works or on the horizon? Benumb would thank you!!! 😁 Loving the Heal/Rech though, my regen Sent thanks you.

This is a good question. Subjective obviously - but my opinion is that my favorite art is stuff that I have received for free or as a trade for something of value that is not money. I put a lot of feelings in to a piece of art, which translates to value to me. The longer I own it, the more valuable to me it becomes. My grandfather had a print of an Moose in a river which he gifted to me after he passed. I really loved that print when I was a kid, I loved it even more after I got it, and each time I see it, it gives me joy. How much would I pay for it? That's a tough question - if I saw it on the street or in a studio, but it didn't have that emotional value, probably $50. If I had to place a value on it including the emotional value, I'd say $500 easily.

Like others have alluded to, I think the next hotness/ market fad is going to be HOs/DSOs that are in high demand for at least a month or two after the release of Page 3. Mainly because of the higher difficulty settings incentivizing every little boost and bonus from a player's build.

Same boat with Benumb, I've got two 50+5 acc and two rech IOs. Edit: Oh and the new Dsync Enhancements don't convert, but they can be combined with other HO/SHO enhancements and only drop from the ASF reward pool on beta.