Rudra

I play tons of alts and am still likely to log in my favorites more than once every ten days. Then @Frozen Burn's first 2 points should still make sense to you since your other characters, from the way you just described your play rotation, probably have max patrol xp when you log on them.

Points 1 and 2 make sense if you play several alts rather than just one (or two) characters.

Something to make those two hallways more recognizable as such would help, agreed. I didn't notice them my first (two?) passes through the base after the update. (Because their coloring lacks the shading the other halls have that makes them stand out. Admittedly that is because the original "hidden" halls had shadows to help them stand out and these two halls aren't positioned for shadowing to really apply.)

Sally does actually have a body. You can see her body, flippers, and tail every time she dives. (And when she died, which I don't think she can do any more, you can see her belly as she floats belly up.)

The layout doesn't seem that daunting after all. There is a label/sign on the hall next to the infirmary that directs you to the RWZ, which seems to be mislabeled since it sends you to 2 different portals. (These 2 portals are through the Portal Corp door at the end of that short hall.) The right portal direction sends you to a portal that seems to just be a mission door whereas the left one sends you to your choice of Firebase Zulu or Peregrine Island. (The Peregrine Island connection delivers you to the right portal in building 111 of Portal Corp.) There is another label/sign on that same hall that directs you to the motor pool at the end of a rather long hallway. (Edit: Despite appearances and turns, that long hall is a straight path. There is a split, but that split is just a loop in the middle of the hall.) In the motor pool, if you can fly, super jump, or teleport, you can go up an open bay to the surface. If you can't or prefer not to, there are stairs that lead up to the surface by the Crey's Folly zone gate. At that hall junction, between the two labels/signs for the RWZ and motor pool, just past the lounge area, is where AE is in the RWZ base. And the open area behind the quartermaster has another open bay that fliers, super jumpers, and teleporters can use to get to the surface, or anyone can use to drop down back into the base. Aside from the lounge with the Rikti Assault Suit behind the infirmary that leads into AE and connects the RWZ/Motor Pool halls already mentioned in this post, the Vanguard base doesn't actually seem all that changed. Edit: All other passages/halls/tunnels I saw were already there prior to the update. Edit again: Okay, to summarize: The gated area behind the Vanguard Quartermaster next to Serpent Drummer is no longer closed off. It also has a lowered bay that can be used to transition to/from the surface using appropriate travel powers. The infirmary is now bracketed by two halls. These halls lead to the lounge area behind the infirmary. There is a marked wall on the opposite side of the lounge area that says directions to "RWZ", AE, and the motor pool. Behind the marked wall is AE. AE has 2 sides for medical resurrection pads that overlook the entrance and the terminal/holography area. Going to the right from that wall rather than going behind it leads down a winding hallway that has a loop just before you enter the actual motor pool. The motor pool has a lowered bay that can be used to transition to/from the surface using appropriate travel powers. Heading to the left in the motor pool will lead to another short hall with some stairs at the end that lead to/from the surface near the Crey's Folly zone gate, opposite the abandoned hospital. Going to the left from that wall instead, which is marked "RWZ", leads to a Portal Corp. marked door. Passing through that door places you in a left-right junction. Following this hall to the right leads to a mission door portal. Following this hall to the left instead leads to a portal that sends you to Portal Corp in Peregrine Island or to Firebase Zulu. Hopefully this will help people navigate the additions to the Vanguard base.

It typically unlocks when you finish the arc. Have you finished the arc and turned it in?

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxA6jxHPsj915C7c8Dbvt-HO2PoXuQnM7i?si=CC9yuNKGNFYM4XMM I'm not understanding this. Why did you link a Dark Souls 3 YouTube video?

Given how the base is now integrated into the zone? I don't think a separate base map will work. Signs directing players to the new areas, like the Portal Corp portal/door just past the infirmary that took me a while to realize was there, or a... uhm... base map... on like a pedestal that can be accessed like the "You are here" signs you see in larger buildings/complexes would also be helpful.

Didn't Cupid's arrow basically just restore her sanity? She doesn't exactly profess her love for Recluse after she is shot with it. She just states she is back in her right mind and that Arachnos has changed greatly in the time she was dead. (Though Recluse's response had me wondering how Arachnos was going to change with her return.)

Pretty sure Lusca doesn't actually have a generated body.

Including MMs. The bulk of the MM's damage comes from pets, yes, but not all their damage unless you choose to not take attack powers for your MM. Every one of my MMs has at least 3 attacks they can use even if they have no pets out. (I think 1 has 4 attacks because I grabbed the attack from the Sorcery pool as well.) (And even with my attacks, I can still run my full suite of secondary powers and re-summon/re-upgrade as needed. So it is doable.) And this is an exaggeration. While there are bosses and higher that have AoEs that can one-shot my henchmen/pets, it isn't all of them. At +0, there aren't many even EBs that can one-shot 5/6 of my pets. (They can one-shot 1/6 of my pets, but their AoEs are a little more manageable.) As I increase the difficulty though? Yeah, things get tougher. However, my pets and my MM-preferring friend online's pets have been able to survive even level 54 EB attacks without the benefit of incarnate shifts such as when we were hunting minotaurs and cyclopes in Cimmerora. (Though it isn't consistent when they use their big attack.) I definitely agree that I think the MM pets are too fragile and would like to see them made a bit more robust. However, I also have to acknowledge that unlike Controllers/Dominators who only get 1 or 2 pets with long recharges, MMs get 6 with fast recharges. (Even the T3 pet starts at 50 seconds of recharge before any enhancements or set bonuses, compared to 240 seconds for VEATs, Controllers, and Dominators.) And in Hard Mode content? I let my Scrapper, Tanker, or Brute friends/allies take the aggro while my pets provide me a means of doing at least some damage even if I don't have time to re-upgrade them while I focus more on the support role and replacing pets as I lose them. (And when I can, I throw an upgrade or two into the mix to bolster my pets again.) I guess I just take the view that the rest of the team are my henchmen/pets as well, so even if my actual pets aren't at 100% effectiveness, they are still working with the rest of my... uhm... pets... to clear out the threats to me. I mean the team....

That's a matter of opinion. I personally vastly prefer red side over blue side. I just avoid Peter Themari and Westin Phipps. (And often Dr. Graves as well.)

I've taken my Ninja/Dark MM into Hard Mode ITF and when things got frantic, did not upgrade the pets on re-summons until I had time to worry about the upgrades. I'm not saying you can't upgrade them, I'm just saying that it isn't necessary when things are running a bit out of control.

Depending on how frantic the fighting gets or how powerful the enemies' AoEs are? You can forego the upgrades until things calm down a bit.

The Badger site does list all the component plaques for the lores so you can mark them as you reach them. (I feel like a Badger site infomercial....) (Edit: Though some explores like River Rat and Party Animal don't....)

https://n15g.github.io/badger/ You have to input what you found/got, but it does tell you what is missing for most of what you start but haven't completed yet. And includes coordinates for all the explores and lores.

True, which means MMs have difficulty with +4/x8 missions outside of incarnate content. (They still have difficulty in +4/x8 content even in incarnate content.) However, as someone who plays MMs and has successfully done +4/x8 content? It is still doable. It just isn't worthwhile unless you enjoy the difficulty it presents. Then again, I'm not afraid to run from a fight when it starts to look untenable, re-summon, re-upgrade, and then re-commit to the fight until I've finished the mission. Even if it means exiting the map to be able to do so. (Edit: I find +2/x3 or +2/x4 to be a sufficient difficulty on my MMs to be a challenge without being a slog.)

No, it does not. It puts all the MM's pets at equal level to the MM. So using a 50+3 MM as an example. The T1 pets would normally be level 48. While in incarnate content, those same T1 pets would be level 48+5. They get the same +3 incarnate level shifts as the MM and they get another +2 level shifts for being T1 pets in incarnate content.

While doing any incarnate content, it is removed. The T1 and T2 pets get level shifts to pump up their levels equal to the MM's incarnate shifts + the negative level shifts the T1 and T2 pets endure. Only for as long as they stay within Supremacy's range though.

Chat window. Sorry.

This is not actually true. Supremacy has a 60 feet radius. So do all three Leadership toggles. And Bodyguard Mode applies so long as pets are within range of our Supremacy (edit: and we are in Defensive Follow). So we do have some wiggle room even on melee focused pet sets.

Says who? If you read the rest of the thread, you'd see someone talking about how the studio has treated masterminds. You're treating us like we're defenders, and we are not. Yes, we were meant to be in melee range. They gave us bodyguard for a reason. Certain pets are melee, for a reason. We have secondaries with PBAOE buffs. You clearly do not play masterminds much and dont know what you're talking about. You are clearly here just to hear yourself talk. Please exit my thread. I do play MMs, and @Glacier Peak isn't wrong, though (s)he is missing part of it. Ranged pet sets allow the MM (and pets) to hang back and lay down support fire while also letting the MM use more support abilities. Melee focused pet sets do require the MM to be closer to the fighting to keep the pets bolstered by Supremacy though. However, on a team, which you should be on for the higher difficult content, by which I mean Hard Mode content, even melee focused pet set MMs can hang back a bit to reduce the amount of hate they have to deal with to buy themselves time to replace lost pets, support the team, or lay down some added fire of their own.

I don't know how SG base PvP works, but I do know that my MM pets typically can't follow my MM anywhere in my bases. And if mobs (like pets) can't navigate a SG base, they aren't a threat to anyone. Also, if it were to be implemented by the devs? It would have to be an option for the SG to enable. I for one don't want random enemies raiding my bases. (Though I do want to be able to have 0 XP/0 inf' mobs roaming my maze to threaten and challenge those that enter it....)

Every time you ding, your new level is posted in the chat bar.

Like @Greycat said, no contact should be sending you into a zone that is higher level at minimum than your current level. If you were sent to Faultline at level 11, you should probably report it as a bug.