Neiska

I have done a few Savage/X brute builds now, here are the highlights - Savage/Bio - it's so much damage, between offensive stance, bonus toxic procs, bleeds, it's a walking blender and a ton of fun to play. Savage/Dark - The blood stacks are nice to help manage the END demand of /Dark, but it's not a cure all. Dark is solid as can be expected, and it does open up a few other choices for slotting and incarnates. Savage/Rad - Another good pairing, but it feels more offensive minded than defensive. But it is very potent and the built in debuffs are nice. Savage/Electric - A fantastically efficient pairing, with essentially endless END and supreme levels of resists. Between Blood Stacks and Power Sink, you have enough energy to power the west coast for about a year. Which really frees up choices for slotting as well as incarnate power picks. Since the OP said no /Bio, I would recommend Electric. Electric is a solid choice and offers a ton of freedom in your build since END is of little concern. The downside about /Elec is it offers little in the way of offense - No +damage, no debuffs, no CC.

I've done tests in mids, the only way I see them as comparable to the other pet sets is by using group fly with them, as they are the only other fully ranged set. But even then I see them struggling on difficult content. But if people don't mind playing them on lower difficulties, or for fun or theme then I'm all for it. Have mused about what I might be able to do if i multibox them, but even then I imagine it would be cumbersome. At least the robots have the fire assault patch.

I can +1 to Demons/Electric being exceptionally durable - infinate END, status immunity, capped resists, good defense, +absorbs, healing, a good Demon/EA can be as durable if not moreso than some tankers. And the damage is very good as well by MM standard. My main Mm is Robots/Electric, who I enjoy more than the demons. Being all ranged, it opens up more playstyle options and roles which I enjoy. /Time is a very strong secondary as well, and pairs with just about anything. Playing with beasts myself currently, torn between /Time, /Dark, or /Kin.

Mercenaries.

Congratulations to the staff and to the community!

Here's how I put together a group - Say XYZ is forming in the LFG channel, has X spots. I get tells. I go by order received and send invites. When the group is full, I tell those who sent tells but didn't make it "sorry we are full" Then I tell the LFG channel XYZ has filled. And I still get tells afterward "is XYZ still forming?" Which I assume were people who were tabbed out and didn't see the "we are full" message. It happens. The only bumps I usually see is when I get the "you can't invite an enemy to group," but that is usually easy to fix, and I will wait for them to do so. The only thing that irks me is when people go "I am omw" and still aren't there 5-10 minutes later. Or ask for invites and are mid-mission and won't leave it. In such a case I usually give a grace period, a few minutes, before I invite someone else. But if I have a ton of people asking for a spot I might say "Sorry you are mid mission and others are ready to go now" and invite someone else. It's all worked pretty well for me so far.

I do something a bit differently. I have a rolling "bank" of emp merits that I mail to myself. When farming in AE I save up 50, turn them into a transcendent merit, and mail it to myself. I do this on 3 different accounts. If you don't plan on going full t4's you can accumulate quite a bit of merits this way. Then when I make an alt, as soon as their Alpha slot is unlocked I use merits to go t3 for their first level shift, and go from there. After playing them for a time I may or may not decide to go fully t4s, but sometimes I go with just t3s. It varies. Anyway, If I had to guess, I would say I have roughly 800 or so emp merits at any given time in my banks to pull from. And it isn't difficult at all to fill them back up again with just what you get from veteran levels. Not saying its the most expedient, or the best, it's just what has worked very well for me.

Thank you for the imput @Erratic1 and @Sovera, I will take a look when I get home. I just couldn't make this combo work for a tanker. Its tough trying to get enough recharge that bio loves while getting resists where you can, and I didn't even have defense softcapped.

Hello forums, I am trying to put together a Bio/Claws, but I am having trouble reaching def/res values I am happy with. I know bio is a different animal in mids, but even so I'm not happy with how its turned out, and I have tried several variations now. So if anyone has feedback/suggestions, or a build I can match this one against I would appreciate it. Thanks bunches Unfinished build - Tanker bio - claws.mxd PS - RoP is there for both status as well as resists, as status is one of the issues bio has, along with -def debuffs.

Here's mine, but it has quite a few personal picks in it. But theres lots of wiggle room. Took the standard Robot/Time/Mace for Power boost + Farsight + Chrono Shift, Incarnates are Muscled, Ageless (for end), the rest are your choice, but I like Longbow. Sins Robot-Time MM (mace).mxd

Thank you!

First I'm a She. 😋 Second, I don't know how to post a video myself. Someone did that for me. But that blaster isn't even fully leveled or slotted, they were being power leveled. So... not sure how much help they were. But if you want to come to Everlasting sometime I can show it, sure. Or read my guide, few folks I leveled left comments.

Here's my guide I wrote. That video is of my Robot team - electric/time/kinetic. But I have a few different MM teams i powerfarm with.

Hello fellow angry peoples, I cobbled together a EM/Bio brute and would appreciate any corrections or imput please. Not an expert on brutes, I usually play Masterminds and Tankers. I am hoping to use her for general use, for farming, random missions, etc. Just an overall solid damage and able to tank if necessary. Ideally, I would want her durable enough to take hits with the option to go she-hulk mode for big damage. I haven't settled on a Destiny or Interface slots yet, I am unsure what would be ideal with this setup. Thanks bunches in advance! Brute - Energy Melee - Bio Armor.mxd

To play armchair philosopher a moment, Different people will enjoy different things, and have different goals. For some, its risk vs reward - completing a long arduous journey to reap the rewards. For them, the challenge itself and overcoming it, could be the reward. For others, its simple enjoyment - enjoying the game for what it is. This has many contexts and variations, far too many to list and attempt to categorize, which in itself I think would be a disservice. For another group - it could be unusual activities, such as base building, or playing the auction house, or whiling away the hours roleplaying and making friends. So, in essence, people are comparing ways they enjoy the game, as well as their goals in it. Which I would say is normal and even to be expected. That said however, one thing I will not agree with or support is the mentality or opinion that everyone must play a certain way, or enjoy a certain activity. I do hasten do add that no one here has said such directly in words, but it could be insinuated. I believe it is wrong to try and limit another players form of enjoyment of the game, in favor for another. Or to try and change or remove their goals. For that surely will end the game more than any other paradigm. If others enjoy the game in a certain manner - be it power leveling, farming, enjoying the iron man challenge, hanging out roleplaying, or building a financial empire, I say more power to them. So long as such things do not directly infringe upon another's enjoyment. So what if some like racing to level 50 as fast as they can, to begin testing their builds? So what if some like enjoying farming or funding several builds? So what if some enjoy the hardest challenge possible? How does any of "their" actions, affect "your" own gameplay and goals within the game? I would argue, that it would not. At least not directly. And if it does affect you in some manner, then perhaps its not your own form of enjoyment that you seek, but instead to control, police, or remove other forms of enjoyment that which you do not enjoy yourself. You don't enjoy power leveling? No one is forcing you to. You don't enjoy farming? Again, no one is twisting your arm. You don't enjoy a certain difficulty? No one is holding you at gunpoint, nor is there any trophy or cash prize to be won. You don't enjoy a certain way a team is formed, or its members? You are certainly free to leave, and start your own team, and host it in the manner you desire. I cannot guarantee people will join it, however. And none of this is meant as an insult or attack on anyone here. I only hope to perhaps remind people that this really is just a game, and one that I personally feel we are lucky to be able to enjoy. As well as to highlight that, perhaps, people are missing the forest, from seeing all the trees. Our community is small enough. And I feel that attitudes such as I described will do more to drive people away, than many actions we have seen suggested, insinuated, or mentioned both here and elsewhere. "More options" are good, for everyone. Remove those options, and people are inclined to go where they will find such options, in this game or another. Rare is it, that a player who preferred one aspect of a game, lingers around if such aspects or options are removed. More likely, they tend to look elsewhere, particularly with the number of other games widely available now. Just some food for thought. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Best wishes

Fair, and live was before my time. That said, however, People are free to enjoy the game as they please. Both back then as well as now. I mean, you can try to pigeonhole people much as you like, but not everyone will enjoy the same content as everyone else. At this point, removing the AE would do more harm than good. Personally, I like AE. It lets me try out many builds, as well as have the money to fund them, without having to sink in a year per character. Now you may not like this. Which is 100% fine! But let's not act like that's ruining the game here. I mean, that makes as much since as a die-hard base builder saying "anyone who doesn't spend 8 hours a day building bases is playing the game wrong, and all non-base building activities needs to be nerfed." Doesn't that sound silly? I do hasten to add that while I appreciate your dedication to "the classic" game, things change. Players change. Peoples ages, life circumstances, preferences, all change. I would argue that if the "slow mode" of leveling was the "only" way to play available, the game may not have exploded as it did when launched. To be fair, we will never know. And I disagree this game is "instant gratification". I mean, I have spent nearly a year now trying different Mastermind builds. I even made a farming guide for them. Even now I am still experimenting, testing ideas, trying new things. None of that would have been possible without AE or Farming. And these days I spend more time tinkering in mids, brainstorming builds, and testing them, than I do much else. I guess my point is - Not everyone runs all the story missions. Not everyone collects badges. Not everyone plays all the raids. Not everyone even teams. I would say that there is a good chunk of people who do their own thing - whatever that activity is. But I can almost guarantee you that the "these new peoples are spoiling everything" opinion doesn't help matters, it can come off as elitist/gatekeeping. Not to sound personal here but, who exactly are you to lecture other players on how to play? Or what to enjoy? Or even what "the real game" was? I would bet that each issue/patch that launched, it was received with mixed results. Some liked it, some didn't. But obviously, the "game" is still alive here and now, even if you dislike the changes. Like them or not, this is "the real game" now. So I will continue to go by "live and let live." None of this is meant as a personal attack against you or anyone personally, I only needed to bring context. Best wishes!

Why would I even want to afk farm with a MM? Kind of the whole point why I experimented with MM farming was because brute/tanker farming is pretty boring or tedious. But if that's your measuring stick, let's see your brute farmer solo AVs, GMs, perform other roles on itfs or raids, etc. I can do all that with one build, where I doubt you can do such on your spines/fire brute. 😋

Challenge accepted! Here is a vid of my MM farm at max difficulty settings, taking less than 3 minutes to clear -

Bit late to the conversation, but have some things I would like to add. What is "OP" and what isn't is largely subjective. OP in what circumstance? Solo or teaming? Paper missions, story missions, ITFs, Raids, Farms? How much money is invested in the build? How far are you pushing incarnates? And so on. For example, a fresh level 50 might play differently once it's gotten its full purple sets, and even more so once you have your full T4 incarnate powers. Some builds are very late bloomers and only come onto their own when they reach those levels. So, to me it depends on what you want your style, feel, or focus to be, if that makes sense. As another example, some people rated Masterminds as weak or underwhelming, when to me they are one of the most OP classes in the game - 1. They can be absurdly durable, as tanky as tankers can be. (Before my tanker brethren jump on me, I hasten to say they get zero aggro management tools, but they can be as "tough" as tankers.) So you won't see Masterminds as Main Tank on raids and so on. I have had Masterminds far more durable than some of my toughest tankers, due to infnate healing, absorbs, resistances, defense, bodyguard mode and so on. 2. Another feature about masterminds, is they can be built in so many ways. A tanker is always going to tank. A blaster is always going to blast. But Masterminds, can be built in all sorts of ways. You can make a tankermind, or a dedicated support, or a CC focused, or a debuffer. Which secondary you pick as a mastermind can greatly affect how you play, I would argue moreso than other ATs. 3. Lastly, something not many people realize, is their increased aggro capicity. Tankers are limited to 16 targets. Everyone else is limited to 12. But a Mastermind can aggro 12 themselves, and up to 6 per pet. 6 pets? Thats 36 mobs, for a grand total of 48 mobs at a time per mastermind. Thats more than double than even what tankers are capable of. And while their damage isn't the same as a brutes, they can fight so many more at a time, thats a moot point. Let's say a brute is fighting 12 mobs, doing 100 dps per mob, thats 1200 "net" damage. But the Mastermind, fighting 48 mobs at a time, doing even 30 dps per mob, thats 1440 "net" damage. So even though the Mastermind is doing less DPS per mob, vs the map as a whole, it wins. So long as you are fighting more targets at a time. This makes Masterminds very, VERY, good Farmers. I 3 box masterminds, and I am just as fast if not faster than fire brutes are. And I can take that same Mastermind, without changing builds, IOs or anything, and perform an entirely different role on a team or raid. But that's just an example about Masterminds, which I think many people tend to under estimate. True, if you are going single group to single group, they can seem lackluster. But aggroing half the map at once and killing everything in 3 minutes, I would call that pretty dang OP. Anyway, the point is, I tend to compare "quirks" or styles of ATs, rather than "power". 1. Tankers - can reach literal levels of immortality, but it can take a while to reach these levels. Their damage isn't terrible either! Tankers can also solo almost everything in the game, including ITFs. It might take "forever" to for them to do so, but they "can". The tankers downside is they can take some game knowledge to push to their full potential, can be on the expensive side, and can seem a bit boring to some. 2. Brutes - brutes are a fantastic first class. They can be tough, and do great damage, and can be fairly simple to maximize. They aren't quite as durable as a tanker can be, but are close! And do a bit more damage. The downside to brutes is that due to their fury mechanic, flat out damage boosts can be less effective on them. This isn't to say you shouldn't take such powers, like buildup and so on, only that you get more bang for your buck from said powers on other ATs. 3. Scrappers - They do more damage than brutes do, while being less tanky. But enough times, they prove "tanky enough" in most situations. Some powersets retain their aggro/taunting aura, and are just as good as keeping aggro as a tanker or brute can in "some" content. Not ALL, but some. The majority of team content they are sufficient for the task, keeping aggro just fine, while doing more damage than a tanker would at the same time. But I wouldn't expect to be the tank on any top end content! 4. Stalkers - Stalkers I consider the royalty of melee damage. They can decide what dies first, and can skip missions entirely if they desire. They can be on the squishy side though, but some can be surprisingly durable depending on your secondary pick. Plus they have some fun builds such as the double charge Electric melee/shield stalker. I would call stalkers "the thinking mans melee." The downside for me about stalkers is they can flounder when under duress or pressure, lacking the tools that tankers and brutes have to push back effectively. They can also have weaker AoE damage as well. Not every stalker is bad AoE, but most of their powers are better suited for Single Target focus. 5. Sentinels - Never played a sentinel, so I can't really comment. 6. Defender - Never played a defender either, so again, can't fairly comment. 7. Blaster - Blasters are the "OVER 9000" damage class. If you like going all out, focusing on damage to all else, and leaving smoking craters in your wake, look at blasters. The downside about blasters is they can be quite glass cannon. Again, exceptions exist, but often enough Blasters rely on incarnate or epic powers to take hits if their "you die first" philosophy fails. 8. Corrupter. They are a nearly the damage of blasters, (indeed, some argue they are better than blasters in some circumstances), while having a more healing/support secondary. I would call corruptor more solo friendly. I consider them the "brute" to the blaster's "scrapper" sort of comparison. 9. Widows - I would describe widows as "aggressive support." They have fantastic buffs and CC, but can be in the thick of things too. Some widows can do comparable damage to scrappers. You can focus on melee, or focus on psi powers, but I think a hybrid widow with the spin2win and all the good psi powers the overall best. The downside to widows is their survivable mechanic is a bit funky, getting stronger the more you are hurt. But that compared with their low hp pool makes them sort of glass cannons. Not as bad as stalkers might be, but a strong alpha hit still might 1 shot you. 10. Soldiers - Solders I would consider the fun man's support class. They can give fantastic buffs with their mere presence, and can even go crabbermind for a quasi pet build if you like. The downside for soldiers is they really don't excel in any particular role or aspect. They are good in several areas, but not fantastic at anything. But this also means they dont have any glaring weaknesses to speak of either. One key feature is with a soldier, it's possible to have a full AoE attack rotation, which isn't something many others can boast. So while you won't absolutely nuke groups of enemies like the Blaster can, you can certainly chew threw them just fine. 11. Warshades/Peacebringers - They are "Stance" classes. They can do anything - Tank, Dps, Support, etc. They just can't do it "all at once.", having to stance-dance into what they need as the situation needs it. Warshades are more solo focused, using enemies to strengthen their buffs, while Peacebringers are more team focused. The downside to Warshades/Peacebringers is while they "can" do anything, they won't do it "as well" as a dedicated AT for that spot. But their fluid and options often prove enough. If you are on a team, and the tank goes down, having a peacebringer who was ranged dps able to immediately swap roles and take over can and will save the group. 12. Masterminds - see above! 13. Dominators/Controllers - I have only played one or two of these, so any claim of mine being an expert is suspect. But I do agree that on super-fast moving teams, your focused CC abilities can feel wasted. But some of their builds are fantastic soloers too. A few of them can even farm. Anyway, thats my thoughts on the overall ATs. Any AT can be OP in the right circumstances, but some are certainly more OP than others. But I think it's more important to ask the asker on what they mean by OP. In which activity/difficulty/inf spent/incarnate/levels do they want to use as a reference or measuring stick? Because, things can differ quite wildly depending on what exact content you are talking about, even within the same builds/incarnates/resources spent. And all this isn't even considering peoples personal preferences either. What I consider OP, someone else might not. Just my thoughts on the discussion!

Here is my pet! Her name is Luna, and she is a Blue Eyed Lecustic Ball Python. Pure white snake with ice blue eyes.

i wasn't aware stone was getting updated, that sounds awesome. Always thought Stone Melee/Armor were kinda blargh.

Thanks @The_Warpact, i knew about the section but I never knew it had its own sub-forums. Now to see if I can move my post there. XD

Hello Forums, First off I apologize in advance if this is the wrong section. I wasn't sure where else to put it for a general powerset question. Anyway! I want to make a Spines character, but I am undecided on which AT or secondary to pair with it. The only thing I know for sure is I don't want a spines/fire brute/farmer. I am unsure what else might shine with it, I might go Bio armor or Ice Armor, but I wanted to ask if there was any other AT or secondary that pairs particularly well with Spines? I am open to Tankers, Scrappers, Stalkers, even Brutes if it's a different secondary. I just don't want a /fire armor farmer. If people were wondering, I am hoping to have her be a "general use" character. I dislike making X characters good for Y activities but bad at Z, if that makes sense. TLDR - besides spines/fire brutes, are there any other builds that makes Spines shine in particular? Thanks bunches in advance

Live was before my time, unfortunately. I am also not bald! And I use the Ladies room, and I am actually quite fond of going sockfeets. So, wrong on all counts @Shred Monkey! 😆

Awesome, I was unaware. Neato.