Neiska

I have no data or proof, but I suspect the majority of players don't use discord (or the forums for that matter.) That said however, It's not as if "nobody" uses it either. I am involved with a few supergroups that do use discord to organize/schedule many things, be it team missions, team farming, rp events, contests, weekly rp sessions, so on. Should it be required? Certainly not. Is it a tool available to people that wish to use it? Sure! Honestly I don't see what the fuss is about. People may or may not use it, depending on personal tastes. And either way I see nothing wrong with that. My two cents!

I have heard that as well, but I have very little experience with /Storm. I messed with it once, but it felt strange. Several people swear to it though! I think it's more about using as many recharge pets with knockdown and more damage than debuffs/buffs/healing and so on. Which I am kind of split on. What it does, it should do well, but might struggle elsewhere as you are relying almost entirely on knockdown to protect you and your pets. At least that's how I read it, I could be wrong, as I said I have little playtime with /Storm.

Hi hi! Well I had time to take a look at your build, and yes I see a lot of room for improvement. Here's my findings - 1. First off you were missing quite a few of the Pet IOs, thats free defense/resist they were missing. 2. You yourself was missing several unique IOs as well, such as Shield Wall, Steadfast, and Gladiator. 3. You had a few questionable power picks/slotting. So I made another build for you that should be pretty well improved. Here are some features - 1. Swapped Stealth for Sorcery. You will have Mythic Flight for mobility, Shield Ward for your Prince, Enflame for more AoE damage and a -res proc, and Rune of Protection. Why Rune of Protection? Because the Achillies heel to toggle heavy MMs is being Mezzed. Since you are more or less relying on your toggles to make sure pets survive and they can't hit you, being mezzed can be an instant game over, because being mezzed instantly turns off all your toggles. Plus the way I have it slotted it can be a big RES boost and adds some cooldown to boot. 2. Swapped your Epic pool to Bonfire, I will explain why in a moment. But you should be able to have 100% uptime on it! Its seriously one of the best tools MMs have access to. 3. Added tough/weave, for more self-durability. 4. Added in all the pet Aura IOs. Most of them are on Hell on Earth. 5. My hell on earth will perform much better. Your original cooldown was 226, I got it down to 169 with a duration of 90 seconds, so that's more than 50% uptime. 6. I made room for haste, but didn't have room for burnout. I don't think this setup would perform well with burnout anyway. 7. Your health and stamina were slotted incorrectly. You "really" want chance for hp/end and end procs there, so "any" attack can give you free hp/end. 8. Added damage procs to pets! 9. Added chance of buildup to both your Prince and Tactics. There is room to move them to your T2 pets if you prefer it there. 10. My version has 8% more defense, and about 20% more resist across the board in most resists. So you yourself are much tougher. 11. Lastly, I made the slow on your lingering radiation "much" stronger. Your slow was -60%. How I have it slotted gets that all the way up to -122%. So, here's the details - You should start with Radiation Infection. It has a -29.53% to hit, when combined with your 30% defense, you are effectively defense capped. Then drop a bonfire. This is to both CC them for 45 seconds, doing more damage, and adding a -res to increase all other incoming damage, but more importantly to keep everything nice and clumped together for your debuffs, which will also give your pets time to do their job. After that, use Lingering Radiation to help keep them trapped and slowed down in your debuffs and AoE. Use Accelerated Metabolism on cooldown to help manage your END. Use Hell on Earth on Cooldown, either on Prince or Hellfire Gargoyle. If you find yourself struggling with END, you can turn off Shield Ward, Mythic Flight, and Enflame. (But you should have enough END to manage fine, I only mention that in case you are under pressure and need to cut some END costs, those 3 are your best bets without affecting your overall performance overly much.) For Incarnates I suggest: Musculature (Core), Degenerative (Both are fine), Ageless (if you find yourself having END issues, if you don't, go Barrier), your Lore pet of Choice, and Support (Core) for your Hybrid. So overall, with my build your debuffs should be stronger, you are tougher, pets are tougher, pets do more damage through procs and added -res debuffs, with some additional tools to help control the fight. And here's some pics of our totals side by side - Your totals - My totals (without RoP) - Anyway, here is the build! Let me know if you have any questions! Hope this helps! PS - Made one final tweak, saw that Assault really wasn't worth the END cost, so I re-added Choking Cloud, so you have Knockdown, Slow, and Holds for battle control. How I have it slotted it can also proc a bonus hold. So you really are sort of a Mini-Controller as well, to a point. Combined with all your Debuffs, this actually should perform quite well! Tempted to make one myself! Demon-Rad-For Emeyer406.mxd

@emeyer406 Welcomes. As far as MMs go, Damage is a bit of a quagmire due to all the various things in play. But I will offer what I can. Demons are actually one of the top Damage-Doers as a standalone. Definitely the top ST one, weaker AoE. If you are comparing your damage to say, the hover blaster over there nuking every 60 seconds then yes, your damage will pale in comparison. So I would urge you to keep objectivity in mind. MM's will never be top shelf DPS, but they can be middle shelf DPS. Incarnates My first question after you hit 50 is did you have your T3 alpha incarnate power? And was it Musculature? A fresh 50 MM will feel weak, no matter how you are slotted. This is because of the level shift mechanic. Your T3 pet is your level, but your other pets are below. Which is even worse if you are on a +4 ITF. For example, if you are on a +4, your T1 pets are effectively fighting things +7 to their respective levels. So the first thing a new 50 MM should get is their T3 Alpha ASAP, because its a fairly significant power boost in pet damage, both for the level shift as well as the 45% damage bonus. My second question is do you have your interface slot? Pet attacks do benefit from the X effect and X damage. It is actually fairly easy to keep the buff capped with MMs, as each of your pets can proc it. I usually recommend Degenerative, for the -Maxhp debuff, which is an effect you cannot get elsewhere. Lastly for Incarnates, you should take Support for your Hybrid slot. You "can" take Assualt, but I felt that was too much effort for too little reward. If you go Assualt you have to use Assualt, then recast all your pets. From then on as long as the pets are in play, they will benefit anytime you re-use your assualt power. But that only lasts until they either A.) Die or B.) you change maps. It "can" work but I felt it was much too gimicky, where as Support is fire and forget. True, it doesn't give as much +damage, but it gives a bit of everything - Damage, Defense, so on. Powers/Build For Demons specifically, I usually try to fit Enflame in where I can. It is sort of like having another Hellfire Aura in play. I usually put it on my Prince or my Hellfire Gargoyle. You can also slot it for -res and damage procs as well, which I usually do, but I have no idea if it can go off each tic or when its casted. Still either way, it does provide a noticeable area damage boost. I don't recommend taking Enflame on each pet type however, but I have had the best results with Demons and Beasts who need all the AoE they can muster. Plus you can take Shield Ward as a bonus, which is a nice little +absorb shield for your T3 pet. Another source of damage for Demons is your Hell on Earth power. People use it as a mule power but I always put a recharge or two in as well. It is possible with a set like /Time to get enough recharge to make it Perma. With /Rad though I don't think this is reachable. But you can still have more than 50% uptime on it I am sure, which is a nice damage boost as well. You should be recasting it on cooldown anytime you can, just brace for a bit of END drain when it wears off. But it isn't as bad as Gangwar's end drain is. Enhancements I can't look at your slotting this moment (posting from work), but I will have a look when I get home. But here are a few tidbits - Soulbound Allegance Build up - Stick this in either your T3 or T2 Pets, depending if you want your big boy to hit harder, or for you T2 to have a stronger hellfire aura. Damage Procs - Putting one in each of your pets does make a difference. Tactics - Another chance to build up goes here. It has a very low chance of going off, but every bit helps. I am afraid aside from that, that's all the advice I can offer without actually seeing what you use. But I will take a look when I can and see what you have. Just a bit of forewarning though, I am no /Rad expert. But just a bit of forewarning, even the best MM will never compete with Blaster, Scrapper, or Brute levels of damage. But it is possible to do respectable damage. The good news is you have one of the best pet sets to do so. So I suspect its an Incarnate and Slotting issue. Will post more soon!

/Electric Affinity is very strong, borderline OP. Here are the highlights - First the set uses a chain mechanic, you target one thing with most of your abilities and it jumps from target to target. You build charges by standing in your cage or using abilities. The set has an AoE -10% damage debuff, and a ST -20% debuff, (and yes they stack on one thing for -30%) You have both a heal and a +absorb, both of which are fairly fast to recast. But Faraday's Cage is the real T9 of the set. Fully slotted it provides about 17% all resist, but the main feature is it makes everything inside of the zone immune to many effects, like knockback. This is extended to you, your pets, and team mates. (The only other way to get this effect is from Clarion Incarnate.) You also have a very strong +END tool which refills targets endurance. Fully slotted you gain back more than you use when you cast, which more or less gives you infinite effective END for you, pets, and team mates. So if you are playing /Electric, you sort of more or less get two incarnate features - Clarion and Ageless +END, which leaves you free to take Barrier as a Destiny slot, making an already durable set, even moreso. The downside to the set is its almost entirely focused on Surviving, which is not everyone's cup of tea. Aside from the two -dam debuffs it has little else to boost your pets. Another downside is the actual T9 "amp up" is nonfunctional on pets, and only works on other players. It also tends to favor melee, due to Faradays Cage and the Chain mechanic. If your targets are too far away, the chain will break and stop. So what you bring to the team is Status Immunity, Resist Buffs, Healing, Absorb, and Infinite END for everyone. Electric is very strong, my favorite secondary along with /Time. It pairs well with Demons, Robots, Thugs, and Beasts. A friend of mine also says it pairs well with Necromancy but I have not yet tried it myself. A special mention goes out to Demons/Electric, which is almost tank like in the levels of punishment it can just brush off. Pretty much everything will be resistance capped, and there are several ways to boost Defense. That combined with bodyguard, absorb, healing, status immunity, etc etc, makes for one very tough cookie. But you might want to look at /Time too, /Time is also quite good with any pet set.

You can't really trust Evasive Maneuvers, as its defense only applies as long as you aren't doing anything. The moment you do something you lose the DEF bonus. It's main use is to resist -fly powers, and yes it won't affect your pets either. I would make sure you have all of the pet aura IOs that boost their survivability, and fit them in somehow while leveling up. You can always respec and fix your slotting once you are level 50. I have no great experience with /Radiation on MMs, but from what I remember others saying about it is you have to make sure you are applying both Radiation Infection for the -def/-hit and Enervating Field for the -damage/-res, so the two of them together sort of effectively both raise your effective durability and lowers theirs. According to MIDs a fully 6 slotted Radiation Infection is - -31% defense, -30% tohit. And Enervating Field is -22% res and -15% damage. So you are more or less relying on your debuffs to make your pets survive. Aside from that I would boost your pets in any way you can - Maneuvers toggle as always. But I have found Spirit Ward to be a noticeable help too, giving one of your pets a persistent absorb shield. On my Robots/Dark MM the shield actually refreshes before they break it, so my T3 robot more or less never really takes damage. Finally you can take either Bonfire, Electric Fences, or Web Grenade as epic pools no matter what kind of MM you are to add a bit of CC and added damage. You can slot Bonfire for Proc Damage and -Res, and change KB to KD. With enough recharge you can have it up 100% of the time, and thats 45 seconds of enemies flopping about like rag dolls getting wailed on by your enemies, on top of more -res and damage. Sorry I am not a /Radiation expert. Everyone I have asked has said that the MM's got the worst Radiation power pool which is a bummer. Hope this helps! And I think it's really awesome you play with your Son!

@meyerwolf406 As mentioned before, it can vary depending on single target vs aoe, difficulty, damage types. Each pet type has its perks though. Note: This is only the pet sets themselves, not taking things like best favorable scenario or secondary into account. Only "base" primaries as stand-alones. Thugs - Thugs are mostly ranged with a mini-brute to tank for you. It has a good mix of ST and AoE and comes with Gangwar. They aren't the "best" in any particular area, but rank "very good" in all of them. A solid 4/5 in whatever circumstance you put them in. The downside is your mini-brute tends to run off, and your pets free toggles only affect themselves, not you. Which "can" make Thug MMs themselves a but squishier than other MM types. But since they come with both 2 free Tactics toggles and -def, they are more accurate baseline than other pets, which indirectly also boosts their effective DPS. Robots - Robots are the AoE set, and are all ranged. Which means you can use things like group fly/immobilize/holds to out-shoot your enemy, so melee simply never occurs. They are energy type which is good, but the mixed bag with robots is they are a very back loaded set. 80% of your total damage comes from your big robot, and only one of his attacks - missile fire patches. The best way I have found to use this is to stand in your own fire puddles, making things have to come to you, so they stand in it in order to fight you, which you can then trap and CC them into. It is a long climb to level 32 though, so robots don't "exemplar down" as well as other pet types. They also have a lot of knockback, which actually works against you if you are trying to keep things in your fire, so slots are lost with KB to KD slotting. But if you manage all that, Robots are second to none in the AoE department. If you can keep things in your fire, they will melt before your eyes. Demons - Demons are the best ST damage. They have both a mix of damage types and kinds of attack, from ranged to melee, ST to cones, fire, ice, slashing, so on. They have Hell on Earth for a nice buff too, and come with resist buffs and a bit of healing built in. The downside to demons is the noise for some players, as well as being the worst AoE damage out of the "big 3" pet sets. They aren't "bad" at aoe per say, just not as good as the others, but do have a bit of debuffs built in as well, a bit of -resist, a hold, but a bit of -speed. Beasts - Beasts are a bit of a mixed bag. An all melee pet set, with only one area attack on your t3 big dogo. They come with defense, but you have to give up stacking buff mechanic built into the set to utilize it. The pets can crit though, and you can slot them very heavily for damage procs. (Some say they are the best pet set to slot for damage procs, but thats a long conversation.) The issue with beasts is, they seem to be missing a bit of recharge for a full cycle of attacks, so at times they stand there for a moment. Which is problematic for enemies that run. There are various ways to deal with this such as CC or fold space, but it is annoying to deal with constantly. Still, they are a solid pet choice. Ninjas - Ninjas are actually very good DPS. The problem is they are also very squishy. They are a Smashing/Leathal set, with the t3 pet doing fire damage. They are mostly melee attacks with a few debuffs sprinkled in, namely -defense. So Ninjas are sort of the "glass cannon" of pet picks. While not regarded as a top pet pick, they are among the damage-doers, so I felt they were worth mentioning. If you were only concerned with Damage and no other consideration, I would suppose a Thug, Demon, or Ninja /Storm or Kinetics would be the best. The problem would be the playstyle, as /Storm is mostly knockback/knock down with AoE, and Kinetics are mostly a heal and some buffs, but has Fulcrum for a big damage buff. But I imagine this sort of setup might be difficult to play, at least for me personally. Some do fantastic with /Storm but it's not my bag of tea. But there are a lot of other things that determine what your total net effective damage is. With MMs more or less the question is, what are you giving up to push your damage higher, because you can't "have it all." Hope this helps

Lack of pet customization options. Not expecting full out models, but something as simple as their colors or colors of their attacks might be nice.

Are you sure you didn't go necromancy? Cause holy thread Batman! 😆 (I kid I kid! Just poking funs.)

No, you can use the sudden acceleration KB to KD proc. Also @hellona100, while you are correct the prince opens with that attack, it is also a higher rate of added damage. But you really cant go wrong with any proc, all of them I have tried are noticeable in damage. It varies by pet type, as beasts seem to be the best at Procs, followed by Robots. But Demons do pretty well with them too.

I don't have access right now to confirm (at work right now) but its possible! Worth checking out. And the Def vs Res isn't so clear cut with MMs, with heals, bodyguard mode and whatnot, as a lot of that also depends on your pets values which we don't have access too. But either way I am confident in saying this build will perform just fine at +4/8.

Hey @Erhnam Took a look at your build, here's my thoughts - 1. You can split up 2 of your Superior Mark of Supremacies to trade a little resist for 10% recharge. 2. You can put damage procs into pets, they are a noticeable difference. 3. You should slot KB to KD in bonfire, if nothing else. 4. You have Fireblast, Fireball, and Lash. I would pick one, you really don't need all 3. 5. You can slot Tactics with Gussians chance for build up. 6. You can slot a pet with Soulbound chance for build up. When it pops it is very noticeable, i would suggest either your t2 or t3 pets, depending on preference. 7. If you dropped one of your personal attacks, you could pick up Weave, which will be more Defense. 8. I would add 1 more slot to Hell on Earth if you can, and slot it with a plain Recharge Reduction. 9 If you swapped the set in Lash to Blistering Cold that's another 5% defense. Here's what I put together for you. I might be able to do better but I am on my way out for work, this is a rush job on the suggested fixes, but has a good bit higher defense - PS - I forgot to change the slot in Bonfire from KB to KD. Hehe sorry for that one, was rushed! This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning Secondary Power Set: Thermal Radiation Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Heat Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Summon Demonlings -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(5), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(7) Level 1: Warmth -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(11), Prv-Absorb%(11) Level 2: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 4: Lash -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(33) Level 6: Enchant Demon -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(19), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Rct-Def(21), Rct-Def/EndRdx(37), Rct-Def/Rchg(39) Level 10: Plasma Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(21), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 12: Summon Demons -- SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg(A), SvrRgh-Dmg/EndRdx(23), SvrRgh-Acc/EndRdx(25), SvrRgh-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), SvrRgh-Acc(27), SvrRgh-PetResDam(27) Level 14: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(29), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(42), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(42), GssSynFr--Build%(43) Level 16: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17) Level 18: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 20: Hell on Earth -- ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(A), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(31), EdcoftheM-PetDef(31), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(33), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(33), RechRdx-I(43) Level 22: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 26: Summon Demon Prince -- SprMarofS-Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(34), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(34), SlbAll-Build%(36), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(36) Level 28: Forge -- AdjTrg-ToHit(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(36), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(37) Level 30: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), GldArm-End/Res(31), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(37) Level 32: Abyssal Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Heat Exhaustion -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 38: Melt Armor -- ShlBrk-DefDeb(A), ShlBrk-Acc/DefDeb(39), ShlBrk-Acc/Rchg(39), ShlBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(40), ShlBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), ShlBrk-%Dam(50) Level 41: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42) Level 44: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(45), Rct-Def/EndRdx(45), Rct-Def/Rchg(45), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Rct-ResDam%(47) Level 47: Fire Ball -- Rgn-Knock%(A), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(50) Level 49: Bonfire -- Ann-ResDeb%(A) Level 1: Supremacy Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(40) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(40) Level 1: Cold Demonling Level 26: Demon Prince Level 12: Ember Demon Level 1: Fiery Demonling Level 1: Hellfire Demonling Level 12: Hellfire Gargoyle Level 18: Afterburner ------------ Erhnam demons-thermal.mxd

Hello @Erhnam, Cold vs Thermal - Cold is a DEF set, with some debuffs and CC options. Cold Pro's - Very good defense from Ice Shield, Glacial Shield, and Artic Fog. It has a bit of Fire, Cold, and Energy RES. It also has Sleet and Snow Storm for -Speed which stacks. Cold Con's - No healing to speak of. No status resistance buffs either. Thermal is a RES set, with heals, buffs, and debuffs. Thermal Pro's - Very strong RES, from Fire Shield, Plasma Shield, that when combined with Demon buffs pets can reach res caps. When combined with Bodyguard mode, makes you very durable. The set has two heals, Warmth and Cauterize, though Cauterize is single target. The set also has status defense from Thaw. It also has a good ST damage buff from Forge which is excellent for demons. Melt Armor and Heat Exhaustion are very good debuffs. Thermal Con's - No CC options, no END tools. Honestly both of them can be good. Cold will offer some tools and options, and Thermal will have more "raw" power, but has to deal with every encounter in the same way. Hope this helps! PS - /EA is very good with Demons, and is only as busy as you feel you have to be. Just because a power is available, doesn't mean you have to cast it. On my /EA I often wait until a power is needed. But another secondary I would consider is /Nature. /Nature can be a powerhouse, and I myself am leveling up a Demon/Nature currently. Then there is /Time which is top tier with any pet set.

Yes, and I am well aware of their posts you linked, and the changes to AE since HC change. So... not seeing your additional point, if there is one. They have already changed it. I would say that makes their stance pretty clear. Which to me is they want it to remain an option, just not the "superior" option for exp/inf gain, which I think is fair.

1. Thank you for your source. Though it is from 2009, from a person who does not make any rules or judgements on HC as far as I am aware. Though there is a chance they are present under another name. But this leads me to #2 - 2. Certainly. And they are free to pick and choose, add and change, so on. I mean, they have made several changes/updates to powersets and ATs, Seismic Powersets, Electrical Affinity, changes to MMs like pet AI and how their hitboxes interact with players, and so on. So why is all that "fine" to some people, but not how they choose to allow folks to use AE? 3. At this point, removing AE will do more harm than good, which is likely why they haven't done so. But that is just me guessing. I still say that the HC should use Live as a rough draft, but not a do or die guidebook on how to run things on HC. This applies to AE, as well as any other changes they add/change/implement.

I would genuinely be interested in seeing the original source for that, but I stand by my point that it's largely irrelevant either way. But thank you for affirming. Thats kind of my point. Homecoming isn't Live, which I see as a good thing. From where I sit, it's better in some ways, worse in others. But that is my personal take on it, others won't see it the same, obviously. (and rightly so.) Ultimately, it's up to the HC staff to decide policy. Not what they did on Live.

Two thoughts. 1. The first, citation needed. Do you have a source or data on record that is verifiable that specifically states precisely that in no uncertain terms? Or is it murky "way back when on live they said" - AKA - If you don't have a source, this is simply more of "you think's" 2. Even if your statement is true, what bearing do the Live Dev's have on Homecoming? What authority/bearing do they have, on how the HC staff run things? "But back on Live..." Well, HC isn't Live. It's a different staff. A different game. A different community. Stop trying to make HC "Live." It isn't "Live," and was never meant to be. And how they did things "on live" has zero bearing on HC here and now.

I agree with your take on that specific incident in the video. But I also agree with the point @Excraft as trying to make. People who try to control the way other people play, regardless of reasons, are part of the problem, not the solution. Except of course, if one is a staff member which I doubt any of us are. But a fellow player? Zero right to dictate/lecture/control fellow players, especially when there are zero rules being broken.

@UltraAlt "You think." "You think." "You think." There sure are a lot of "you think's" in there. Considering your emphatical stance and claims, I find that amusing. Especially since you have precisely zero access to actual server data that would prove any one of your many claims. You don't "know" any of this for FACT, you merely "think." Which renders your entire point moot when it comes to server policies and rules, especially when people aren't breaking any rules by doing such actions. Let me paint a picture for you. CoH is a playground. You are playing your way, but a group of others are playing in a way they enjoy. For some reason, this upsets you. So you go to the teacher to try and make them stop. "People aren't playing with me!" "They are leaving!" "Why don't they do the things I enjoy?" "Make them stop! Make them play with me!" Which to me speaks volumes about your character more than your dubious and unproven, unfounded claims. Here is a spoiler alert: It isn't written anywhere that people must play your way. And as a side note, it's possible that they actually are, but you are simply unpleasant to be around. So some do play your way, simply not with you. Perhaps stop trying to lecture others on what "you think," because I can assure you, most people either don't care or don't ask for it. The world doesn't revolve around you, or what "you think." Food for thought.

Hello Forums, I just wanted to ask for feedback on my Demons/Nature build. I have played Demons before but only dabbled with Nature but never to any great extent. As far as playstyle I am imagining a melee build that fights inside the Bastion/Overgrowth, with both Bonfire and Entangling Aura to keep enemies there and to buy time for the pets to do their work. I am hoping this will be viable both for solo and teams, and wont rely on Ageless to be functional. (I personally dislike that). I am aiming for max difficulty that is durable, does decent enough damage (for a MM) and will be a good addition to teams via buffs/debuffs/Endurance/Absorbs. A few notes - Sorcery pool - Spirit Ward to help protect the prince a little more, Flight is always nice to have, but Mainly I took it for Enflame to boost Demons iffy AoE damage, and Rune of Protection because based on my reading here on the forums one issue with Nature is being mezzed is the main issue because that deactivates your toggles. Epic pool - Bonfire to help CC/Damage things inside my Bastion/Overgrowth. The only thing I am not happy with is the lack of Burnout for Hell on Earth, but that I don't think that's a make or break build feature. It was down to deciding between Burnout or Enflame/Rune, and I decided to go Sorcery. Slotting - For the pets I focused on Accuracy, due to the lack of Tactics. I also put damage procs where I could, both on the Pets as well as Bonfire and a little on Enflame. I am going to keep Entangling Aura and slotted it to enhance the holds. Even if the Mag isn't strong enough to get bosses and elite bosses, it should be strong enough to get the majority of enemies each spawn. I also read elsewhere on the forums that slotting Living Spores for Recovery/Endurance is quite good, because outside of Overgrowth my END looks to be fairly demanding. As far as incarnates go, I have really only went with the ole reliable Musculature Core for pet damage. I haven't decided on anything else yet. I want to see how this performs first. But I imagine I will go Degenerative, Support, Banished, but uncertain about Destiny if I will go Barrier, Ageless, or Clarion. That will mostly depend on how well the pets perform. But that's enough notes, I just wanted to explain my reasoning behind some of the powers and slotting choices. Here is the build! - This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.1.2.5 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 49 Magic Mastermind Primary Power Set: Demon Summoning Secondary Power Set: Nature Affinity Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Heat Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Summon Demonlings -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(3), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(3), ImpSwf-Dam%(5), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(5), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(7) Level 1: Corrosive Enzymes -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Regrowth -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal(17) Level 4: Wild Growth -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(25), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Pnc-Heal/+End(31) Level 6: Enchant Demon -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(33), Rct-ResDam%(33) Level 10: Spore Cloud -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A) Level 12: Summon Demons -- SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(13), SprMarofS-Dmg(13), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), ExpStr-Dam%(15), UnbGrd-ResDam(17) Level 14: Spirit Ward -- Heal-I(A) Level 16: Lifegiving Spores -- PreOptmz-EndMod/End(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(34), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(34), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(36), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(36) Level 18: Hell on Earth -- RechRdx-I(A), EdcoftheM-PetDef(19), SvrRgh-PetResDam(19), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(21), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(21), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(23) Level 20: Wild Bastion -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(36), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(37), Prv-Heal/Rchg(37), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(37), Prv-Absorb%(39) Level 22: Mystic Flight -- HypSnc-+Special(A) Level 24: Enflame -- Ann-ResDeb%(A), Ann-Acc/Dmg(39) Level 26: Summon Demon Prince -- SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(27), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(29), SlbAll-Build%(31) Level 28: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(39), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(40), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40) Level 30: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 32: Abyssal Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Entangling Aura -- Lck-%Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Hold(43), GldNet-Acc/Rchg(46), GldNet-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(48), Lck-Rchg/Hold(49) Level 38: Overgrowth -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40) Level 41: Bonfire -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), ExpStr-Dam%(42), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(42), Ann-ResDeb%(42), JvlVll-Dam%(43), PstBls-Dam%(43) Level 44: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(45), UnbGrd-ResDam(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(46), UnbGrd-Max HP%(46) Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(47), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(47), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Ksm-ToHit+(48) Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(49) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 1: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(7) Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(9) Level 1: Cold Demonling Level 1: Fiery Demonling Level 1: Hellfire Demonling Level 12: Ember Demon Level 12: Hellfire Gargoyle Level 26: Demon Prince Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon ------------ Thanks bunches in advance! Demons-Nature mk 2.mxd

My favorite top 3 - Robots/EA, Demons/Time, Thugs/Traps. Playing with a Robots/Dark now which seems promising, and tinkering with a Demons/Thermal in MIDS.

Well, it's sort of like this. I see the various activities as tools to make my own entertainment, rather than rely on the game to entertain me. Games like Minecraft, Conan, various "building" games and so on. Here's some examples off the top of my head - - Using the inf I get from AE to form my own little SG of villains, and assign them my own missions, essentially rping a contact and actually awarding them. Like a "I have assembled you here to retrieve X thing. Go to X place and do X newspaper missions, and I will give you X reward." Which both fosters community, roleplay, and rewards low levels and can make them feel like their actions actually matter. - Using the inf i get from AE to help support rp events, such as costume contests, rp games, dice games, we just had a 500 mil Friday the 13th themed costume party and contest last night as an example. - Go accolade badge hunting, which I reserve solely as an activity for characters I want to take all the way to the max. The same with T4 incarnates. I get my T1 3rd rank on nearly everyone, just for the level shift. I go t3 on builds i want to see what they are capable of, but I only go full T4 on the builds I truly enjoy. Most of which are MMs, Tankers, and my Crabber. - Do Ouro missions by myself, both to catch up on stories and lore, at my own pace and time instead of random speeds with random people. etc. -Eventually I do want to learn how to base build, but the little I have tried to do I had difficulty with the unwieldly interface, which has only increased my respect for the base builders of talent out there. Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is I don't see as story missions as the main part of the game, at least not anymore, not for me personally. I mean, who gets excited to go "wow I get to play through the Dr Graves chain for the 435th time!" When you just want to get to the end point with a build and see what it can do, the process to get there would be very mind numbing without other options. Just explaining how I see things. I see all the different activities as options, many of which only come to fruition at level 50. Thats the part of the game I enjoy most, the post-50 things. Not the climb to get there. I can understand if that's all a person does is get to level 50 before starting over, then yes I would agree that would be the game in its entirety for them. But for some of us, combat is a side activity. I much prefer "community" activities, be it games, contests, roleplay, farming to help people level, just hanging out and roleplaying, chatting about game mechanics, and so on. Best wishes!

Itfs, incarnate content, making friends, power building, farming, badge hunting, accolades, crafting, building a financial empire, etc etc etc? If you ask me there is more things to do at 50 than not 50, if all you do on the way to 50 is do combat missions.

Respectfully but strongly disagree, which might be the crux of the argument. For many of us, the game "starts" at 50, and everything leading up to that is more or less a long, clunky, unnecessarily grindy prelude to where the real game and fun is. I am not saying you are right or that I am wrong, only that not everyone agrees with "everything after 50 is filler." Maybe its filler to you. It isn't to me. And if we are going by "when the game was first released" argument, then by the same logic anyone who plays added ATs/Powersets/Story Arcs are also "playing the game wrong?" I hasten to add that you didn't precisely say those words, and I am not trying to "put words into your mouth." I only extrapolate for context of your point if it was applied to other things. As far as the topic itself, personally I feel that the troubling number of "you are playing the game wrong" stances might be in fact driving people away, and certainly doesn't "attract" new players. And I still stand by my original point that perhaps the best bang for the buck would be for the HC staff to start a social media account, perhaps even as one of the characters in the game. Like a Ms Liberty or Recluse twitter page, which has possibility to be not only free recruitment but highly amusing as well. I am unsure of the legal grounds of such a thing, but if that is murky then still a plain HC social media might do some well to shine a light on the servers.

I shall take your word for it. 👍