Neiska

For me its with my Mastermind. Outliving other team mates when multiple spawns are engaged and its nearly a team wipe, or fighting half of an AE map at once and clearing it faster than my brute/farmer can. It just feels like an epic moment. Emerging out of the smoke with a smile, burnt but unbroken, handing out wakies to team mates.

@Hardboiled Hero - then let us have a mutually respectful discussion and thought experiment. Firstly, we agree that team and solo play should be considered. However I would also like to point out that by your argument, the same case could be made for Damage, or Crowd control effects. But lets consider your example "batman stalker". So for our experiment, lets consider him a defense softcapped stalker. I would point out that this mainly benefits only himself. He certainly doesn't have the aggro capability to hold packs of spawns for the entire team, particularly when speed running missions. If anything, his own defenses makes the job of keeping him healthy easier for healers/buffers if he is teamed with such people. Now on a smaller team, say 2-3 people sure he might be good to eat the alpha strike. But I doubt that he will be tanking incarnate content and so on. So "superman" still has a need and role. Another thing I would like to highlight is that the number of people playing the game, vastly outnumber the people working on it. Which means there are far more people trying new things, finding new things (even to this day) and so on. There simply are more people doing things than they might have considered or thought possible. An example of this would be my own recent revelation with AE maps. People like to talk about brutes and scrappers, but for me my fastest map clearer isnt even a "Farmer". Specifically, on a small map such as the moon map. For me the quickest character I can clear it with surprisingly turned out to be my Mastermind. I am in no way saying my masterminds damage is anywhere near a brute or scrappers. However what it can do is bypass one key game mechanic that no "farming build" can - the aggro cap. It turns out that each Pet has its own aggro table. So, for arguments sake, lets say the most that Brute or Farmer can aggro at a time is 17 mobs. Well, I have 6 pets, each with their own aggro list. It isn't known exactly how many mobs a pet can aggro, but its quite substantial. So the brute fights 2 packs of 8 (16 total) enemies each at a time, where the MM can aggro and engage more than half the map - 5-7 packs of 8 (40+) enemies each, at a time. Its not a damage ratio, its a "how many can you fight at a time" ratio. So even though my damage per second is no where near the brutes, I still come out ahead in the end in terms of map clearing speed, simply because I can engage more than half the map within the first 10 seconds. Now, I only bring this up to illustrate a point. No one in their right mind is going to argue that Masterminds are more powerful than brutes or scrappers and deserve a nerf. Its creative "outside the box" thinking. You can apply this logic to nearly ever AT. Each AT has its own set of circumstances where it shines. Controllers have immortal pets that can be permanent. Tankers and Brutes can go full AFK when farming. Stalkers can skip entire missions together and stealth to the glowy at the end. A blaster can obliterate an entire spawn with 1 or 2 nuke powers and move on. Their damage, survival, CC abilities and so on are irrespective of one another. So lets refocus on your example, a defense capped stalker. Well, great for him. What can he do with it? Will it give him an unfair advantage over others? Will it let him break the game? I suspect aside from solo play, he himself will notice little difference on a team. But I am far from a stalker expert. (but I have seen some very surprisingly durable stalkers and blasters around). I feel in no way disadvantaged or penalized by people doing such builds. I am secure in my knowledge that I can do things that they cannot as well. It all depends on circumstances, difficulty level, team makeup, time/money invested in the build, and most importantly the activity type in question. I just think you might be comparing apples to oranges here. People being tough is not an ill thing. People being both tough and able to deal damage is not an ill thing either. For example, I doubt that defense capped stalker can solo AVs or super monsters, where others most certainly can, even though the stalker has things like stealth or more damage. (again, I could be wrong! No idea if stalkers can do such things.) I would urge you not to focus so much on the numbers, but try to focus on the overall picture. As @golstat2003 pointed out, wide sweeping changes are very unlikely anyway. And perhaps not worry so much about what other people are doing, or what their builds are capable of. If you don't want to make a defense capped toon etc, no one is certainly making you. I have many friends who play "roleplay" builds, and are having a fantastic time even if they aren't the most mathematically superior builds in the game. Just my two cents on it. Are some people out there super tough? You bet. Super strong too? Yep! Is that a bad thing? No, I don't think so. Not really. There is no one AT/Build that can "do it all". There are some that can come certainly close though. But as long as people are enjoying and still playing what is a really aged game, does it matter? This isn't a contest. There is no prize at the end. No medals to be given, no "worlds bestest COH player/build" to be had. In the end, its all about just having fun. I do hope you are having fun with the game @Hardboiled Hero, truly I do. And nothing in this post is meant in any way as a personal insult or attack. I just think perhaps you might have forgotten what made this game fun. The fact its such an old game with a dedicated fan base is astounding. Happy adventurers!

A pretty vague question. First off not all difficulties/ATs/activities are the same. Defense is only one small part of the overal entire aspect of the game. I would argue that CC at endgame/high level content is more impactful than having high defenses. My only complaint about defenses is it sort of pigeonholes a great number of builds into taking things like maneuvers/tough/weave just to survive. Not all mind you, just a goodly number of them. Personally i think they are fine as it is. There is enough variance between cc/offense/defense/debuffs/buffs/other values that each AT really has its place. Some could use tuning certainly along with some powersets, but, you can hardly blame Defense alone for that.

Thank you riverdusk, i will make edits, thank you for your contribution! As far as the END thing, i wasnt meaning to the power costs, i meant if an npc drains your summon of END, it isnt much affected. Reducing power cost is nice! But, draining/buffing the END of your minions (not their cost) doesnt make a huge difference, at least I have never noticed one.

Well, that's all the info that i personally have access too on my MM's. If anyone can give values for other pets and secondaries it would be appreciated, as well as offer any additional information or correct anything I might have missed. Thanks bunches! Hope others find this list useful!

-Pet FAQ/info - -Pets are unaffected by +recharge, as it wont speed up their attacks. It will only make their re-summon refresh sooner. - Pets are largely unaffected by +/- END effects. Just in my limited personal experience I have never seen it as an issue for them. - Pet "procs" - some pets can proc buildup/damage, this is discussed at length elsewhere on the forums, I only mention it here out of a sake of completeness. - Mastermind pets can equip and benefit from "recharge pet" IO sets. - Your pets will always be lower level than yourself. Your tier 1 pets will be 2 levels behind, your tier 2 will be 1 level behind, and your tier 3 will be equal. - However, pets do benefit from incarnate level shifts. This makes obtaining your first level shift a priority as a new level 50 Mastermind, as it will benefit not just you but your entire squad. It is quite a noticeable bump in power for not just yourself but all of your pets as well. - Pets do benefit from an incarnate Alpha Musculature bonus damage, as well as Support Hybrid slot, Barrier Destiny slot, and Rebirth Destiny slot. - All MM pet base values- - Beasts - (to be added) -Demons - Demonling - 0% defense (all), 24.15% Smashing, Lethal, Fire, 18.16% Cold, 34.50% Toxic Resistance Demons - Ember Demon - 0% defense (all), 23.10% Smashing, Lethal, Toxic, 34.65% Fire, 11.55% Cold Resistance Hellfire Gargoyle - 0% defense (all), 28.88% Smashing, Lethal, 34.65% Toxic, 23.10% Fire, 11.55% Cold Resistance Demon Prince - 0% defense (all), 16.24% Smashing, Lethal, 18.56% Toxic, 6.96% Fire, 18.56% Cold Resistance CC resistances - Daemonlings - Terrorise Mag4 Terrorise -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Stun Mag1 Stun -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Ember Daemon - Terrorise Mag4 Terrorise -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Hellfire Daemon - Terrorise Mag4 Terrorise -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Sleep Mag4 Sleep -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Stun Mag1 Stun -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Daemonlord Terrorise - Mag4 Terrorise -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Sleep Mag4 Sleep -33.33% reduction (50% resist) Confuse Mag2 Confuse -33.33% reduction (50% resist) *Note* The Ember Demons "Ember Shield" buff adds 10% Smashing, Lethal, Toxic, 6.66% Cold, and 13.32% Fire resistance. It cant affect itself, but will cast it on all the other demons. these are NOT included in the above values. Also, this effect seems to give 5% more ingame than listed values. Text states it should be 5% for demons, and 10% for the Mastermind, but in practice it gives 10% to demons and 15% to the Mastermind. - Mercenaries - Soldiers - 0% defense (all), 0% resistances Spec Ops - 0% defense (all), 0% resistances Commando - 0% defense (all), 0% resistances CC resistances - Soldiers and Spec Ops - Confuse Mag2 Confuse -33.33% duration (50% resist) Commando - Confuse Mag2 Terrorise Mag4 Confuse -33.33% duration (50% resist) Terrorise -33.33% duration (50% resist) - Necromancy - Zombie - 0% defense (all), 24.46% Smashing, Cold, Negative, Psionic, and Toxic Resistance Grave Knight - 0% defense (all), 24.57% Cold, Negative, Psionic, and Toxic Resistance Lich - 0% defense (all), 24.67% Cold, Negative, and Toxic Resistance CC resistances Zombies: 4 protect (terrorize, sleep), 1 protect (stun), 50% resistance (terrorize, sleep), 100% resistance (speed) Grave Knight: 4 protect (terrorize, sleep), 1 protect (stun), 50% resistance (terrorize, sleep), 100% resistance (speed) Lich: 4 protect (terrorize, sleep) - Ninjas - (to be added) -Robotics - Battle Drone - 0% defense (all), 25.93% Lethal, Cold, Psionic Resistance Protector Bot - 7.50% defense (all), 26.04% Lethal, Cold, Psionic Resistance - (force field accounted for) Assault Bot - 0% defense (all), 26.14% Lethal, Cold, Psionic Resistance *Note* - Force field from Protector Bots stack with one another, so Battle Drones and Assault Bot each have 15% Defense, while the Protector Bots give each other only 7.50% as they cannot self-bubble. - Thugs - (to be added) -Pet Enhancement IO's - (Mastermind pets can equip and benifit from "recharge pet" IO's) -Edict of the Master - 5% defense(all) 40' radius -Call to Arms - 5% defense (all), 20' radius -Superior Command - 15% AoE defense only, unknown radius -Sovereign Right - 10% resistance bonus (all but Psionic), 20' radius -Expedient Reinforcement - 10% resistance bonus (all but Psionic), 20' radius -Superior Mark of Supremacy - 15% resistance (all), 40' radius - Other IOs beneficial to Pets- - Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up - + damage, unknown value. - Overwhelming Force -Knockback to Knockdown - changes knockback to knockdown effect. (I have heard this one is buggy however and doesnt always work on all pet types/attacks.) This also adds a chance to knockdown in pets/attacks that don't normally have one. -Sudden Accelration - Knockback to Knockdown - alternate to Overwhelming force, which is limited to one. You can have multiples of these. - Explosive Strike: Chance for smashing Damage - some pet types can slot this, gives them a chance to proc additional damage on their attacks. -Mastermind Secondaries that affect pets- (base values only) -Cold Domination - (to be added) -Dark Maisma - - Shadow Fall - toggle, 3.75% defense (all) -Electrical Affinity - - Faraday Cage - PbAoE - 11.25% resistance to all but toxic, Knockback and Status change resistance - Insulating Circuit - + Absorb, (unknown value) - Empowering Circuit - +9% to hit, 22.50% damage -Force Field - - Insulation Shield - 11.25% defense (Fire, Cold, Energy, Negative, Ranged, AoE) - Deflection Shield - 11.25% defense (Smashing, Lethal, Melee) + 30% Resistance (Toxic) - Dispersion Bubble - toggle, 8.18% defense (all), + Hold, Immobile, Disorient Resistance -Empathy- (to be added) -Pain- (to be added) -Poison- (to be added) -Sonic- Sonic Barrier: 15% resistance (smash, lethal, toxic) Sonic Haven: 15% resistance (fire, cold, energy, negative) Sonic Dispersion: 11.25% (all but psionic), 5.19 protection (hold, stun, immobilize) Clarity: 7.78 protection (confuse, terrorize, hold, immobilize, stun, sleep), 129.75% resistance (sleep), +64.88% perception Disruption Field: -22.5% resistance toggle debuff to enemies around a selected pet -Storm- (to be added) -Time- - Farsight - +9.38% defense (all), +11% to hit, + perception -Traps- (to be added) -Trick Arrow- - No pet affecting powers. - Ancillary Pool Powers- (base values only) -Leadership- - Maneuvers - toggle, 2.63% defense (all) -Assault - toggle, 11.25% damage - Tactics - toggle, +11.81% to hit, + perception -Concealment- -Grant Invisibility - + defense (all) - (unknown value) -Flight- -Group Fly- Allows pets to fly, - accuracy (unknown value) *Note* Group flight will also affect other players on your team, most of them will ask that you turn it off. - Epic Power Pool - - Mace Mastery - -Power Boost - +65.56% healing, defense buffs, disorients, holds, immobilizes, endurance drains for 15 seconds. - I feel this one bares special mentioning. This power itself doesn't benefit pets directly, but indirectly. It offers a 65% boost to your effects. So if you were to use it before Farsight for example, using just base values it would boost the 9.38 and add 6.097, for a total of 15.47 defense. And the buff affected by a power boost persists for its entire duration. Toggle powers are only boosted for the 15 seconds. But that makes this power a strong contender and goes a long way for maximizing your pets. Issues/Bugs - (to be added)

Hello fellow Masterminds, I am a pet lover. I love to try things out and "redline" builds and see what they are capable of. One thing however that's always been an issue is that there is no way to see pet values in MIDs. So I was hoping perhaps we can come up with a spread sheet or something and pin it as a reference for all of us. Namely to help calculate defenses/resistances and other values. Something like - - All MM pet base values (by type). - Pet bonus IOs, such as the +Def/Resist Aura IOs. - MM Secondary Buff/Toggles that affect pets and their base values. - Pool powers that affect pets such as Maneuvers. - Incarnate powers that affect pets, such as Musculature Alpha and Support Hybrid. - Tricks/Methods you can use to affect pets, such as Power Boosting before using Farsight/Dispersion Bubble. - It also might be a good idea to make a list of bugs/things that don't affect pets or some of the powers that don't function as they should, such as Amp Up from Electrical affinity not working on Ranged pet types. I know this is a lot of information, but it would be very nice to have it all in one place for everyone to use to calculate things for pets. Also it would be awesome to share tricks that not everyone is aware of. I am willing to fill in what I know myself, and edit the list as people share and give more information, but I don't know everything and there are in fact much wiser heads than mine that know more than I do, but I will do what I can. I also have no idea how to request things to get pinned once we have a list going for reference. Thanks in advance! And I hope this might be a useful tool for people!

well here is the build ive come up with. my first attempt. no idea if its good or bad for a blaster - http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1483&c=689&a=1378&f=HEX&dc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

Hello forums, Just had some questions for the Blaster experts out there. I have a tech based character that I wanted to make a blaster version of, mainly with one of the gun powers. Her secondary power will be Devices. After some browsing I think the 3 gun powers are sort of - Assualt Rifle - More area damage powers, but lacks single target sustained damage? Beam Rifle - More single target damage, the Distentergrate mechanic is a little wonky, and not much area damage? Dual Pistols - Seems overal between the two, but lacks a sniper attack and has many Knockback powers which isnt always a good thing? Not sure of those are correct, just going from what I have read so far. So I guess I would like to know which would be the best to pair with Devices? Far as "what I want to do" well I mainly play solo, but do team with people on occasion. I usually run AEs, Incarnate missions or hunt bages. My next quesiton is just how durable can you make a blaster? I hear stories of them being paper thin/squishy, but I have never really played one. I mean, how well can they solo? I am not expecting tanker or brute levels of toughness, but I don't want to be instant-splattered either. Thats it for now, thanks bunches in advance. TLDR - 1. Which "gun" powerset would pair with Devices well? 2. Just how glass cannon are they, or can you make them quasi-durable?

I think the answer will be largely subjective as whats fun or best will vary from person to person based on preferance, style, favored sort of mission/activity and so on. Personally I like my TW/BIO brute. True, a lot of folks say scrapper is better, but I like being able to do many different activities with 1 character, so they are multipurporse. First she can tank if needed as well as deal damage, both AoE and good ST. And with her I can do ITFs, Radio missions, +4/8 farms of either Fire or S/L, and more. Really any sort of activity that I want to do with my time, I can do with my brute. For me the biggest difference between scrapper or brute for that powerset is simple - the taunt aura. It stops things from running. I hate chasing down runners in any mission. Its a matter of convience. Plus, I have tried a scrapper version, and I just liked brute better.

Well here is the Robo/MM build ive been playing. Its very tanky and is great team support, and is capable of soloing 4/8 with bosses. Overall im very happy with it. Havent tried pushing ITFS or anything like that solo with it yet though. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1553&c=733&a=1466&f=HEX&dc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

Personally Ive found that its always been a struggle to keep pets up unless I had Barrier running. If barrier was up, they are fine. When barrier falls off, they die. Fast. I tried juggling Support Hybrid and Barrier to shore up their defenses, and that works. To a point. The problem is that if you pick barrier you cant pick rebirth, and so you have zero way to heal or help your pets. You cant even taunt unless you took provoke from presense pool, but if you did that then your own defenses will suffer. It always felt like trying to keep all 3 points of a triangle - My defenses, Pet Defenses, and Healing, and you can pick any 2 of the 3, and the last one will suffer. But for arguement sake, lets say you had a way to make your pets survive on 4/8 with bosses, in a farm or something. You still have no way to make them focus fire on priority targets, and unlike MM pets they still run into melee and get clobbered, so you cant play the "immobilize and pew pew" them game, as they just run in and die anyway. Still say unless there is something changed Crabberminds will be a niche thing, but far from a competetior at endgame. If you compare a Crabermind ot a Mastermind, its night and day as far as pets are concerned. A MM can buff, heal, focus fire, debuff enemies, go tankermind if they want to, do damage, and still be overall far more tougher than a Crabbermind will ever be if you consier bodyguard mode. A Crabbermind can buff, cant heal unless they incarnate, cant keep their pets alive unless they give up on healing, cant taunt unless they sacrifice something else. Much as I love the class, overall if you are a pet lover like me, a MM is so much better. I struggle to get a crabbermind to do 4/8, much less with bosses, even if i spend half a billion inf getting them fully kitted out. Meanwhile on my MM I can park myself on a map, with heal on autocast, go do laundry or dishes, come back and find a fully cleared Moon Map. The only time Ive seen Crabers wreck things at max difficulty, was if there are more than one of them. Some friends and I did a test and ran a team of 6 Crabers. It was just absurdly hilarious, even all of our spiderbots were tearing things apart, due to the stacking TT buffs that affected all of our pets. So aside from something like that, my personal take on Crabbers is while fun, and still awesome, its sort of a "for fun only" build concept. Just my two cents.

I might be in my own boat here, but I've found my own play/budget for gearing my characters largely... unaffected. I still run farms, and make enough for my time investment to still fully gear out my characters. For me getting those purple sets is the easy part, it was grinding out those T4 incarnates that is the real grind. Even now money feels like a small speedbump, nothing more. Its those Emp merits and whatnot that are the real timeskins. I was never one to play the market, or focus on how much money I could get. And I am fine with those that like to focus on money. I'm a "do my own thing" sort. If people wanted to redline their capability for making money or whatever, I can understand the drive. I mean heck, I have around 12 fully slotted and geared characters and I didn't even know turning off exp for more money was a thing, as I was more focused on earning threads and so on. So I guess for me, money wasnt the big hurdle to get over, and it never really was. I find enough recipies and salvage to sell, plus what money i find normally to get what I wanted. I never felt helpless to improve my situation. I need 100 million? I'll go run a certain map a couple of times then. I usually find a purple worth a bit, though I've often found up to 3 on one map before. I do worry about how this might impact rp events such as games, contests, and offered player given prizes. I know many people who funded such giveaways through farming, so I do hope this doesnt impact that fun too much. But I really dont care if some people have accounts with 2 billion money. Thats their business, and it doesnt really affect me. I have always been able to improve myself with enough time and patience, and thats enough for me. Honestly, finding that special title, or getting fully equipped with all T4 incarnates, or getting all the Acolade poewrs is the true endgame grind to my mind. Money is just a timesink. But for some people Money making is the real fun too, and thats perfectly fine as well. Just my two cents.

Thats a fair point! Just 2 out of the 3 testers I spoke with said it was skippable for solo folks. But I think it comes down to numbers, the cost vs how much you get back perhaps? I dont have hard numbers right now to plan things, I need to update mids, which apparently a version with the set is available in the tools section.

Still running tests, but yes this is turning out to be a great set. I got to speak to a few people who helped beta test this, so I have a few update notes - 1. The Shock and Discharge -Dam effect stacks, and this stacks further with your resistance buffs. I don't have access to precise numbers right now but will post when I can. This means it is a very tanky set, possibly the most tanky of all out of the MM secondaries. 2. Pets are not affected by +recharge buffs, and I can't recall ever seeing my pets run out of END before. This makes Energizing circuit useless on pets, but good for other players when grouping. But if you are a strict solo-ist then this makes Energizing Circuit skippable. 3. Sadly our only spender, Defibrillate seems a bit lackluster. It does no damage, consumes stacks, puts things to sleep and drains their END. PVE wise its a melee AOE sleep ability. Still, better than no CC at all I suppose. 4. Did confirm that -End is largely useless in PVE, becuase enemies really arent affected by it to any great degree. If they have between 1-10 END they can use their powers. But this set still boasts two - dam debuffs, and an absorb we can put on our pets and team mates, which is a tool/option we have never had before which is very nice. So, to summarize, the tanky-ness of this set forks as follows - Before the fight make sure your Empowering and Insulating Circuit buffs are up, then drop Faraday Cage ASAP, boosting your and your pets resistances by around 20%, and making them very resistnant to knockback and status effects, then hit the group with your AoE Discharge for that -dam debuff, and hit any boss/leaders with shock for another -dam debuff. After that, use your heal as needed and refresh your absorb shields. Its a (-dam) + (-dam) + Res + Absorb total net defense effect, with a heal. So you cant rely simply on MIDs def and res numbers alone. Similar to Bio Armor, its hard to calculate the effect of +Absorbs and heal/recovery. So dont just look at your defense and resistance numbers and think thats all there is to the set, becuase thats a bit misleading. So for minmaxing, this set will probially be peak performance with a Resistance based pet like Demons, but I plan on staying robos myself, Robo/Electric is just too cool not to.

I thought it was Danny DeVito wearing a Mop Wig... either way, seems quite immortal. OP power, please nerf.

While i have no direct knowldge of how homecoming works, I have been involved as a staff member in other online games, so I will provide what i can - If you report X person for Y activity, the common procedure was to pull logs for serious offenses, meaning they can see an entire transcript of what you observed, not just what you said or what y person said, but an entire length of dialogue from X time to Y time in Z channel. Again, I have no idea if homecoming operates in the same manner, but it wouldnt suprise me if it did. So I would still urge some report action to be done, especially if it was several. While most policies are a staff wont tell you what the direct impact or results were, more often than not your report will affect more than a single instance, especially if its eregious such as this case. Bare in mind thats just my opinion and is in no way affiliated with homecoming or how they run things, just how it used to go down when i was a staff member for a different game. Something would get reported, logs would be pulled, and often would persue action against many people all at once. But thats logs of dialogue. I cant speak for "swatting mrs liberty with an emote" sort of action, even if such things are against the ToS. But i still urge you to report things where you see it, and you have the option to leave leave a channel if you find you dont like using it. Best wishes

Hello fellow Overlords! I just wanted to start a discussion for the new powerset, specifically as it applies to us Masterminds. So we can brainstorm togeather and possibly numbercrunch some things and come up with some playstyles/theories on how to use it! Please if anyone here was involved with the Beta testing feel free to give the rest of us any insight or advice! First for convience heres a copy/paste from the notes - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Support Powerset: Electrical Affinity You are able to control and manipulate electricity to aid your allies and weaken your enemies. Some Electrical Affinity powers build Static, which increases the number of targets your Circuit powers can chain to. The set has been built around chaining powers and a stacking / combo system that's similar to those found in many of the more modern melee and ranged damage sets, with a focus on wide variety of buffs for the whole team as well as damage and endurance debuffs for your enemies. Electrical Affinity also introduces and makes use of a brand new mechanic which allows powers to dynamically change the number of targets they can hit - in this case, the four Circuit powers hit more targets for every stack of Static that you currently have. Electrical Affinity is available for Defenders, Corruptors, Controllers and Masterminds. Electrical Affinity has both a Hero (blue) and Villain (red) default theme available for all ATs, along with the light and dark customisation themes. Powers T1: Shock (Ranged, Foe -DMG, -End, -Recovery, -Regen) Strike a single foe with a highly-charged electrical shock, draining some endurance and moderately reducing their recovery, regeneration and damage output. Recharge: Slow T2: Rejuvenating Circuit (Ranged (Chain), Ally Heal, Self +Static) Create a circuit of healing energy between several nearby allies, healing them for a small amount. Every stack of Static you have will cause this power to chain to additional allies. The first few targets in the chain receive a more potent effect. Rejuvenating Circuit grants 1 stack of Static. Recharge: Moderate T3 (Defenders, Controllers and Corruptors): Galvanic Sentinel (Summon Galvanic Sentinel: Ranged Debuff Special) Summons a Galvanic Sentinel to your aid. The Galvanic Sentinel shocks and weakens your foes, draining some endurance and reducing their regeneration, recovery, and damage output. The Galvanic Sentinel can be buffed and healed, and may be targeted with your Circuit powers. Recharge: Slow T3 (Masterminds): Discharge (Ranged (Targeted AoE), Foe -Dmg, -End, -Recovery, -Regen) Unleash a blast of electrical energy around your target, draining them and all nearby enemies of some endurance. This will also reduce their regeneration, recovery, and damage dealt for a short period of time. Recharge: Slow T4: Energizing Circuit (Ranged (Chain), Ally +End, +Recharge, Self +Static) Create a circuit of pure energy between several nearby allies, restoring a small amount of their endurance and significantly increasing their attack rate for a short time. Every stack of Static you have will cause this power to chain to additional allies. The first few targets in the chain receive a more potent effect. Energizing Circuit grants 1 stack of Static. Recharge: Slow T5: Faraday Cage (Location (PBAoE), Team +Res(All DMG but Toxic, Status, Knockback, -Rech, -Rec, -End)) Create a large energy barrier at your location which provides all allies within resistance to all damage except Toxic. They are also protected from status effects, knockbacks, endurance drain, recovery debuffs and recharge debuffs. Casting this power again will move the energy barrier to your location. Standing inside your own Faraday Cage will grant you a stack of Static every 5 seconds. Recharge: Moderate T6: Empowering Circuit: (Ranged (Chain), Ally +DMG, +Tohit, Self +Static) Create a circuit of empowering energy between several nearby allies, increasing their damage output and chance to hit for a short time. Every stack of Static you have will cause this power to chain to additional allies. The first few targets in the chain receive a more potent effect. Empowering Circuit grants 1 stack of Static. Recharge: Slow T7: Defibrillate (Melee (Targeted AoE), Ally Rez, Foe Sleep, -End, -Recovery) Strike a target with a highly-charged jolt of electricity, reviving all nearby allies and draining all nearby foes. Any enemies affected will be drained of some endurance, have their recovery reduced and be put to sleep for a short time. Defibrillate consumes all stacks of Static, and the strength of the offensive component of this power scales with the number of stacks consumed. Allies will always be revived with full health and endurance regardless of the number of Static stacks consumed. Recharge: Long T8: Insulating Circuit (Ranged (Chain), Ally +Absorb, Self +Static) Create a circuit of protective energy between several nearby allies, granting them a small protective shield. Every stack of Static you have will cause this power to chain to additional allies. The first few targets in the chain receive a more potent effect. Insulating Circuit grants 1 stack of Static. Recharge: Slow T9: Amp Up (Ranged, Ally +Special, +Recharge) Empower an ally with raw energy, causing all of their abilities to unleash chained bolts of electricity at nearby foes. These bolts drain a small amount of endurance and have a chance to knock up the target. Amp Up also moderately increases their attack rate and greatly boosts the secondary effects of their powers. Their power effects like heals, defense debuffs, endurance drains, disorients, holds, immobilizes and more, are all improved. Recharge: Very Long Static (Circuit Boost) Every stack of Static you have increases the number of targets your Circuit powers can chain to by 3. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- My initial impressions - Well I've been super excited for this new set! I started with a Robots/Electrical. Overall it looks to be a pretty team friendly powerset, boasting a heal, absorb, recharge buffs. end buffs, and damage and regen debuffs. I am particularly excited to see how well Farady Cage, Insulating Circuit, and Amp Up works on the robos, especially with the +Absorb, which is something we havent been able to give pets before to my limited knowledge? Thoughts on powers - 1. Shock - I've toyed around with it a bit, but I dont think ill be using this to any great extent. I think -End is more of a PVP feature than a PVM one to start, but the -damage and -regen might be nice for bosses and such down the road. 2. Rejuvinating Circuit - Really like this one. Its a heal that jumps and chains to other things. You cant target yourself to start the chain however, which would kind of suck if you were trying to solo as a defender or controller with no one to start the chain. It doesnt heal for any great amount, but so far its been enough, plus its on a fairly moderate recharge too. 3. Discharge - Sort of an AoE version of Shock. Might be nice at endgame for the -damage and -regen perhaps? 4. Energizing Circuit - Ive been using this on my pets, and I cant really tell if its having any meaningful impact yet. MM pets arent affected by Recharge buffs are they? And I dont think they run out of END much either, so if those cases are true this might make the T4 power only useful on fellow players. (sadly). 5. Faraday Cage - Excited for this one! Not only is it an area barrier that has resistance buffs, but also protects your minions from being knocked around and such! Which was always my downfall on my Robo/Time with my bots getting tossed around and out of range of heals. So this one might be a game changer. 6. Empowering Circuit - Great buff for both pets and fellow players. Can never have too much +hit or damage on pets! 7. Defibrillate - I'm not sure what to think about this one. First its a melee ability, which is fine. But it seems to be multi-use with raising allies and putting things to sleep. Not sure how useful the -End will be though against npcs. 8. Insulating Circuit - This is another one I'm excited about. It gives targets an absorb shield, which has the possibility of being fantastic! 9. Amp Up - The big buff, adding damage and a "knock up" effect. I am excited to try this one out on assualt bot, possibly letting him trap his own enemies in his fire patches for a change. Also hope its affected by attack rate increase. Thoughts overall - - I am a bit concerned with the lack of defense boosts in the powerset, so I suspect this set might be ideal for a resistance based primary, as cool as being robo/ele might be. I also dont see any hard CC abilities either, as all the debuffs are -Dam, Regen, End, or Recovery. The damage and regen are nice, but NO idea if End/Recovery are notewrothy debuffs at endgame PVM. Overall I picture this playstyle sort of being a mix between Traps and Bio-Armor, fighting in your barrier where you and your minions are protected, while using your Heal and buffs to keep things rolling. Might couple this with something like web grenade to keep things at a distance, or let them come in close for the Melee strike. So not sure there. Just my thoughts on it. Its hard to really tell without being able to load it in MIDS, so hard numbers are somewhat of a guess at this point. Still, I am hoping its got enough of a resistance+abosrb buff to be good! Anyone else have thoughts/imput? Or experience with the set?

Been waiting for this AT discussion for a long time! My comments are only about Crabbers, I have zero playtime with the Bane spiders. >How do they compare with other damaging/Survival ATs? Will split this up into three parts - - Their personal damage is "alright", depending on the circumstance. But I would rate it under par with most other ATs. They do hit many targets, but not for that much damage even after -res debuffs are applied. Their attack powers are moderately quick to use (except for omega maneuvers) but stuggle to keep up with other AT's "damage per activation". This means on paper, a Crab Soldier might look quite good. But in paractice, they struggle. I would rate their damage about the same with defenders. They can hit many targets sure, but not for much damage at all. Most sentinels ive seen do more damage than my crabber, even if im focued on AoE damage. - Their pet damage is also "alright". Its not as good as a MM's pet damage by any means though. When playing solo on +2/8 difficutly with bosses, I do just fine. on +3 or 4 however, I always fall flat. The issue is if you favor Crabbermind style, you dont have the tools to use your pets as well as a Mastermind can. You cant issue them commands, they are always in aggresive mode so they chase things and aggro more groups or you cant command them to "focus fire" for priority targets. And when your pets die, (and they will) you have a long wait to refresh them. Pet survieability is an issue too. I made a build that focused 100% on the strongest pets possible, and they were still getting 1 shot from alpha strikes, and there was abolutely nothing I could do about it. Even things like T4 barrier was just a bandaid, because the pets couldnt survive without it, so they ended up dieing every other spawn, and there is no way to heal their damage either. And fo be a crabbermind you have to focus entirely on -recharge, just to be able to keep your pets up. So if they die, well, you have a long wait to bring them back out again. - Their Survival? Well, I would rank them about equal with a scrapper. They can take a few hits, but dont have any emergency tools besides Serum if things go bad. And also no taunt ability at all besides Omega Maneuvers, which isnt really a tanking tool at all. But they can get good defense and resistance numbers but cant really take advantage of it. You wont hold aggro from an irritated butterfly much less scrappers, stalkers, blasters, and every ones grandmother out DPSing you. So all your defenses do is help make sure you are the last one to die once everyone else faceplants. >What is your favorite build - do you think they compare with one another? - I LOVE the crabbermind build and the playstyle. I have a crabber tank as well, but they are nearly identical if pets are dead. The biggest difference is one has quasi pet helpers, and the other one has attacks like shatter armor to help with boss/elite boss mobs. Aside from that, there isnt much difference. >Are they underpowered/overpowered/okay at the moment? -Even though they are my favorite AT, I consider them underpowered. I have tried probially around 15 different crabber builds, spent around 3 billion inf on different gears and setups struggling to make Crabbermind viable on +4/8 solo. You "can" do it, but your kills will be slower than a defender solo. Their only saving grace are their team buffs, but thats something of a moot point at high end content as most people are softcapped anyway, and your team buffs alone wont keep your pets alive on that difficulty, so there isnt much point. It saddens me the AT is lackluster, it really does, and even though its my favorte I shelved mine for the time being until something comes about to make her more viable. - Its especially a pain farming up incarnate threads for them too, because even if you have a billion inf to dump on IOs, youre still stuck on +1/2 + 8 difficulty, because even after all that money spent thats all you can handle due to damage output. You might have capped durability, but your damage will be so low that you will end up loosing steam and still die on any harder content. I had to get all of my incarnates to T3 before even attempting +3/8 content, even more still if I want to do +4/8 content. >What would you like to see changed? - First off I would love to see more tools added for Crabberminds. Either some way to heal their pets or shore up their durability somehow. Because at the moment your only tool to do so is an either/or with destiny incarnate. You can take rebirth to heal them on a very long cooldown, or take barrier to make them live through a mob of enemies. But both arent a cure all because rebirth has such a long cooldown its an emergency tool at best, and it takes you so long to kill top end groups of enemies barrier wont last through 2 spawns. So you can either let your pets die on the pull, or wait for barrier to recharge. Thats pretty much your choices at 4/8 content. - Secondly I would like to see more distinction or choice between powers. Nearly every crabber takes venom grenade, suppression, frag grenade, and X as their "rotation". Sometimes I used frenzy too, or single target powers to help with harder enemies. But that means the other powers such as nearly all the melee powers arent viable or worth consideration. The powers arent equal in effectiveness at all, so everyone ends up picking the same few powers and ignoring the rest. >What do you love about them? - I love the "feel" and playstyle to them. It feels like you are playing a mobile piece of artillery, and I really like that. it "feels" like you are a ranged tank with pet helpers. I love that! But, it falls flat on harder game content, which is a big bummer. You rarely see crab soldiers around these days. And personally, I like the crab packback! They are still my favorte AT. And I have bent over backwards trying to make her strong. Really, I have. But I can take a fresh brute or scrapper, spend 1/3rd the money, and be twice as powerful. Its really no contest. Sadly, the AT in its current form I believe are for die hard fans only, or people who are okay with keeping to lower end content only. TLDR - Their Damage - is "okay". Not great, but I know a few defenders that do more damage than I do. Their Aoe damage is decent but they have some of the worst ST damage of all ATs. Their durability - is "okay". They can get good Defense and Resist numbers, but have no way to use those numbers - No taunt, no emergency tools, only a single low CD heal from serum, thats it. Their pets - great fun on lower difficulties. Anything higher your pets wont be tough enough, wont do enough damage, and will always be on different targets so their overall effectiveness is low. Their powers - definately needs some spicing up. Every crabber i know takes the same 3 powers plus X power of choice for their rotation.

The strongest MM I have personally had is my Robots/Time. Its a defense/res focused setup that I personalized for a bit of Utility as well. Shes good on both solo and on teams. Now she can solo a +4/8 AE map with just my times heal on autocast. I just go in, make sure my bots are up and buffed, make sure my toggles are good, then set my heal on autorecast and go do dishes or laundry, and return to a cleared map in a bit. My only imput for MM's in general is even at 50, they seem lackluster... until you get that T3 Alpha. That one slot makes a world of difference, more than any other single IO or single slot to my mind. It only gets better from there. Right now im sitting pretty good on my robo/time with all T4's, she can tank, heal, buff, and debuff all in one. For damage I have to catch as many things in the assualt bots fire patch as much as possible, using distortion field or web grenade, but that suprisingly works well. Failing that I just group them all on me. I did just start a Robot/Electrical yesterday to try out the new powerset. Still figuring that one out.

@Seigmoraig- thank you for the feedback, Not to second guess but are you sure you didn't have mask presence on? i was looking at my build after what you said and I noticed it was enabled. With it iff my defenses are around 45-52%, with positional's varying greatly between 58 and 78. With both mask presence and mind link off, my defense takes a nose dive down to the mid 20s on everything but melee. So I am guessing thats something we both missed? I do have it but I usually run with it off, more or less its a LOTG slot. I am not sure what I might drop to pick up tornado or confuse either. Thank you again for the reply!

Hello forums, I would like some feedback on my Fort widow build please. Shes built mainly for claws, with some of the strong psi abilities to support. My main concern is if I have too much DEF, and if so then I have wiggle room to make some changes. Build Goal - My main goal is to be able to self farm for money if I need to, but still be a good team addition for endgame ITFs and missions. I am not sure if its possible for a Fortuna to "tank" per say, as I dont see any aggro tools, or any real built in ways to recover damage, but I don't want to be squishy either. (I dislike playing glass cannon setups.) Perks - -Perma Mind Link - Bit of self heals with Aid Self + Rebirth Incarnate - Great def vs all, solid res to start (before foresight begins) Drawbacks - -No travel powers -over softcap(?) http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1575&c=718&a=1436&f=HEX&dc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uestions - 1. Am I wasting slots if I'm over the DEF cap? 2. If i have spare powers, is psychic scream or tornado worth picking up, or would I be better served with travel powers? 3. I don't have any mastery selected, as nothing really struck me as needed or standing out. Most things just add more attacks, and I have that covered already I believe? Input is welcome! And thank you in advance to game veterans and number cruncher's for any insight or good options that I may have overlooked! P.S. - not sure if its important, but I only play PVE, i rarely PVP at all, and when i do its usually with friends for a giggle. (Not sure if that's important or not.)

One thing I would like to also point out is that people deal with grief differently, and some people "do" cope with the pain and loss of a loved one through humor. I am in no way saying that these people are doing such, only remarking that it is a thing. As with most things, topics are quite subjective and open to interpetation.

@Redlynne- i believe Snarky was being sarcastic in their post Red, not actually suggesting such actions. They cite the OP's name as a first suggestion, so I think it was a "Tongue in cheek" post.

@Dispari -I dont agree or disagree with their forms of taste, and you are correct that reprehensible content I believe is monitored, but i think you may have missed my point. What about names with "bullets" or "guns" in them? Those cause people to die too. Should we disallow all disease/virus/plague like names as well just to be fair, factual or fictional ones? What about any and all medical terms entirely just to be safe? I am not disagreeing that a line should be drawn, I am more worried about where the line might be drawn, and if it might be moved. What is happening is horrible I agree, and people have a right to be upset about it. But once we start forbidding certian things based on current trends, then where does it end?