Shred Monkey

Great news. This is huge. I bet we get a ton of new players off this... both people coming back, and new interest from people who see the streams and videos.

Generally speaking, if everyone just blasts away at the first thing they see, the bosses die last since they have the most hit points. Based on the premise that this is how most damage dealers play, my theory is that the faster the bosses die, the faster the team's pace through the mission. Or, to put in another way, any ST damage I do that doesn't hit a boss is wasted. So, based on this theory, on my single target focused toons, I like to race through the mission killing only bosses and skipping everything else (outside of mission objectives and specific nuisance NPCs that I also target... I don't play in a bubble). Occasionally, I get ahead of the meat of the team by 1/2 a spawn, but since there are no bosses slowing them down, they usually catch right back up. AND I'm eliminating the biggest threat to any teammates of the less durable variety. My experience with this has been very positive and I certainly never feel like my ST toons are not contributing to the team when I play this way.

I'll give a +1 to Beam/Devices. I played mine as a hover/blaster. And you're right... the best thing about Devices is that you only need 2 powers. And the best thing about Beam Rifle is that you can make a solid all-ranged attack chain without hasten. I even chose not to take cutting beam because I didn't like it's short range. It made me get in too close to line up a good shot. It didn't fit the playstyle I wanted. This is the toon I used to solo nearly everything solo-able. All the GMs (Not Paladin because I couldn't ever fight him without others joining.) Tin Mage, Apex, MsLTF, LRSF, a bunch of other TFs, All but a few AVs at level 54. I think there's was a bug with targeting drone that I didn't know I was abusing at the time I was doing those things. But regardless, he was absolutely a beast of a solo toon. The best I've ever played in terms of raw power. The down side for me was teaming. The way Beam Rifle's damage hits at the end of it's longer animations results in way too much corpse blasting on a fast moving team.

I came here directly from EQ... I spent a great deal of that first month trying to figure out the best ways to single pull from a spawn. (TP foe or the Single Target Taunt used while in the air jumping out of line of sight)

These are not the droids...

I wonder if your defense is affecting your perception. Defense has the opposite affect that you might think. If you have low defense, you might get placated a lot, but since you get hit again right way you don't even notice you were placated. If you have a lot of defense, you don't get placated much... but when you DO get placated, you stay placated for a while. They can't knock you out of placate because they keep missing you.

I PUG a lot.... it's rare to see level 50 TFs run at +4 other than ITF, so I think you just got lucky to find a +4 Barracuda... and then got unlucky that it filled with non-maxed players.

Also, completing the Morality mission gives you 40 reward merits. It's not a terrible way to earn merits solo. With a few exceptions, missions spawn in whatever zone you're in when you accept the mission, so you can run these in Atlas Park to reduce travel time.

If you just want the real numbers use this: https://cod.uberguy.net/ I honestly don't think they used hard logic in the descriptors for this game. Unusual, because most games do.

Even if he's 1/2 a level ahead.... that will shrink to nearly nothing as you guys get higher up. And in this game it means basically nothing anyway. Even if he was 10 levels above you can still team up effectively. This is because the level you fight at shifts when teaming. If you are above the mission owner's level you shift down to equal to their level. If you are below the mission owner's level you shift up to 1 level below them.

Wow. I'd like to see that. The last time I saw him on a screen and didn't want to hurl something at it was Gladiator. Granted, I hated him in that, too... but at the time I thought he was just acting.

A new AT with Melee Primary and buff/debuff secondary would give a ton of new options without having to create a bunch of new powers. I've always wanted to do a Katana/Traps toon. I just really like that combination conceptually. But there's no way to build it in this game. I've played Dual Pistols/Traps as a close combat focused toon, and it's close to what I'm looking for, but I really would prefer a katana. Street Justice/Traps would also be fun. Using the fighting pool on a support toon, doesn't quite give me what I'm looking for. I need more the flashy attack animations. VEATs give a chance to run a support/melee toon, but they are very limited on weapon choices.

Is it wrong that I know that's a Yin TF after mission 2.

The problem is the lack of rewards. It's a badge at best. If they want more attention for events, they need to reward bonus inf/exp/drops... something that makes people stop what they're doing to go join in. If what their doing gives more reward, they're not going to do it.

I don't disagree with posts like this. However, the OP posted the question because they wanted an answer to the question. They've already gone through the philosophical discourse in their head about the value of this question, and they determined that the question, at least to them, does have value. And therefore posted it here. My answer to the OP is Defense to 45% and then resists. More specifically, I usually run 45% smash/lethal and ranged. If I have room, I slot out tough with resist and endurance... if not, then it remains just a set mule for the +3 def mods.

Yes. That would be great. Or even just back off the last level to redo it. (Champions Online allowed you to go revert backwards for increasing costs... it was handy). I also find it odd that so many people say they don't use respecs because they "use Mid's." Am I really that odd that I obsess over getting my toon perfect? I mean, I use Mid's for hours on all my main toons before I ever start them. I also use Mid's to map out their first 22 levels.... then map out a respec at 22. Then another usually in the mid 30s. I usually do some experimentation with powers I'm not familiar with in the late to early 40s (which often involves 3-4 more respecs). Then I respec at 50 into a final build that's probably slightly altered from the original. And then I still end up tweaking the final build with respecs that shift a few slots around... maybe to make a slight adjustment my endurance balance, or run speed, maybe accuracy, or possibly just reordering the powers to improve the way I exemplar. My blapper even has a 2nd build with full IO sets and hamis for exemplaring into the level 8-20 range. In fact. If Mid's builds were just a one-and-done thing in CoH, I probably wouldn't play it anymore.

I agree... explore tips are now part of my normal gameplay. I never really liked using videot maps or online resources to find explore badges. It seems like a form of "cheating," but finding badges without help is just dumb luck and not really practical. This new system is a nice balance of effort versus reward for normal gameplay.

Maybe it's my age showing... but it feels to me like other games have reddit communities instead of a forum community. And in my experience, reddit communities are god-awful cesspits of toxic vitriol.

Concept is Fire/Plant. I like the name 😈Dante's Fern😈. (I have it saved, but I'll unlock it if you want it.) The big thing here is to play as a PBAoE Damage machine. Fireball, Thorn Burst, Ripper, Rain of Fire (use: /bind t powexec_location self Rain of Fire ...to turn Rain of Fire into PBAoE that doesn't need a mouse click), and Inferno.... cycle in Blaze and/or Blazing Bolt as needed to pick of runners (and there will be runners). With softcapped SLE & Ranged your survivability will be very solid, especially on teams. With stealth and stealth IO (maybe not needed with the new changes?) you can stealth in and buildup/aim Inferno frequently. I honestly would play with the build a little longer to see if you can work hasten in there. I think with the travel power changes you can probably make that work swapping combat jumping for the new stealth power. Endurance use is going to be rough, so you might run Ageless for your Destiny slot. https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1472&c=663&a=1326&f=HEX&dc=78DA65945B4F1A511485CF306744908B082256ADA27897295EDAA4B7B4D1AA6D95846AD257335582931020804D7DEC5FE84B935AB57DEC4BFF44AF7FA697F7A6A15BD6C21A99C07CC3DA7BCFD96BCF19B22F1E043EAEBFBCA78CE04AD1A9D57696E55CCF57ADAC537077D5D9E1956F3FE59D2DA754C8EFD96B6E358FD4D15664FBA0522957EB76AEE894EA3B59A7E4560E8A4EDD2D975420572E17EDCDBC53714B8548F3C7A3D273B7E63E738B6EFD30D854D6DCC27E5DE2E156F25EBE5ADB772BFDAB1577D76EAD927576F3723ABB3E4C486313F2BDAF5A47433E72A8D0F4656559AE0D2896615A4ACD6BE5D1A405EA0ED20B767482719980D92C6E78CC98D1D4FCBD60E0AFC8435A0525C7428E65F919EB02430132087687C83068783164A935BD39C1A8563D4FC82D30B60D46C4990FEB18BE238F5251891D8311B949177BE8E2DA71F612670F09F690600F57D8C38A5405D1830E2E7A105B0207AF9337C0AB0BA029EB85516384174CC4FA8CE63CD6448D70DE91378C1D81236FC963F2044C9E8251F118850F339A5288B538028E915A7AE8A5E75E7A19A3E7317A4E7116297A4FD1FBAA54F57197F47D80A7F5B3CDCEBEFB3F618D89CFE417F22B38F98DFC0EC6A4EF01D60E288D98014E7B4893D4E08C0546C5C7107CA8A124EEF75030CC67327CCCFC13F2149C7B47BE07FF74CB36E13C46398739FA4F731E69CE21CD39D89C5B8FF43FCEF5C66F621EF62DF0DA6DF20E79178C4BCD146738C5BE63E26596FB6296EF496603CF3624319BF9366361D132D432D406F5E53738A95BAF70A3B131731E6DCCB46566DA94F93665B14D596A53362F2A3EF8CDE9F3FF1165CCC2AF4F666EB29B1F7E89F3391A69C47FFDD73C461273E8782CC2A4569D4FE1F7E7C5BA29D4FDBE58F71AEB77BE02FDDCFFFF00B0B7CDA5

My thought was that character would just show up as a generic costume (old phantom army would be fine). I guess it could be a specific slot, but I don't really care personally. I hadn't thought that far. I assume this would just be a locally handled swap performed by the local client and therefore wouldn't add any server load.

I rarely ignore. The only thing that gets it from me is someone overtly pushing a hate agenda and actively looking for a fight. I also ignore "Hate-baiters" who try to draw out people to debate on hot button topics but take the "everything is acceptable" side of the argument. It's not that I don't have strong opinions myself. I just prefer my internet gaming time to be drama free. And that said, I probably have less then 3 people on ignore, and those are probably dead accounts. I wish we had a "costume ignore" that generics someone's costume to me. I would costume-ignore overly sexualized toons. Since everyone's standard of acceptance is different on this, it would allow everyone to set their own standard.

I agree with those who say don't turn up the number of enemies, turn up the level instead. Even on my level cap'd stalker I generally run +4x2 to +4x4. No matter the team size, I'm tapping out my single target attack chain non-stop from mission start to mission end anyway. But with team size set lower, I finish the missions quicker. I like this pacing better. I think this is especially important if you're reading the stories as you go. Plus you'll finish more story arcs before you out level them. Just watch to make sure you keep your hit chance above 95% as you turn up your enemy levels.

Super Sneakiness

The Paladin event in King's Row is bugged so it only initiates when the server reboots, or when a new Kings Row instance is generated. As a "quick fix" for this issue, the decreased the population limit on Kings Row so an instance gets generated with reasonable regularity.

*embarrassed look*.... OK you got me. It's usually around 10-15. But of those, 2/3 involve changing 1 thing, then doing a 2nd to change it back.