Shred Monkey

I would like to add, that even though i build my toons to not rely on a tank for survival, nothing makes me happier then when we've finished off one spawn, I turn to find the tank took the initiative to run ahead early and suck the entire next spawn into a neat little pile.

The answer to most "how can I .... without dying?" questions in this game is: purple inspirations. (and maybe a break-free or 2 since you are on a blaster)

It's not always the player who runs ahead who is to blame, though. There are a lot of powers that work much better on clean/well grouped spawn. If a player runs ahead to set up the next group with one of those powers, that's a good thing as long as the team is right on their tail. However, some tanks think they're the only ones allowed to start a fight and will even choose to delay, or go a different direction on purpose when they see someone else run ahead. It doesn't sound like that's what was happening with the OP, but in a game where there's so much overlap in roles between ATs it can be expected that not every team will follow the same, fixed strategy into every battle.

How does this proc work? Is there a chance to trigger once per use, or is it dependent on the number of targets it hits (assuming slotted in an AoE). Does it matter if the attack hits multiple times per use? (I'm looking at slotting it in Empty Clips from Dual Pistols and I want to understand its technical mechanics).

How about a "vanilla" mode that has a bland/less colorful graphic look. For people who might be logging in from work.

As a person who generally only plays their most favoritist toon and generally does not have a high number of alts, I can say with pretty good authority... "eeeh... no big deal... i have nothing left to catalyze."

Responding to question 2 about people playing lower content. While there's not much happening below level 20 other than DFB runs, there are almost always DFB runs going. I also find there's almost always radio mission teams running in the 20s (usually Talos Island) and 30s (Founder's Falls or Brickstown). Perhaps this has gone down a bit the last week with the Trick or Treat events occupying a lot of people. Frankly, since coming back at the end of August, I'm quite surprised with how easy it is to find team for leveling. It has been much easier then I remember it being 8 years ago.

Short answer to OP. No.... you're not the only one who does this. My logic is this... i love min/maxing builds... it's why I'm here. And 4x8 challenges are what you do with a maxed out builds, right? The real trick is trying to find something to do that is still believed to be "impossible."

OK... I started monitoring Damage Bonus in game, and it's pretty easy to see when I've the bonus kicks in. SO.... that problem is solved. But I also learned a few other things. First, the out of combat boost is 60% in addition to the 20% boost from targeting drone. (I thought it was 60 total not 20+60). Second, Defiance boosts way more then I realized. In fact, my total damage bonus is generally higher when fighting non-stop then it is with the 60% out of combat bonus from target drone.

Yeah... threads like this can be looked at that way. Just an ego stroking ...some deserved, some not. However, do keep in mind, that in many people's eyes, min/maxing to optimize a build toward accomplish a goal as quickly and efficiently as possible *IS* the game. So posting their accomplishments in a place where like minded people will see and share in it is an important part of the enjoyment those players derive from this game. It is no different then a costume contest/thread for costume minded players. But I hear you. It is certainly easier to speed run and solo than it once was. I like it.

the things people complain about.... If you really want to, you can still try to get everyone to click at the same time. There's nothing stopping you from still having your challenge.

If I was a new player and followed this guide because I didn't know what IO's were, I'd be pretty upset once I did learn what IO's were and that I wasted all that time and inf following this guide. My advice for starting out is to slot for accuracy and recharge (using mainly your own drops and the 5 P2W enhancements) until level 17. Then start filling in level 20 IOs as you can afford them (continue to use the P2W enhancements until you decide you have something better.) How you get to level 17 is up to you, but while you do, save your inf for IOs instead buying DOs and SOs that will expire.

This is fantastic. I'm cut-n-pasting the OP into my google docs file of stuff I need to remember how to do on every new toon.

Yeah.. DP doesn't have a snipe.... that's great that they give an indicator for the snipes. I didn't know they did. Maybe they could add a ring on targeting drone, too. Also, there is a new AoE placate power blasters can use... err.. where did i see it? ...the concealment pool maybe? I don't think making smoke grenade put you out of combat is that overpowering... its only an added 40% buff to a single attack. To use it during normal combat would probably decrease you damage output since you get no damage from using smoke grenade itself. Plus if you're getting hit at the time, you may not get any boost. Anyway, I like the mechanics it as it is. I'm glad the bombs don't trigger it. I do wish I had an indicator, though. There's not even a buff icon.

I enjoyed using Seeker Drones from traps to absorb alpha strikes. I would consider taking a power like that on my blaster though I doubt it would actually get much use since that's what melee teammates are for. But without the short recharge and targeted drop location that Seeker Drones has, this isn't even meeting that (very tiny) niche. I'd say it's a good set mule for expedient reinforcement, but I actually prefer the full set of Mako's Bite which can be slotted in any number of melee power pool attacks. As it is, this is just garbage to me, although I am still enjoying my DP/Devices toon very much witihout it.

My understanding is that if you are in the "out of combat" state, targeting drone gives a 60% damage bonus to the next attack. This is sort of a mini build-up for your first attack. However, there's no indicator that I can see that tells me when I am out of combat so I don't know when this triggers and there's some grey area when I am trying use this intentionally. (please add an indicator like the Hidden indicator for stalkers.... this would help with snipes as well). My question is this... Do the following powers cause me to enter the "in combat" state or do I remain out of combat when using them: Smoke bomb, proximity bomb, time bomb. My assumption is that they don't put me into combat (assuming I don't get attacked while using them). But I would like to know for sure. Also, I think it would be nice if smoke bomb actually forced you in into the "out of combat" state. It would allow for a slick playstyle where you use smoke bomb to setup a mini-boosted AOE attack at the start of a fight without waiting the 8+ seconds get the boost.

With the new changes to snipe and to targeting drone, it would help if blasters had an indicator to tell them when they are in combat (or out of combat). This would be similar to the "Hidden" visual for stalkers. There are dozens of ways this could be done. I'll leave it to a coder to determine what's easiest.

The 2nd question (about attuned IOs) was answered in link #2, Thank-you. Anyone have the answer to question 1 (about non-attuned IOs)?

OK.. there's one thing I still don't fully understand about attuned vs normal IOs. This is related to the enhancement values, not the set bonuses. Let me state this in an example: If I have a level 50 damage/recharge enhancement (not attuned) slotted in a power taken at level 20, how much +damage and +recharge do I get from it when I exemplar to level 35? Is it equal to a 50 IO? ...or a 35 IO? ...or no IO? And same question with an attuned damage/recharge enhancement....

TL DR version, Damage Resistance soft cap for blaster is 75% but usually people talk about "soft cap" are talking about 45% defense. Defense soft cap is 45%. At this value, normal enemies hit chances their floor hit %. For equal level minions that's 5% chance to hit... Lts, Bosses, AVs all have a higher floor (due to increased accuracy). Thus, they have a hit with 6% or 7.5%, etc. minimum chance when you are at or above the soft cap of 45%.

I'm no expert, but I think the way to do this would be to start over and create a new mega zone, or perhaps break it into 3-4 zones that are just a rough amalgamation of all the old zones. But, if you're going to do that, you might as well just make a new world with a new story arcs and such so we just get more content instead of reproducing the old content. Oh, I know, lets make it an entire alternate Universe ...and it could have alternate versions of the current Heroes! And it could be ruled by an Emperor named, just of the top of my head, Emperor Cole! Yeah... that sounds like it might work.

On live I had a Traps/DP Defender... With full stealth, I would absorb the alpha with seeker drones, jump in lay down a few traps, then Soul Drain/Hail of bullets... With my lowish damage output, but extremely aggressive play style by running ahead and hitting everything in a fresh spawn with my opening salvo, I basically filled the role of the team's tank. It was a really fun toon to play.

Yeah... but cntl-click that status protection to put it on auto and never think about it again.

When AE came out, I couldn't believe they allowed players to earn xp and inf there. I mean, of course someone is going to customize missions and builds to generate xp and inf in an optimal way to earn xp way faster then from playing normal content... that's what gamers do. Now, my personal playstyle is a min/maxer. I choose a goal and optimize my build and attack chains, etc, to reach that goal to the best of my ability... I probably put as much, if not more time into this game without logging in then I do actually playing in game.... and when that's done I make a costume. What AE farming gives a player like me is a host of new variables to tweak and optimize. Now in addition to optimize my build, I can also optimize a mission to work specifically with my build, and vice versa. It's really just more of the thing I love about this game. Which leaves me at this view point. I don't have a AE farmer. But I'm happy that people who want to farm AE have that option and do not see it as bad for the game.

I started to post that I'd be up to do this some evening.... Then it dawned on me, I can't because I rolled up a stalker.... I keep forgetting that I'm a stalker now. I've even broadcast "scrapper lfg" a number of times.