archgemini24

Thank you for providing the numbers. They make me feel more justified in not taking or recommending Pulsar, but good to see!

Proof that the City has all kinds, and that is a Good ThingTM, because Pulsar didn't even come to mind. Low mag, not great duration, too long to recharge, as well as requires a lot of slots that are already going to be committed to making the forms function, but it could stack with mezzes from other characters to lock-down things as a team. Maybe if the power was adjusted? Solar Flare does respectable enough damage slotted so most builds that have Human-form powers have it, provides some defensive utility in its knock (and could be converted to Knockdown to keep things close to the Dwarf), and can use a Forced Feedback proc and an Achilles's Heel proc. Double Flare came to mind because a previous poster mentioned Orbiting Death for Black Dwarf, so I went with a more offensive choice.

Being able to run Solar Flare along with Dwarf Flare would be pretty sick.

Kheldians got love in a few spots that make them play differently on each server, which is nice for changing things up. Some of the suggestions made here for /Regen made their way out, too. Flipside? Got to see the ridiculousness that Freeform Melee toons can achieve (or at least get to IO levels of power without IOs), so while that is nice to play around with, I can see why that hasn't made it anywhere else. Anything else? Homecoming. The others act as (mostly) non-deleting test servers.

The only question I have is how much do the set bonuses from the Obliteration set in Solar Flare matter to you? Franken- or IO set in 4 slots + the Forced Feedback +recharge proc and the Overwhelming Force KB->KD should easily fill-in any recharge gaps you might still have. Astral.Kai, for your consideration: |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1541;697;1394;HEX;| |78DA6594CB4F135114C6EF4C67A82D20A5BC8A3C0B94B6142A55376A8C51890F28D| |A84C49D2145066882405A4074E7829D2B376E7C2D7C80AF95AF951AFD2F74A37169| |78243E3018534FE7FB849A99A4F9DDF9EE3DDF39F7DCB91D5CE82B7B7AE2CA61A5F| |98F4DA673B9E194953E6F8D643353E356D67D3A3D3B974D4FAAC2E3965FA87876F8| |CCD8983595CBCC5BF1E4DC85CCD4F45C6EF8A878CC76FCB7AACF72AC3A22A6CA9B9| |A9E9E8C0FCD58D668B93D3C9E199F9895980AFB2D69A547AD6C6E223353F6EF7D46| |265540CAE896DFA6A9F8E44DB56428953054FB32F910EC78443E269F802B8558CD8| |ED5549D0C9A0CD51315860DF5DBE494F86A5FB0BEE4B50B7C07EE7803FADE82FEF7| |E09AC4BA10ABBB06355BEB1E22BF62CD1F5963D2DF0CEBB6D61A018351B28B8C81E| |D853A02866A933370B36E774CA1165293390F7C95272F4FA12FAA94994AEFC2A9EC| |1E791FDCF9805C027DCBA02E6EE5742BB7DD5489521574AB605FC2CFC8E7E40B30F| |A927C056A125BC9D8CA93D0FCA7C0DA7E72006C4D9283A021955461CF7A550D7A59| |5D4DFAC0EFB2D31AF6BD867DEF61DF7BD8F74AF1A9A34F1D7D02F409D0C7903AEBB| |1C6ACFFECB27BBE6B51070FA0338D07C94360F37EF09314D0C08E35D0BF567236C1| |CFD544ADF91B7C9B07505782359892BB853D6A617FA337C0AE9BE42DF236D87D07F| |C21FB6F63EE367E0FBF440B71BFA10DE4EA4C2057670CDC903511C645EC53BE1A52| |2AC62A62F370DA7D915C202F8189CBE4223AB02A6E716454F13DBC19D2815E6ABD4| |1859D1B8AD72F9F6F34B66E71E1552A483A9494B1752395662B2B5E51E8AAB5A38A| |D5622D026D6D5BD3B5202AD2CFF2ACFB71DFD7B7D7B8B4EBFCFAAF81C63AFADBF91| |38C386A1B12C5C30C1E9EB0F703A2BD1FC12E4754AF43493894BD0E659F43F1F8B6| |FE6FF29BB5920C95E453DEEDF1B9A271BA683C5234FE0B738202AC| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

I think you have end recovery through Lightform's crash it either does not have a Recovery debuff or it is minor and can be played around using Conserve Power, a stacking application of Lightform, and/or Ageless Destiny. The setting to 50% endurance rather than zeroing part really helps here. I cannot open your build since I am at work, but will definitely trade notes once I get home. With the stats you have listed, I doubt you have anything that is going to jump* out and wasn't an intentional decision. Another build option that some folks run (and makes more sense for Multi-Form builds) is to grab all the other Shields and use them as slot mules for the Impervium Armor psionic resist IO. You wouldn't get a lot of defense, but most of that was wrapped up in toggles you do not use with the Forms, anyway. In exchange, you get nearly as high psi resist.

On the Warshade I would say go for it. On the PB you already have Radiant (you would need to convert to KD) and Incandescent Strike (already does KD). If I-Strike is too slow for you, switch that one for Air Superiority. All 3 is probably overkill, but I cannot say a whole lot: I took Cross Punch because I was already committed to Boxing and Kick to get Weave (for once, I didn't need/want Tough).

I had only thought of that crash example through experience, lol! And, being a if not the Claws guy, I am sure you can appreciate this next bit probably more than I do: It is a slot tax to change most of the KB to KD, but if you do, you can chain-flop everything in your surrounding area as a bit of active mitigation. Photon Seekers - KD Dawn Strike - KD Solar Flare - KD Luminous Detonation - KD Between those, Lightform, Defense Amp, and actual Defense, I actually feel a little congratulatory to a mob that manages to stick enough mezzes on my PB. I blow them up with another round of recharged AoE, but I do acknowledge them pulling it off.

Doomrider covered most of it, so this is a just a "my experience" thing... Lightform is what Unstoppable wishes it was. Permable, gap-filling (Mez protection), and a much softer crash. My PB doesn't hit as hard as some of the others on here because of build preferences, but I run a human-only with perma-Light and 32.5%+ positional defenses (acting as poor-man's Mez protection and Slow Resistance) and I love him. Adding the Defense Amp actually brings him to respectable mez protection. I highly recommend keeping Lightform, especially for close-combat enthusiasts like us! Yep. Really neat when it happens if you have been really pushing your survival in a fight. If your toggles dropped during a LF crash, you may have been below 50%, anyway. If it comes close to or corresponds with a Hasten crash, or worse, after you opened with Inner Light, Dawn Strike, and Solar Flare, you might have tanked your blue bar that way.

I wouldn't mind not having to deal with throwaway powers to get some the pool powers I want, but at least the throwaways mean they are not candidates for slots. Things get tight as it is (especially on my Kheldians) let alone if I had more potential picks. Most of my characters would just take other powers that would see more base-slot corner-case use (like Glowing Touch or a Scrapper that might finally take Confront, lol!). I like the pool limit, though. If I want what feels like my general all-purpose loadout (Hasten, CJ, Weave, and Leadership)? Sure, I could have it in just those 4-6 picks, but hopefully Stealth wasn't part of my plans, or Unleash Potential, Unrelenting, Rune of Protection, or any of the other neat tricks. I would like to see not only more cross-play within the pools (like how Boxing and Kick buff Cross Punch), but between the pools (i.e. having Boxing and Kick grant small damage or other buffs to Flurry or Jump Kick).

This part. Right here. And to pile on, not only does equal investment (I/O, strategy, execution) not only lead to lesser mitigation results, but using a lot of that mitigation also reduces offensive output, because (as a lot of Super Reflexes users used to say), Regen has to click to save its a**, whereas SR clicks to kick a**.

If the test servers didn't completely wipe from time to time to make room for changes to actually test, I think it would be at least as big as the smallest shard. Keeping badges from exploring and other grind work is the only thing stopping me, and I am not that big a badger. The offset of not having to worry about any sort of gear grinding has not been enough of a sway... yet. That could change if I get the itch to do a lot more alting.

Electric Melee is another one of those "available to all, but best on a specific AT" sets, too. In this case it is Stalkers because instead of Lightning Clap and Confront they get Assassin's Strike (fixing Melee's single-target issues) and Placate (not used on a lot of endgame builds, but nice for extra crits while leveling). As far as Sentinels, I feel like my Dark/Nin/Soul Sentinel is bulkier than he has any right to be, but Life Drain is a bit too lacking next to Electric or Fire's extra damage to put things down, and Nin's healing tricks are matched by Bio and lacks the movement buffs. Elec/Bio or Fire/Bio are obnoxiously good.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I like the toggles you can only access in base-form (pool powers or in-set) to get Defense and other in-set mitigation tools (Inky Aspect) to avoid mezzers. Even that protection feels incomplete, at times, as I still have zero problem putting down 2.5million inf/hr for the Defense Amplifier for my Warshade. Base-form-only Kheldians were like proto-Sentinels (where they traded Mez Protection for Melee and PBAoE abilities).

Regeneration (because after years of being perpetually nerfed, let's throw them a bone, lol): - Regeneration, Recovery, and Recharge Debuff Resistances in Fast Healing, Quick Recovery, and Resilience. - All versions of Revive become Second Wind. - Quick Recovery gets a 20% +Recharge buff (not so subtle).

This is the part that gets me about the ToF changes: that it has been adjusted with the intention that it is to be thrown out later for powers not even in the set. Has any other power in the game been looked at with this philosophy in mind? Also, can we consider getting Soul Drain moved up. Waiting until 26 (28 for Tanks) for the sets Build-Up power makes the design decisions around ToF even more wonky, because if ToF is designed for low-level AoE and Dark Melee is going to start being balanced more around a saturated Soul Drain (or at least having it available), it doesn't make a lot of sense for Soul Drain to come so late.

And it is even more important for Human-only builds, which will likely also be trying to leverage Toggles. Building up for a bunch of Defense sucks when it gets suppressed on Mez, but to add insult to injury Mez also flat-out drops Orbiting Death and Inky Aspect, which get used to stem the flow of incoming attacks (which also come with more Mezzes. Yay!).

Yeah, I know the options. I play a handful of other characters and one of the others that sticks with me is a Human-Only Peacebringer with 32.5% Defense to M/R/AoE. The Warshade (Human-Only: not ideal since I lose Dwarf Mire, but the theme is that the Nictus has only had 1 previous host) also has 32.5% Def, so I know to try and leverage misses (supplemented by small Lucks) as much as possible, but if enough attacks get through the mez drops Orbiting Death and Inky Aspect, which really messes with the flow I have planned for the character. Call it a crutch, but I also come from the direction of Tanks, Brutes, Scrappers, and Sentinels, so not having Mez protection gets bothersome quickly.

I want "The One" to be a Warshade that I created in tribute to an old friend, but the lack of Mez Protection has pushed me away from the character. I hope Clarion helps, but otherwise I am going to have to take that costume and rework the backstory to use on another Dark-themed character.

On this note: - Incandescence and Absorption get Mag 3 Mez Protection to all. - Eclipse gets Mag 1 Mez protection to all for every enemy hit.

I picked 3: A (underpowered sets), I (powerset dip), and J (T9 dip), but I want to note there is a lot of Dark listed in I. I would be a fan of a whole weekly discussion on the Dark sets alone!

Maybe I am seeing the (de)buffs wrong when they happen, but can the debuffs and buffs affect either base values or modifiers? I feel like when I get hit with a debuff even if the other 3 are buffs to the same attribute (regen, recovery, etc.) that they don't overcome the debuff because the debuff goes for a base value but buffs go for mods.

Oddly enough, Touch of Fear using Targeted AoE Sets inspired me try using it instead of the Target AoE (Fireball, Ball Lightning, Dark Obliteration, etc.) in the Patron/Epic Pools, so it didn't mess with my builds at all. If I wanted ToF and the epic TAoE, I started running into a slot and power crunch for other items I wanted in my builds. That is a me problem, though. Better builders and builders with different goals will manage both. As a TAoE, it puts ToF in direct competition with those powers, and except for earlier access it does not match up well (reading the board suggests this was intentional, which is a headscrather). The activation time is much longer, the effect radius is much smaller, and the utility aspects of the power only affect the target that is touched. If it is changed to a PBAoE, it runs into competition with Shadow Maul, and the only reason Touch of Fear is even remotely competitive there is because the target cap on Shadow Maul was reduced. This feels like the Whirling Hands nerf on Dominators, in that Shadow Maul's damage was split up between two casts and two costs. If I could wave a wand, this is what I would change: - Improved damage and subsequent recharge - The Fear still only affects the Touched target, but the To-Hit debuff affects every enemy hit by the damage component. If the power has to stay in its spammy iteration, at least being able to slap a bunch of debuffs would be useful for survival. Just some observations from running a Scrapper an Brute (DM/Shield and DM/Regen, respectively). I will hopefully get to run a Tanker at some point today, and I think it is going to play much smoother. Plus with the Tanker mods for Defense powers, I will not need to dive so deeply into pool powers and sets for Defense, so I will likely get to run Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear, and the Epic TAoE.

This is the problem with Regen for me even though I love the set (I play it with Dark Melee for a top-off heal while fighting and for a little bit of extra defense through to-hit debuffing). If a player has to actively leverage their mitigation (often at the cost of their offense, which leaves them in danger longer), then, if they do it well, their survivability should be in excess of other sets at the same balance point. If other sets get their appropriate debuff resistances in their powers, there is no reason Fast Healing, Quick Recovery (or Perseverance, which looks awesome), and Resilience could not provide debuff resistance to Regeneration, Recovery, and Slow/Recharge. I would rather see each power only provide one of the resistances at full power (or whatever Integration doesn't provide) so that a player must take all 3. The Slow/Recharge resistance is important, as it provides a way for Regeneration to have some offensive benefit besides some extra endurance. Other note: Moment of Glory deserves to be +Res/+Def to ALL. It looks like one of the perks of the set as a whole is to be damage agnostic, but the 38 power has a hole that comes up most in the endgame? And one of the common secondary effects of Psy is recharge debuff? That's like slapping Regen twice. And, go figure, it's still one of the best t9s because of its complementary nature to the rest of the set, but there is still room for improvement.

I don't think it's off-topic, at all, given the current discussion of moving a Revive power to a T1. That said, there are challenges in this game (self-imposed or otherwise, such as Flashback TFs) that require no deaths. In those instances, a rez power is a lost pick, especially when a player can use that power for another convenience purpose or for a power that reduces the need for a rez to begin with. Might even be worse if a player exemplars to the point where powers are limited (this is, admittedly, a stretch: a player would have to exemplar down 6 or less to only have their first secondary power available). In situations where revives are allowed, I still would not take Regeneration's Revive as-is because it is fairly weak. Born in Battle or a Rez Pack are better and save me an entire power. If I am dying more often than those are available, I am willing to own that is a "me" problem, but even more of a reason to want to have another power available rather than a rez. On most sets, I even usually take the rez... at 49... except on /Regen, where I usually get some other power better used to buy me a few more seconds for Reconstruction to recharge. Powers that let you respond when you're defeated and powers that require being defeated to use is not a distinctive enough difference to me, especially when there is a penalty for being defeated in and of itself, no matter how small. Like I mentioned, if the Revive were to wipe that debt, I could see forcing it on players. If the Revive was better, I could see it. As-is, I do not see the problem of a rez as the T2. Available really early when it might see most use, available at level 1 if it ever gets to Tankers, but otherwise skippable and allowing players the option to build around not getting defeated in the first place. And after all this typing and thought, @Bill Z Bubba beat me to it. Fair enough. If implemented this way, I would probably work IH in my builds as a Reconstruction replacement. I personally would rather see IH going back to a toggle at reduced rates or getting better uptime rates like you suggested. In a long-past post I suggested 90/300 and making it the T9 of the set. IMO, this would bring to match some of the better T9s mitigation powers like Light Form and Eclipse and give /Regen another IO path: chase Resistance or Defense to slow down incoming damage or chase Recharge like the Kheldians do.