Wobegone

I'd say anyone saying "play the market" is 100% playing the market. Anyone can play the market. There are numerous examples for making money on the Market forum. Buying IOs with Merits is certainly viable, but you'd get much more efficient results by using those Merits for converter roulette. And it doesn't take much time. It's never been easier in the City to make as much money as you want with a little time and effort. But I get it. For some, "playing the market" isn't fun. It's not very fun for me anymore either. Once I had enough to sustain me indefinitely, I stopped actively playing the market (although I still craft all non-common recipe drops, convert them, then put them and remaining salvage on the AH).

I'd start by going through your highest level toons and use Merits to make converters. If you haven't used Merits yet, it's unlikely you'll use them in the future. So put them to work. If you don't want to fiddle, put the converters up for 1 influence (I'd bid creep a bit personally, but that is fiddling). The level 41 should have a fair amount of Merits. Use the proceeds to buy as many level 25, 30, 35, 40 generic IOs as you can. After level 22, I much prefer to use IOs. The more slots you have, the more expensive SOs are to upgrade. When I was young and poor, 35 IOs seemed the best bang for the buck if there were any on the AH, often cheaper than 25 IOs. Just buy as many as you can with that character and throw them in your SG base. If there aren't that many up for auction, leave some bids and build as many as you can with that character. Having one character who goes after the Invention badges would continue to be a cost-effective way to fill your bins as needed.

As stated above, you're under no obligation to click on a particular thread title. Beyond that, based on your examples, you take offense at the apparent disrespect from a specific thread by spammed similarly titled threads. But in this particular case, people are mocking a thread posted by someone (with two posts including this one) who joined 2.5 years ago with "Not the CoX i used to know". It took them that long to decide this isn't the game they used to know??? If you're leaving and want to post a leaving thread, at least give some specific reasons. Otherwise......you're gonna get some mocking and derision. Not saying that's entirely copacetic, but it is to be expected.

For some power sets I like it, Radiation Armor, Dark Miasma, and Bio armor come to mind. For most of the rest I tend to ignore it. If you have long recharge powers that are essential to your build, I say take it. If not, it's entirely skippable. If I had to lean one way or the other, i'd say Hasten is optional for normal gameplay. Edit: Hasten is also useful for attack chains. Most(many, some?) of the highest single target damage kings use Hasten.

I've seen some inane arguments on these forums, but this one is especially noteworthy (meaning the arguments post necro). I mean.... "ontological status" ?? In reference to a gift? Which in turn was in my mind more of a play on words from the OP than the kind of gift giving argued post necro. I've had my own problems with Rudra's sometimes pedantic feedback, even sending him an admittedly nasty PM (I'm sorry about that Rudra, I was having a bad day). And I don't understand why he wants no patrol xp, but I don't have to. In cases where suggestions are QoL like the OP (meaning optional) my own preferences are irrelevant. And imploring, berating, and whatever this is: aside from name calling, say more about you than the OP.

Dragons rely on powerful claw attacks (and tail attack) as well as elemental attacks. I'd probably go Claws/Inv/Mu for a tough melee attacker who gains powerful lightning attacks later in life. I know dragons start life with a breath attack, but their melee attacks are powerful while the breath weapon needs to recharge. Alternatively you could go Claws/SR as dragons are really hard to hit. But they also have a bunch of hps, so Inv seems better as layered mitigation. Or you could go Brute or Tank. I'd still go Claws/Inv/Mu. If you wanted to be more ranged and concentrate in lightning attacks, I'd go with Lightning/Inv Sentinel or a Lightning/something blaster.

Indeed, I was looking at Link Minds as an example as well. Heck, make them all long recharge clicks, but the utility fits my idea of a Sentinel. It also gives me extra incentive to skip the Fighting pool. I love that all the Epics have a melee attack. I'd love them more if they provided team buffs or team heals at t5. I just don't think the summons fits the AT. Anyway, I know the numbers are a problem, I gave what I thought were obvious caveats in my post.

I'd want Dispersion Bubble for that t5. Still kinda within the Energy theme, and although the defensive values would probably be low, such a useful power. I like the idea of Sentinels getting team buffs or heals at t5 rather than summons. Like I'd love to see Arctic Fog for cold, I think it's better than Snow Storm for AT theme. Shadow Fall for dark instead of Darkest Night. Faraday Cage instead of Summon Adept in Mu. These are all really powerful abilities. I'm unsure what the sacrifices would be, but I'd bet substantial. This is also based on my personal view of the AT.

For new players who wish to increase the difficulty and face bosses, Elite bosses, or AVs, this is terrible advice. It's true debuffs and buffs are force multipliers in teams, but they are far from useless solo.

I use them liberally on Posi 1 just before the clones. Four or five of 'em can make a difference. I'll still sprinkle them in while soloing EBs, but otherwise ignore them for better inspirations.

Picard would have compromised and turned off Group Flight. Easy decision too.

My last two characters took about 30 hours each, mostly solo story arcs and a mix of solo and team TFs. Double xp. I used a few Experienced bumps in the 40s. I usually run at +2/x1-5.

Howling Twilight is -500% regen. Twilight Grasp is actually a huge heal and it's an AoE focused on you, it also does minor -regen. I'd drop Soul Transfer or Evasive maneuvers to keep both. I'd use only two slots for Tar Patch (50+5 recharge). You could save another two slots by cutting two from Fearsome Stare. The slots you save I'd use to pump Twilight Grasp. If you're slot poor I'd frankenslot the two accurate healing sets. It needs accuracy. I'd 6 slot Fireball. (On second thought, I only have 5 slots: Three Scourging Blast and two Frozen Blast).

Everything you need for Incarnates come from drops, rewards, or leveling. So best advice, as above, is play your 50 a bunch.

Discussions about power leveling and farming are rarely about individual experienced players. I think with a handful of exceptions, the cummunity at large doesn't give a hoot how you play. It's not personal even if it seems so. Again, with the caveat that there are a few posters who are more absolute in their disregard for farming and power leveling. Most of the concern I see is about new players being power leveled. But when is a player still new? For my part, I'd never advocate someone power leveling their first character. How about the second, or third? For at least the first few times around, it's worth leveling organically for myriad reasons. I can only think of a very few reasons why someone wouldn't. There IS something to learning powers as you go., especially the first few times around. For me, it's an all time thing. I much prefer to level organically. Yes, when I hit the late thirties on, I wish I could speed it up a bit, but til then, I love testing each power while leveling. Leveling story arcs and TFs is still really fast. And I get it. I've been through the leveling process hundreds of times. The few characters I have power leveled, most into the mid thirties, sat on the bench forever. Oh, I'd maybe look at slotting and try a respec, maybe even buy a bunch of IOs. It just didn't work for me. I doubt I'm alone. The same goes proportionally for new players.