Wobegone

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.

Sadly, the GMs are human, with the same flaws and virtues as other humans. Fortunately, the GMs for Homecoming are more virtuous than flawed. Or so I believe.

Agreed. Ice/Radiation sounds great for solo play. I also like Ice/Force Field. Not as powerful against hard targets, but extra defense, knockdown, and some mez protection., so, much safer. A Fire Blast/Trick Arrow hover blaster sounds pretty nifty. I've also been leveling a Storm Blaster. Storm is great for extra knockdown, and has some Dots, so should do well on a Corruptor. Maybe Storm/Storm or Storm/Time? Lots of options.

The open Beta Feedback threads show just the opposite. The Devs not only listened, but frequently responded directly. They listened. Then decided. Any decision will have some who are happy, some who are not. I think there is some truth to this with Hardmodes. But what if the Devs already wanted Hardmode? Easy decision. As for the rest of the changes, they clearly have a vision for what they want their game to look like. So far, I've been happy with most of the changes. Hell, my only complaints are quibbles. I'm sorry you don't like the direction the game is going.

I was gonna post earlier and thought it was silly but now I secretly hope you decided on a 'Back to Basics'' run and did the original Positron.

Shoot, after reading your reply and rereading mine, I came off as far more aggressive than I felt while typing it. Sorry 'bout that. That post definitely was a me problem. There's a certain cadre of players who have such an intense sense of entitlement directed towards the Devs it makes my teeth hurt. You're generally mild in comparison, but you imply a great deal about what the Devs can/should or can't/shouldn't do. You say repeatedly that you understand they are volunteers and I believe you when you say you appreciate the work they've done...but you don't seem to take into consideration their time constraints. What's their commute like, do they have a physically or emotionally demanding job, do they have a family... Running Homecoming up to now was more of a hobby than a job. Hell, not more of...it is a Hobby.