MrPengy

One of the biggest QoL improvements for me is being able to actually take more powers that I want. A few changes have made it so every character basically gained 4 new power choices, since you no longer have to take Hurdle, Health, and Stamina, and you can take a travel power with out taking the (potentially useless) requisite power before it. So on my blaster for example, halfway through Live I would have Hurdle, Health, Stamina, Hover, and Fly. Five power selections. In the current game I get the entire Fitness pool free, and could take Fly with out taking Hover. If I really wanted I could even use any of the numerous other travel options and skip Fly, effectively granting me a whopping five extra power choices. The ability to actually make the character I have in mind, instead of feeling locked into certain powers because I "need to" is incredible.

I'm sure it's doable. Most farmers I've seen don't rely on the primary as much as Burnout, Ball Lightning and Electric Fences. Although, you'd be missing the damage aura, so you'll be doing less "constant" damage.

I know the game has a reputation now for being super easy (and most of it is). But if you're on a team of lowish level characters, some with out their "good" powers yet, many with few or poor enhancements, and even possibly some players who are new, returning, or just not that good at this game...Enemy groups can be tough. If your team is struggling already, adding a Cyst to a mob can be brutal, and quite honestly a challenge that is not fun. When you're winning fights by the skin of your teeth, making one mob randomly way tougher is not very enjoyable. Personally I'm not opposed to Cysts, and would actually enjoy the shake-up to difficulty every so often. But let's be mindful that not every team in the game is IO'd to teeth max Incarnate super beings.

21. If your team insists on pulling because they're worried about silly stuff like "experience debt," "I just got my teeth fixed!" or "being able to actually complete the mission with out 19 hospital trips," teach them a lesson by pulling with Fireball. We're heroes, not zeroes!

I'm sure some people think that way, because I'm guilty of it some times too... Although I tend to be reckless regardless, so it's more "Oh I can be reckless and maybe survive" vs "Eh, that +5 boss looks kinda mean...On the other hand, YOLO!" And I never call any one out. It's my own stupid fault for leaping into the middle of a mob just because I'm hoping there's enough buffs on me to keep me on my feet, and I acknowledge it. Usually on my walk of shame back from the hospital. Actually that reminds me, I once ran ITF with a guy (don't remember his AT, but definitely a support toon) who claimed no one died on his watch. I told him "Challenge accepted!" True to his word, he kept me up the whole TF. I tried, I really did. I just couldn't get too deep into it to overcome his support powers. Guy was a real pro.

I mean, this is clearly entirely your fault for letting team mates die. You're the one who chose to roll a Defended. Didn't you click the checkbox that said "I will never let a team mate die under any circumstances, regardless of how terrible they play, and if I fail at saving their stupid ass I will feel eternal shame"? Listen, you're a Defender. The Hero who saves Heroes. If i want to go six zones away and solo a GM on my squishy unslotted blaster, and I die, it's YOUR fault. Your big blue shield means "lalalala I can do whatever I want, the Defender will fix it!"

Good timing, I actually just did this recently! Some times I play when not many people are on, so I end up soloing. One of my earliest memories of this game was rolling a stalker, and just casually working my way through story missions and exploring the zones. I rolled up a Broadsword/Dark stalker, and since I wanted to recapture the "feel" of the early game, I did not transfer any inf. I did get an XP boost, because I am an adult with limited time, but I got nothing else from START. I'm enjoying the more gradual pace, like how I played before I knew any thing. Though I feel slightly ruined now since I earned 20 Merits...Sold some Converters, ended up buying a Gift of the Ancients with my profits, which I turned into an LotG and now I have a few million inf... x_x

This is very doable. Bodyguard mode (pets in Defensive) divides damage taken directly by you amongst you and your pets. So if an attack does 70 damage, you all take 10, basically. Get softcapped defenses, and some controls/mezzes, and you can almost kind of sort of tank a mob while your pets go "Danger, Damoklese Robinson!" *activating light show of death* Bots/Traps can be quite fun, though if much breaks through your defenses you can also go splat fairly quick. But mine is fairly durable even at a mere level 35 with out even being a finished build.

Back in the day, heals were AMAZING, especially at low levels before damage mitigation was as powerful. The problem came when people from other MMOs, or newbs like my young self, thought "Alright cool, all I have to do is chill and spam my heal on the tanker, and put the aura on auto." The stories of toons who had just the tier 1 attack, and no support powers, just healing away...Like you know you can use an attack in between heals right? You have an entire secondary you're ignoring?! WHY WON'T YOU HELP MURDER THINGS??? And I agree, being a capable healer and keeping a team up through some stupid tough fights was amazing fun. But then your team was level 40, with strong defensive powers and buffs/debuffs from other support toons, and a "healer" joined to cast a heal on the tanker who had a slight dent in their health bar, but did not contribute in any other way...That people started hating "healers." Also, players definitely have a tendency to over exaggerate their hatred, or make a mountain out of a molehill. "Ew that defender used Healing Aura, what a n00b, gtfo kthnxbai" when ya know, all the squishies just got hit by an AoE and I'm just topping them up in case four more come our way because the tanker just HAD to aggro the entire room instead of going mob by mob. ...It really came down to people not understanding the nuances of the game. And I feel perfectly fine calling out these terrible players, because I used to be one! With my empath, I eventually learned that the real strength of the set is Fortitude, Clear Mind, and Recovery/Regeneration aura, with some heals for insurance. Buffs and debuffs are the real stars of this game.

Please don't judge me, I was new... So back in the day, before you could hit 50 just dinking around in an afternoon, and there weren't 89 ways to beef up low level toons, my highest level character was around level 20. And I got there by suffering in the Hollows for days, if not weeks, having team wipe after team wipe. Watching allies get ganked on the way to a mission. Having half the team quit because they were absolutely NOT going to run from the Atlas hospital back to the Hollows just to have to dodge imminent doom again. This was in the days of Taxibots, and when a "healer" (pardon my profanity) joined a team, they were like a god. A being of legend. Some one who could cast resurrect?! Bring people back from the dead with out needing to exit the mission?! The myths were true! So I thought Heck, I can do that. I rolled an Empathy defender. And to be fair, I was AMAZING at it. I was stopping team wipes. I was keeping the tanker, who only had one armor power and no business tanking on an 8-man team at level 12, on his feet. On the occasional rough mob, I was letting the lost causes face plant, and then coming in with either the right inspiration for them to make an Awaken or just reviving them. I made sure people DID NOT click "Go To Hospital," as being a single person down was basically a guaranteed team wipe, so we'd have to wait for them to hoof it back to the mission. I took Recall Friend so that I could safely get some of the more fragile team members to the mission. I could see when we were definitely going to lose a battle, and I would go to safe area and regroup us. I even got good at teleporting people out of the fray so I could patch them up before letting them run back in to take more abuse (stay on your feet, scrappers, your face is my only line of defense!). And then (TRIGGER WARNING)...Some where before level 30 I decided YA KNOW, three heals is not good enough. I took Aid Other. Yes, on my empathy defender (sorry for every one that gave flashbacks to). (To be fair the experience taught me a lot about how the game works besides See bad guy -> Attack -> Die -> Ragequit and honestly made me better at the game)

My most memorable: We were in the blue layer cake room of a random radio mission. Spotted an enemy clear across the room. Queued up my Snipe shot, inched closer until I was at the absolute maximum range. Shot fired. In about .027 seconds it was obvious: This was going no where near the guy. And yet, the projectile continued its slow, gradual journey across the room. Time stood still. Civilizations collapsed, galaxies burned out, entire alternate dimensions blinked out of existence, George RR Martin finished writing his next book. The shot was still gradually making its way across the room...20 feet to the left of the target.

I'll never understand how people simply fail to communicate what type of run they're planning. Back on Live I joined an ITF with my fire blaster. The leader decides to wait until the TF is started, and we're all loading in to the first mission, to inform us that it's a Master run! No mention in the broadcasts, no mention in team chat the entire time we're forming. Now, that specific blaster of mine, I don't care what we're running: She gonna die. Rise of the Phoenix was part of her attack chain. There will be faceplanting. I will dash up to Ol' Rommy and fireball his face while the rest of the team is still coming up the hill, I DO NOT CARE. I took Rise of the Phoenix and I am using it. ....So I felt bad that they had to restart and reform, but also: Maybe give the important details a bit sooner.

Ya know, a melee range "control" set actually sounds super awesome, along with a secondary assault set that's mostly melee, for Dominators. I don't see it making sense for controllers. Imagine like staff melee, but the "control" set has you smacking enemies in the ankles to make them unable to walk for a minute, or hit them in the head real good to stun them. Maybe a cone attack that hits all the enemies in front of you in the knees, and causes a "slow" effect. Pair that with staff melee, and you've got a character that can debilitate enemies and take them down all in melee range, with the same weapon.

hey sum1 scamed me out of my soj, i can haz monies kekeke?

What are you running that gives 200 merits in an hour?