Sir Myshkin

I appreciate everyone's input so far on the topic. So far the dynamic isn't far off what I personally anticipated, but hopefully this brings some expression of insight for others. Right now there's obviously only a small sampling of the overall dynamic of players that play the game (I'd guess an estimate of maybe 7% currently), I don't have any intention of ever closing the poll itself so it can continue collecting others' insights as time passes.

To clarify, if you choose Super Strength, you will be using Punch, Knockout Blow, Foot Stomp, and Rage next to Boxing, and Cross Punch (cause the rest of SS sucks, and you have to take one of the first two powers). Having said that, Radiation Armor/SS Tanker is incredibly fun to run, and grab the Soul Mastery for Gloom and Dark Obliteration for added kicks and it's practically unstoppable. Radiation will give you that slight "poisony" feel of being a Scorpion in theme, SS if very brutish still with more "Rawr!" than Energy Melee. I'd also say Radiation Melee wouldn't be a bad choice either, has a lot of solid AoE spread and can still be punchy.

Ah, are you sure it's an accident? 😉

In the interest of continuing to play Devil's Advocate: Not really. Specifically on the aspect of having the shard exist, the only variance is a few contacts not existing/functioning, and that's it. They're really the only thing that stands between what we consider "normal" now, and "classic" in a virtual sense of what most folks have been generally asking for. This is functionally no different a task than what the Devs do now when it comes to the Beta server and swapping out functionality of pop menus and the P2W and Merit Vendors between testing and staged builds (they turn them off/on as needed). Bases are stored uniquely as I understand it and should be something that can be pulled and loaded into the [shard] without much hassle (time, but not exactly hassle). And as for moving folks, we're talking the entire group... just onto a new shard, and realistically we're probably looking at Torchbearer and Indomitable as the two this would happen to. It's not like anyone's getting split up, just ... merged, like a deck of cards, shuffled together to make a larger playerbase on two already low-pop servers. Remember, I'm only speaking to the argument, not saying I am trying to sway towards it, just evaluating it for the theory and thought-science of it.

Update: I'm definitely looking to push this thing quickly when I'm up to it. Got it PL'd up to 16 from a short sit-in and then spent some time on various teams (WL, Tips, PI) getting a variety of exposure to different enemy groups and getting to revisit the common theme that I had with the previous Dominator: Eating Floor. A lot. Their HP pool is just so laughable that a stiff wind nearly kills them so surviving any content beyond +1 without any kind of enhancement is just dumbly difficult regardless of team dynamic. I died an average of twice a mission, but ended the night at level 28 which gives me a good portion of the core Dominator powers. Right now I feel like I have too much going on. My planned build followed a pretty typical 4 ST, 2-3 AoE focus with a couple of the tack-on Dom abilities as my "armor", but Blind is flowing much smoother with the attack chain then I expected it to; it doesn't feel misplaced visually or anything so I'm willing to work with it over Trick Shot or Spinning Kick depending on which I feel is more replaceable. And Gleam... Gleam! I have to go back and check (I forgot to do so early) what its in-game data says, it just doesn't feel right that Mids has it input correctly for range/effect area as a Cone with it being listed as TAoE and the radius it has been effecting being so huge. I'm finding a bit more enjoyment out of the power than I anticipated and am likely going to try turning directions and shift this into a proc-bomb main-AoE. I don't think there's anything wrong with the set, but it definitely has a lot going on and that factor forces conflict with any Dom Primary that's going to pair with it. I seeing that I really have to find the best tools in the Martial kit box to pair with Illusion for flow and reliability to make them work well together because so far I went off just basic theory and it doesn't quite work right, too many bumps between the two that need ironed out (remove power, add power kind of things).

It keeps coming up, we know it, we see it, there's a thread just one or two notches ☝️ or 👇 right now talking about "why doesn't this exist somewhere?!" And okay, we all get tired of seeing them. Royal "we", not everyone, but you get the idea, it can get frustrating. But I responded to a statement about folks trying to bury the idea altogether and it really stuck in my head of are some of us, any of us, all of us trying to bury that idea because "it already exists?" or because "we don't play that way"? Would it be fair, or better if the option just flat out existed from the get-go anyway? The resources do exist, but there may be some extra back-end necessity to maintain it, or at the least keep one variant of it running slightly separately from the others, but they do have this functioning for the Beta client, so it made me wonder... Why not? What would it take? Well, really, not much. Take out the P2W* vendor, flat out just remove it (your loss, back to basics, travel old school my friends). Remove Null The Gull out of Pocket D, no more fast-switching. Want to cross the border? Earn it. No more farming in AE. This isn't a punishment, this is a guarantee that the server truly becomes "classic old-school grind." Want to farm? Sure, do it the old way, in a mission. Don't click the glowie! Oops... It would still keep Auction House access, it would have to, they're a merged point, but the influx of farming influence wouldn't be the same, there's no fast track leveling so the speed to inf gain isn't going to be the same either, development would be slower for most who don't (won't, or can't) game the market. That means it'd be just like the old days. Broke, poor, pan handling. But what about the folks on that server now? Well, that is the poll, they have a voice too. Ideally my personal first thought is to move them up one block to the next least-populated server and merge them into it. both get a nice populous boost of friends, but the game otherwise moves about life as-is, except now Homecoming has the option of promoting a more "Classic" server. Spiel over, lets--as a community--put data on the sheet, create fact from opinion, and make a stake in this claim. What's your thought? *With the adjustment of power selection, it may be a possibility that the 1-25 range could still level a bit aggressively even without 2XP and make need to have a limiter on XP gain for a portion of this range to help curve it out. Who knows.

No, you won't. This thread is proof of that fact alone. You just need to reach out and actually find those that are making the conscious decision to run the game in that manner. There are several threads, and SG's in existence that are focused on the concept(s) you're looking for, all you have to do is search for them. For me personally this isn't "shutting it down" but the banality of the fact that the system they proposed is simply a matter of choice, and this topic continues to persist what feels like monthly, if not bi-monthly by one person or another (for well over a year). They even occasionally pop on Reddit "I'm looking for a classic server..." which, on there, fair game that can sometimes be an honest question except for when it's a Homecoming user making the complaint directly targeting back to here.

I totally forgot about auras! I'll have to add this once he has some INF to spend. I absolutely created it! Didn't do it as a Tanker though, decided I really, really, really wanted to shoot people with Coke.* *He's a Water Blast/Ice Armor Sentinel, what were you thinking? Soda?! No. Edit: To clarify, his shoulder leather and pants are tanned baby-seal skin hides pieced together in the arctic. His paws were chopped off and replaced with robotics to give him dexterity, they thought this was a smarter choice for military application. Ha. And what's not visible in this screen shot is the Cyberpunk Spinal System on his back (In silver and Light Blue like the Celestial Armor in front).

I can kinda see this. The Polar Cola, or maybe he's a military unit called I.C.C.B. code named Ice Cold Cola Bear. Brown tinted armor and Chilling Embrace with blue Icicles; a walking polar bear inside a free-floating soft-drink. Oh man, I want it!

Hyperstrike beat me to it by nine minutes. Was gonna say Electric Armor can easily hit Res cap if you truly want to get it there. I have my Scrapper capped very easily, with S/L/M 45% so passing it along to a Tanker is 100% doable.

I think the better question should be how did a dozen of the forums well-rounded denizens not recognize this too and instead post long diatribes in response... repeatedly.

Just stating the obvious on this: Experience Multiplicative Earnings are OPTIONAL and in no way required, enforced, coerced, or demanded of any player, so why do people keep asking for them to be removed because they make the game too easy for them? Stop using the boosters! Don't want the XP gains from the WST? DON'T RUN THE WST! Why does this keep coming up?

Hmm, sure is interesting: So which is it? You can't make it over 30, or all of your characters are over 35?

Having read everyone's thoughts up to this point and put some time and consideration into playing around with a couple of builds I have what may be a plan in action. My initial thought started around something using Illusion/Dark Assault since Gather Shadows has that nice little Specials kick and I can already get the recharge down ridiculously low; plus Dark has a series of pretty impressive ST hitters (always has). However, like someone mentioned above, Savage gets you a Hawk! I really like the overall concepts for each of those summons attacks (I aggressively abused them on a MM), but I didn't feel settled with a primary. I had a stroke of madness about everything a couple of nights ago though. Martial is what I had originally started looking at, Illusion/Martial actually, it leads back to an idea that I tried to meld into another character as an Illusion/Pain Controller that was never 100%. In Guild Wars 2 there is the Mesmer Profession that uses Illusions to manipulate combat while it fights. I haven't played that game in several years now, but I remember it blinking in and out of combat and casting clones of itself and being pretty fun. Illusion/Martial sounds about pretty much exactly that. So I rolled one. Lets see where it goes...

I'm currently torn on starting the next project, and I'd like to try and give Dominators another chance. I've never been a hardy fan of them and getting my Grav/Fire to 50 was a struggle (found it personally tedious and unenjoyable) and only saved by Fold Space, I also haven't logged it since unlocking Alpha. There's a concept in my head that I'd like to warp around a powerset/AT, it's malleable so knowledge of the concept does not impact the choice of the sets. What I'm looking for, what I'm asking for, is experiences; moments of game play, memories that stick out the most while strolling around the wide city of Paragon to help me waiver towards one direction or another. I don't want builds, I don't want (direct) power suggestions/advice (beyond how it influenced the experience), just y'alls moments in time playing your Dominators. Right now I'm actively considering exploring: Primary Illusion Fire Plant Secondary Dark Assault Martial Assault Savage Assault Psionic Assault Epic will be Psionic Mastery with most certainty, but this is not in relation to the concept, I'm chasing this down for Link Minds and Mind Over Body. So fellow players, what're your experiences that can help sway me towards another Dominator?

Following Pylon Protocols, my Rad/SS Tanker* can get down to the last 2 Pylons solo. If I chomped a large red each Pylon then I'd definitely gank the shield, so doing it solo is 100% possible. A couple of years ago a small sub-8-man squad ran the whole 30 minute shindig here on Homecoming as well, so it doesn't take much just focused survivability. I don't think someone's necessarily going to pull off going into the bowl for 30 minutes alone with all the extended Mag Mez going on to one target, but toss a few extras in there for some clarion and barrier, sure, 4-5 full Incarnates could knock it out I'm certain.

Current HP Recharge % Damage % Influence XP to next level 1-2 Key Highest Defense(s) Weakest Defense (If Defensive Character) 1-2 Key Highest Resistance(s) Weakest Resistance (If Resistance Character)

Obligatory: Nerf Rage

Oh man, I remember the first time I ran the Terra Trial was on my first character which was a Regen Scrapper. We got to the Reactor and everyone insisted on bubbling up (so I did), and we ran in. Eventually my bubble died, but I never noticed. Another team mate panicked that I was running around with this streak of TICK TICK TICK red damage over my head and was all "Hey, bubble!" And I stopped, looked up at my HP, looked at the damage ticks, looked back at my HP. Literally nothing was happening to me, the two were in complete balance. Then another person said "It's cool, he's Regen, forget about it." There are those few cases in the game, for all the mockery it may get, that sometimes you get to sit back and just go "Yeah, it's cool to be a Regen."

Thing about Super Strength is that it is one of the worst choices as a set (when you exclude Rage), and with Rage, it is still predominately a bad set that is aggressively covered up by the fact that Rage makes up for a lot of the damage by hiding it beneath an oppressive amount of benefit. The truth of the matter is that the real Super Strength set is actually Boxing, Kick, Cross Punch, Rage, Knock Out Blow, and Foot Stomp, and the rest of the powers exist just to, well, exist I guess, because once you select all of the powers out of the Fitness pool they become better choices than pretty much all the base tier choices in SS due to the bonus stacking they earn. Given this, the first question I'd have to ask of why anyone would play SS without Rage is: Why?! If you're not going to use Rage, just skip the set altogether. You can get the same animations (for the most part) in Street Fighting by mixing in Boxing and Cross Punch and call it a night. Foot Stomp isn't THAT good to drag someone into the fray! If you're worried about the crash component, play a Resistance set and cap it out, then you can literally just not care about the crash at all and move about your life. Mix some procs in the attacks and you'll keep ticking damage no matter what. Even with the Rage crash, Rage single-handedly makes itself the second strongest melee class in the game behind Energy Melee, and I say that pointing out the fact that it's a slim margin and it tests using power pools as the bulk of the attacks. If you're still here after all of that, then I entertain your madness with a build theory and welcome you to the madness of my kingdom! What you seek is doable and fanciful in the form of a Mad King build by abusively taking advantage of Adrenal Booster to be our backdoor Rage mechanic and become a Crash-Less build that simply has down time during its functional waves of annihilation. Structural use of the Force Feedback +Rech proc in three key powers means it will be possible to get Adrenal down to a sub 180/s range without Hasten and very little extra outside help, so stacking in as much little bits of +Rech as you can will make it even better. Ideally 120/s will be best for 50% up time (60 up, 60 down), but you may find without Hasten landing around 140/s. This is the skeleton, I left it relatively unslotted but it shows the idea, with just 5 things in AAO and AB up you'll carry a 95% Boost which is nothing to sneeze at since AB is a 60/s long layover, and that can grow to 123.25% at full saturation.

Still waiting for the Rage Nerf.

The last build you'll ever need: Rad/SS/Soul

This is the reason all of my characters ended up Magic Origin, it was the only SO set that had clear visual colors to identify the enhancements and I didn't have to guess what I was buying or what drops I was getting. Even from an RP standpoint I just Deus Ex'd all reason out the window for why they were "Magic" Origin.

It's always the Space Marines. No one ever wants to play the Dark Eldar. 😠

There are only a few mechanics in the set that require being grounded for them to go off, one attack and its Seismic effect which make it playable under technicality for those that want to fly. I run a Seismic/Earth Blaster that bounces back and forth between "Aim" and Build Up and dishes out a ton of AoE damage while also having several incredibly hard hitting ST attacks. This character is the only one I've managed to lead teams into Tinpex beside my Rad/SS Tanker to pull off sub 20 minute runs relying on my own performance output. Anyone claiming Seismic is mediocre probably isn't playing it right, and that's about all I can say towards it.