Doomguide2005

Wouldn't surprise me if they always existed. I got the general feel with a number of powers and sets that those powers showed up first on npcs especially in earlier issues of the game. But those memories are quite distant these days too. Fog of time and all that.

Anything /SR, Quickness +Speed pool. Perhaps Electric Melee Lightning Rod plus Teleport and Speed pools. The SR passives can easily take GotA pair (def, def/+run spd) and a LotG def/increased rchg. Quickness plus Winter's Gift rchg resist go a long way to laughing at run spd and recharge debuffs.

No computer so can't look at or use Mids but it looks very solid. Do the changes get you to perma-Hasten? Anything in Health or Stamina? If not I'd be tempted to play around with slot distribution between those two and Physical Perfection to get more +End and +Recovery and potentially freeing the second slot in Conserve Power and Assault. But it looks quite solid, solid enough I can't see anything I'd change without playing around in Mids first.

Sonic/Dark, Cold/Dark, Dark/Dark, Dark/Arch ... all Defenders plus a DM/WP Scrapper. Probably the toughest group of 5 characters my friends and I ran together as an themed team (everyone had to have at least one "Dark" set). We bored ourselves to death I think. Crushing +4/×8 Arachnos arcs in Faultline by our low 20's on builds that were mostly SO's with a few IOs roughly in i16 as I recall. That Scrapper was unkillable backed by those 4. I think my Sonic/Dark was the only one that made 50. Our play as a team mostly ended and we moved to other things shortly after finishing Faultline. Always wanted to see what they could have done Incarnated and IO'd out.

And that's part of why the target limit vs aggro limit are very different things. A Tanker can 'control' essentially only his aggro limit but Controllers (and Dominators) owing to multiple mez powers can already control far more than they can aggro. Didn't even go into adding in Stalagmites, Fossilize, Stone Cages, Salt Crystals etc.. to that 61 count above. I can control way, way more than my aggro limit with my Earth Controllers. Not only do the limits need to exist they are almost not relevant for most Control based characters when compared to specifically blasters or other AoE damage dealers.

And then there's that very unique function of Acid Arrow. It debuffs resistance to debuffs. Dropping the AVs resistances to regen debuffs etc. from 85%+ would seem very valuable. My only question is, "is this debuff itself resisted?" It's not marked as unresistable by CoD but is the debuff resisted by the AV's resistances and if so by what?

Wait, no he's after some vital force contained in blood. Souls is more a @Bill Z Bubbathing I think.

Fun facts: Volcanic Gases creates a pseudopet. That pseudo pet has a target limit of 5. VG creates 7 such pseudo pets. Quicksand creates 1 pseudopet with a target limit of 16 Earthquake meanwhile creates 1 pseudopet with a cap of 10 targets Conclusion: Earth's patches are not very consistent but that's potentially 61 foes in just under 7 seconds

"I'm so sorry I thought I heard/saw/smelled something. Yes again. Now please be quiet and put your head back inside" Zzzzzzip.

Burlap sack, duffle bag or even a body bag would work, yes please. Heck don't the Vahz use body bags?

It's also a matter of speed for some builds or sets. An Empath while the Auras are active at capped defense and resists is very hard to kill. Add a pet to buff and mitigation in the attacks and you'll have a very tough defender. An Empathy/Fire is what Linea used to complete an ITF at +4/×8. And likewise I know one of their early favorites for tough was iirc a Time/DP build.

Earth/Storm has been my personal favorite. Tons of control from Earth and the damage and chaos of Storm in one package with one of the pets with actual taunt for tanking hard targets.

1) Is Focused Accuracy worth having? Maybe. Are you having trouble consistently hitting foes of the same level as the AV? An AV in general is no harder to hit than a minion of the same level (in general they just hit you easier and much harder rather than the other way around). Differences if any would or could exist based on their powers (or powers of the surrounding spawn). Mako can use Elude, for example, but is no harder to hit than a minion the same level the rest of the time. Bottom line is what @aetherealsuggested, monitor your last hit chance. If it's 95% great. If not then needs improvement in Accuracy or To Hit (or both) and I would be looking at combat logs to see if there were sudden changes or other indication the AV used some power or ability (like Mako popping Elude) to alter your chances. What is the scrapper Max damage? Way, way above what a solo Scrapper can reach on their own outside of chugging red inspires. The thing you want to look at is your dps hence the suggestion to look at a "pylon" time. That said most scrappers will generally have enough for most even level AVs. It's fighting particular AVs and/or at +4 where it'll become more of an issue. Soul Drain gives you both +to hit and +damage. Make sure it hits and feel free to invite other foes to the 🥳. Try to buff it for a single foe in range (i.e. just you and the AV) Other thoughts. Midnight Grasp has an immobilize aspect. Be sure to cap the damage but any buff to the Immobilize is an edge for you. AVs when the PToD are up will be all but immune to most mez. That most does not include immobilize or sleep. Chasing AVs who aren't sitting still can put quite a dent in your dps. Holds, Stuns other mez requires very high mag to be effective when the PToD are active.

Don't recall ever rezzing by leveling, but I did exit a mission redside on my level 49 Stalker on a double xp weekend to be greeted by my level 50 ding as I zoned into Grandville. Yay!

And part time masochist apparently 😛

LOL And true team farming. Just make them all AVs.

Maybe some of those rewards for radio type repeatables be something that enhances your ability to use the Geysers. I'd add "or boosts your flight speeds" but so many QoL and other changes don't know if that would actually add anything right now.

I had fun as the sole caltrops (Edit: Oops, sole Stalker) on a rather unusual teaming concept. The concept was simple. Everyone must have and use caltrops. Most of the team were MM's with ninjas. It resulted at times as an absolute field of sharp pointy things and hordes of damage tics floating up as ninjas (plus 1 --> Your friendly Stalker and *cough* actual Ninja) hacking the foes fleeing in random directions futilely trying to avoid sharp pointy things. Don't recall procs in use but the sheer quantity might have resulted in quite a few going off regularly. My preferred slotting for caltrops (Stalker or Traps) usually involved at least some range enhancement --> dmg/rng, dmg/slow, rng/slow or similar. Very nice when the caltrops go beyond your toes.

I'd add it's also easier to back out of a less all encompassing optional change to the foes should it prove problematic rather than an across the board nerf to players. By the time it's undone players are likely long gone, many potentially permanently.

I'm computerless and hence Mids-less currently. Focused Fighting Focused Senses Evasion Dodge Agile Lucky Maneuvers Weave Combat Jumping These are my powers taking defensive sets on my Claws/SR. As I think on how I'm going to slot her i27 build upgraded from her last +max health and regen build created late i23 I see that list as where I'm going to place 5 sets Shield Wall at least 3 slotted preferably 4 slotted for the E and NE resists (with a nod to @Bill Z Bubba for that idea) and 4 sets of LotG plus 1 LotG def/+rchg (for a total of 5 the 7.5 recharge IOs). Again 3 slotted, probably not 4 and almost certainly not more. Then we need to add a Kismet +6%, Reactive Defenses scaling defenses and Shield Wall +5% resistance. I'll need 9 base slots plus another 20 to 25 level up slots to do this (out of 24 base slots plus 67? level up slots). I liked using the LotG in the passives in the previous build (no need to worry about endred). Thus LotG def, def/rech, def/+rchg. Then 1 LotG def/+rchg in CJ for 4 total. Next I liked Kismet +6% in Focused Fighting (though in Senses works just as well) want it in a power available at low exemplar levels. Thinking Shield Walls in FF, FS, Evasion, Weave and Maneuvers since I'm already using LotG in the passives and I want the endred --> def, def/endred, def/endred/rech and then def/rech except for one power using the Shield Wall +5% special. The Reactive Defenses scaling resists special can be dropped in CJ with the LotG. That should pretty much do it. Then just need to play with with the rest see how it shakes out.

@Brutal Justice Thanks appreciate the response and from that standpoint (bringing the bottom up and the top down to meet a closer equilibrium in the middle) it makes sense as an approach to the overall issue.

Absolutely, For helping a group of friends especially pre 40 (particularly much earlier) I think Earth/Empathy would work very well. I was asked once long ago (well before IOs came along) by a friend on his early teens Tanker for some healing/support assistance. Probably hoping for my Emp/Dark. But I was thinking what was happening was the team getting a bit too much aggro and trying to break and him being on a Tanker getting chased ... a lot and everyone getting shot to bits. So enter Quicksand. Lot easier to withdraw when the baddies are dealing with QS and made the Healing I did have at that level able to keep pace without running an end bar dry (no Vigilance, no Stamina etc. days).

Well "Ultimate" support toon is very much in the Eye of the Beholder ... quite literally. Are you 'eyeing' an SR Tanker whose 18th level or a Fire/Sonic Controller whose 33rd or an end game t4 incarnated /Fire Brute or Blaster. Are you supporting them specifically (filling gaps and weaknesses in their build) or supporting their killing efforts? Any Defender or Corruptor can get any of the pool and other non-primary/secondary powers you seek. So --> Thermal has heals, a rez, mez protection and resist shields plus some nasty debuffs. No regen, recharge or recovery buffs. --> Pain heal and DoT absorb, rez, mez protection, debuffs and regen and recovery buffs. No shields per se (but has a single target +dmg/+to hit buff) --> Aaaand 14 more sets What do you want to provide, what's the priorities involved? You mentioned friends, what are they playing? For pre endgame support of less than optimal builds it's hard to beat an Empath, their buffs are pretty much second to none. But Empaths have no debuffs, no ability in their set to effect the foes. Any of that has to come from the other half of the pairing which is why Thermal and Pain tend to be mentioned as alternates to Empaths. About the only thing an Empath can't buff is an allies damage resistance. Something like Dark Miasma is an entirely different sort of support. Their support is almost entirely directed at making the foes ineffectual. Don't need Shields when your foes have trouble hitting the Barn and when they do it's like a slap not a good roundhouse to the jaw. For example their Heal and their Rez Their AoE heal (Twilight's Grasp) debuffs their foes to hit, their damage and their regeneration. The Rez (Howling Twilight) is arguably one of the best powers in the game. It rezzes multiple allies while stunning, recharge debuffing, slowing and debuffing regeneration. It's been used infamously to "Stun" an observing Redname during a Hami Raid gone badly sideways when the HT targeted, iirc, the pseudo pet created by Tar Patch to rez a huge chunk of characters dead after a mito bloom. Food for thought ... so what sort of support did you have in mind?

I'll just note here that owing to a dead computer I can't open or use Mids. That caveat out of the way. You'll ideally want to move the Panacea proc out of Heal Other. It, as I recall, only works when the power is activated. It's best placed in an auto power, typically Health. Just move it and replace with the missing Panacea enhancement. You can likely just skip slotting the Regen Tissue proc. The slot (used for something and somewhere else) is more valuable than the proc to your survival (and massively so when Regeneration Aura is running). Like holding the Panacea proc. Any reason you used Doctored Wounds in RegenAura rather than Panacea? Likewise I'd aim to add LotG def/+rchg when ever I could. Could add one to Maneuvers. What's the down time on your Recovery Aura? Be sure not to include the FF proc in the calculations. That'll give you some very misleading information if included. I also like to keep the cooldown on my Auras within a few seconds of each other. One less thing to track. If ones ready they both are or is about to be. Position and fire them 1, 2 and done. I'd drop a kb protection IO in Super Speed (or Winter's Gift resist recharge debuff). Or ideally both. Stealth IO in one of your Sprints. SS plus Stealth IO is full Stealth from minions, lts, Bosses, EBs and AVs unless they are the sort to completely ignore stealth. Or these days not quite enough for many foes in higher challenge settings of the Aeon SF but you can get to just off their toes (65ft stealth vs 66ft perception) Move slots from CJ to Maneuvers. More defense and better end use for you and more defense for your allies. Unless I missed it you only have 1 of the 3% defense uniques. Find a spot for the other (Glad Armor) You're already invested in Kick and Tough so I'd be trying to fit in Weave (with 3 slots). That's all I've got for the moment. Hope it helps.

What @Hjarkisaid is what's most efficient, i.e chowing down reds to keep you at the cap. Kinetics would the biggest damage boost among the support sets as assuming an actual farming build it is likely self sufficient for defense, resistance and endurance. Damage is the only thing those builds can't self provide. But not every farmer is necessarily optimized however, even if just because it's the first on the account, not dedicated solely to farming or a "traditional" i27 Fire Brute build. In almost all those cases it'll be a Kin because of Fulcrum Shift for the huge damage boost to speed things along ... not Speed Boost, Siphon Power, Transfusion or Transference although all those may be helpful for any build that’s attempting to farm and is not a dedicated and optimized farmer.