Doomguide2005

I used to use Geas of the Kind Ones and Eye of the Magus (Archmage) to deal with the Elude crash. This was far enough back that real numbers and combat attributes were not a thing yet ... . So knowing what I know now I would click Archmage when Elude starts flashing (you just boosted def and resistance by +30%) followed by clicking Geas (recovery +1000% and +10 to hit as well as -10% def). The big boost to recovery means your endurance will rise very rapidly once the crash debuff ends and Archmage will keep your defense relatively high until you retoggle -> 30 (magus) + 8 (passives) + 2×3 (def uniques) - 10 (geas debuff) = ~34% so pop a luck to hit the soft cap and keep fighting and getting your toggles back up.

Not sure I follow you if you could elaborate. If a lvl 54 Longbow Warden hits my level 50 Claws/SR with Energy Torrent are you saying its unresistable? His attack is listed as mag 12 and unless I'm misunderstanding things that puts roughly 2 points of mag past my PB protection (discounting the purple patch etc.). Frankly I haven't fought one since Live so I don't recall if I got KB or KD occurring if/when I got hit. According to the HCwiki the FinalAmount = AppliedAmount - TotalProtection. And resistance is applied the FinalAmount not the AppliedAmount. To me unless I'm reading or understanding incorrectly that means the resistance is applied to the ~2 mag getting past my protection. Edit: Followed your link. Hmmm, maybe but now I want to find the Longbow Warden entry data. Edit 2: Thinking that might be because "I'm Statesman" (using Batman voice). Sneaking suspicion the Warden doesn't have the same flag if I can find it. Either way the difference is a bit of an edge case. Mags that high are rare. Probably only a concern if you are tanking a foe with such attacks on a Dark Armor character. Edit 3: wish I could recall for certain but fairly sure I've been blasted by a Rikti bomb and I do not recall sailing across the map the way a friends blaster did once. That's 300 mag. I do sort of recall being forced backed (sort of stuttering movement) but remaining upright. If some SR volunteer could try that against a Rikti bomb ideally with a DA buddy with IO kb protection of 10+ ...

The thing about Rad Blast as I understand it these days is the ability to use all those defdebuff and other damage procs and build a proc monster. Most of the attacks will take multiple damage procs. Shield Breaker, Lady Grey, Positron's Blast, Scirocco's Dervish, Obliteration, Gladiators Javelin, plus Armageddon and Apocalypse are a few I recall from memory. And then there's the -resistance procs and to hit buff proc.

😁 indeed The all Earth/** I talked about was more than a little while back. Our idea of a proc was slotting this thing called Explosive Strike from the new Knockback set in Gale. Hilarious by the way when you've got multiple lowbie Earth/Storm blowing Hellions and Skulls on their butts while running 'laps' around Perez Park with the proc firing off at random. Edit: Especially given more than a couple of us had full KB sets (all 3 of them 😜) in there. Can only imagine the carnage of 8 proc'd out Earth trollers with full Incarnate powers these days. Brutal and then some.

Oh man Troo, it's really only 173.666462% 🤪 On mine I set Mids to a base to hit of 39% (i.e. what it is vs +4 mobs) Then played around until I got to slightly over 95% with Follow Up showing in Mids. That includes iirc, a Kismet +6% and 4 Global +15% accuracy from Purple sets in my attacks. Most of the other powers has enough slotted accuracy that with the above boosts (+60% accuracy and +6% To Hit) I had somewhere between 90 and 95% final chance in Mids. Which in turn if FU landed that pushed all my final hit chances over 95%. If my logs (or I otherwise see a whiff fest occurring) I'll turn on Tactics which alleviates the issue unless I get seriously debuffed somehow despite softcap defenses. If it's serious debuff I either break off or use Yellows. Can't recall ever using Geas for this reason but that accolade also includes a +10% To Hit buff. Only my Focused Fighting used 4 slots --> 3 LotG and a Kismet. The rest (2 toggles, 3 passives, weave and maneuvers) were 3 slotted either LotG or Shield Wall. CJ was its own thing and I don't recall what or how it was slotted beyond being fairly certain it had 1 of 5 LotG def/increased recharge in it. (Sucks being without a functioning computer) No Elude. Haven't had Elude on the first build for a long, long time. Not even as a mule. I have, at least in Mids when I had internet and a functional computer, experimented around with unusual builds some of which probably used Elude. You can't even really use it vs Rularuu to make them miss. Their insane To Hit is +100% on top of their base 50% means you need about +100% defense just to get back to where you were before. Elude fully enhanced, afaik, is about +70 to 75%. Leaving you needing another 25 to 30% defense from other sources to remain softcapped. Reasonably doable yes but not without more buffs. Edit: and the Rularuu if bosses and +4's you really need the soft cap as their accuracy will make it painful if you aren't close to flooring them (1.4 × 1.3 = 1.82 x final defense value). Your health and scaling resistance will be stressed by Rularuu at or above 35+% final hit chances. (Assumes you've used Elude and therefore 15 to 20 shy of the cap)

Brutal doesn't begin to describe it. Back on Live joined a themed SG, all Earth/**. Pretty much every secondary represented but /Storm was a significant chunk. By the late 30's it started to become team of 8 Earth/** hidden within multiple Steamy Mists move unseen into range, a mass of 8 Rocky's move in as 8 Stalagmites, Stone Cages, etc. fire off. The spawn(s) and Rocky's vanish behind a cloud of Earth effects followed by a lone boss or eb reappearing surrounded by 8 pets unleashing Seismic Smash. Rinse, Repeat ... .

If the ambush triggers are known then laying down patches (Quicksand, Bonfire) or fast activating mez (AoE Immobilize or stuns -> Stalagmites) ready to use should be effective. Maybe Fold Space used by someone with good defense/resistance to the attack (brownie points for the FS user doing that onto something like Bonfire with the KB to KD proc). Sleep or Confuse?. Basically as a whole I saw a lot of teams, in general, where it seemed the entire team would blow its currently available 'alpha's at a mob . Less individual and team zerg, more coordinated team effort keeping reserves for the ambush(es). But doesn't sound like Endurance Drain by itself would work fast enough unless there are multiple endurance drain characters involved. Maybe Repel powers --> Hurricane, Repel (from Kinetics), Force Bubble etc., in addition to KB powers.

I have a dead computer so haven't faced this mission or the foes yet. Are these new foes or the old explody foes in a new arc. If these are the old zombies in a new mission arc: Keep moving, ideally after they start the animation then they'll basically take themselves out. Any DoT attack as long as you use it before they blow. The power has an interrupt period, the DoT will keep interrupting the attack. If they literally pop in and blow I'd keep a patch of some sort under me at all times. Hot Feet, Burn, Quicksand. Or just don't stay in one spot more than a second or so ... pretend there's a pesky Stalker around you can't see trying to AS you in RV 😋 Short Circuit and Ball Lightning are both DoT's. Or Seeds of Confusion ... they'll blow each other up and their allies.

True no native KB protection. I was referring to resistance in this case however. If SR gets hit by KB it meets not only the protection offered by Practiced Brawler but 10,000% kb resistance. DA even after slotting for protection via IOs has no resistance and will get the full effect of the remaining kb. That 10,000% basically ensures that any amount of KB that gets past SR's protection will become knockdown. For DA that means the amount after protection will determine if KB vs KD occurs. Usually this will result in KB for the DA user. Basically the DA user (or other sets lacking KB resistance) who particularly care about their positioning (vs simply remaining upright) will want higher amounts of protection than an SR user (or other set with knock resistance).

To my knowledge (which is difficult to keep current with only a phone for internet) different sources of most mez stack. Holds stack with holds, stuns with stuns. Afaik different types of mez have no interaction with each other i.e.holds don't stack with stuns which don't stack with Fear etc.. Commonly even the same source from a caster will stack with each application. And as far as I recall what happens is each occurrence wears off based on its duration so the key is to exceed the necessary protection (usually while the PToD are up it's 50 + whatever they otherwise have in the case of AVs) within the time span of the powers individual durations. The individual durations are effected by the powers enhancement, buffs, debuffs etc., and the purple patch. Knock effects don't have duration so magnitude is effected by those things. You might occasionally get knocked around by an attack that normally doesn't have an effect on you if two separate attacks hit on the same server tic. Resistance to the effect also plays a part. Which is why a Dark Armor user vs Super Reflexes user might occasional get bounced by knock. SR and many Armor sets also grant huge resistance to KB which reduces it enough for their protection to neuter where DA has none (as far as I recall). Also of note neither Immobilize or Sleep are effected by the PToD so most AVs can be immobilized or slept relatively easily as their protection isn't buffed by the PToD. Some AVs (here's looking at you Rommy) are prone to running all over the place and having an Immobilize power is of immense benefit to make them stay put instead of making like a track star. As for @Heraclea's observation I'm honestly not sure how the proc creates its effect and how that might effect the ability to stack the necessary mag to overcome Recluses protection(s) and resistance. Is it, for example, creating a pseudo pet which places a debuff on him for 'x' seconds (similar to what the resistance debuff procs do).

In varies a lot from a number of factors. It can even be beneficial. For example, I use Claws Shockwave vs +0 mobs and many still go flying from KB (even at 50) But make them +4's and the purple patch results in turning it into kd. Folks pay good money for a proc the purple patch does for me 😁 (in that particular power)

And that's a PvP set so good to go down as low as you want as well. @HeracleaCombat Jumping? But yes can't think of any set bonuses offering Immobilize protection. Can't say I've ever noticed it being an issue but then I almost always take CJ, often even on my flyers.

This While it shows some interesting things Regen requires very active player control to do best. Timing is extremely important and that requires the player actively deciding when to use its reactive clicks and toggles (or not to). And that's player experience and skill vs the game environment.

Pretty much any Brute can 1) Be built tough and highly survivable. 2) Has it's problematic mobs. Yours will likely be Cimerorans (and other strong defdebuffers) as once your defenses drop they're going to get really painful very quickly.

My first was Fire/NRG, probably around i4 or so. Therefore no fast snipe or IOs, no crashless nukes, minimal defense or resists (outside of inspires) and no sustain. And basically I unloaded at range while closing to melee distance with the boss(es) where I then proceeded to use Bonecrusher and/or Power Thrust to neuter the bosses further. Rarely used Inferno while solo for obvious reasons. Today it's an Electric/Fire PBAoE monster still getting leveled when the computer died. Plan on S/L capped defenses with whatever Range defense I can manage. Biggest issue on Live was lack of sustainable endurance (and Sunset occurring before leveled up and completed the build). So far his sustain is handling the end consumption just fine and we'll see how the defenses handle avoiding serious mez issues post 40th. But yeah basically all out aggressively attacking kill them first style backed by defense and sustain to keep it rolling spawn to spawn.

Well blaster nukes on a true level 27 blaster are exceedingly rare, perhaps non-existent 😜 so he better be praying hard for a miracle.

Your blaster is confused. He tries to nuke everything hoping it all dies, 16 of them get fubared, a 17th gets really pissed and tries to fubar the blaster and the other 18+ stand around going, "Was that blaster trying to get our attention?"

That's not a Game Exploit. That's game design and game mechanics. I'm of similar mind in general when it comes to a tabletop RPG. But in a tabletop game the GM is acting as the npc's AI. That's a far cry from the coded AI in an online mmrpg. I was going to say the npc's are as smart or dumb as the GM wants them to be ... but that's not truly the case. They are limited by the GMs own skill and intellect. Very few if any GMs even approach the brain power of your average 'high fantasy wizard'. It would be great if the AI was a tad "smarter" but I suspect it gets very rapidly more difficult, time consuming and computer resource intensive as the AI is written to be 'smarter'. It took literal decades for chess AI to become smart enough to beat the best human players. Still a wee bit smarter would be nice and would make them tougher without cheesy game mechanics hopefully Hmmm, well in addition to what's already been pointed out, this line of thinking might have resulted in a decided lack of Brutes, Corruptors, Dominators, Masterminds and Stalkers. Of even moreso Sentinels. The game is not static, it will evolve and change over time and I suspect some of the way the above ATs and particulary new powers and power sets come about is a developer using a new foe to develop said powers and sets as a test bed. Yep and sometimes that is and feels very cheesy cheaty. But stuff like that is a time honored way for GM to occasionally up the difficulty. Just needs to be used very sparingly or it will cause issues with the GM's players. And because as mentioned earlier about PCs being able to accomplish anything an NPC could it can be especially irksome for those who view this as more sacrosanct. Covered already. And again exploit isn't the best choice of word. More properly it is a design flaw if you want to go that way. What are you talking about here? What endurance drain attack? Cyclops don't have any such attack that I can recall and nothing is listed in the Wiki either. Resistance debuffs are nastier and tend to occur more in "tougher" mob types such as Vanguard, Praetorian Resistance and Longbow. None of these are exploits. They might be flawed or outdated game design though I'm inclined to disagree about that conclusion. That said, no reason they can't be discussed (and some are or have been at length).

Well said and welcome home!

I'm still confused 😜

Agreed, but when it gets right down to it I think most of us also fit those last couple of lines in Werners post. Were also here to just play whatever without concern of min/max and have fun with friends, new and old.

See my post above. Soft cap defense even incarnate (i.e. 59%) is meaningless against many of the groups above with their To Hit buffs in the triple digits ... they'll blow through it like it's not there and that's before considering things like Aim, BU, procs like Gaussians, Power Boost, PBU, or similar buffs. So the question in general becomes what are those defense values after the team buffs are up? Could 'your' team hit 'AV you'? If the answer is yes then can 'you' handle the incoming damage via non-defense mitigation. In my case well I can manage about 120% defense in buffs 24-7 (the SR scrapper being notably higher sitting around 170%). I'm going to overwhelm myself as AVs as far as defense is concerned as my To Hit Buffs are pushing 220% for most of the team. Depends on how many Fortitude each Empath is buffing and how often I'm able to PB or PBU those Fortitude. 220% assumes 3 Fortitudes on a teammate but no boosting via PB, PBU or Soul Drain etc.. My edge is going to be the massive Regeneration the group and especially the Empaths will have. It's reached (and beyond) the hard caps for defenders on those Emps at over 2000% (2000% being the limit). And team wide you're dealing with Regen at and exceeding IH levels (+~1500% to ~2250%). If debuffs apply before you consider the limits you need to strip ~250% to upwards of 1000% when the 3rd Aura is in effect just to get an actual debuff on the Empaths. And none of the above takes into account Incarnate Abilities (or inspires etc.), or for that matter the Empaths actually using HA and HO. This is one case where buffs have a huge edge over debuffs especially if against, as mentioned by the OP, these are endgame AV versions of us (resistance against buffs n/a, resistance vs debuffs ~85% + purple patch effects +/- individual effect resistances). Those 8 Doms (@oedipus_tex) would worry me. A bunch of perma Doms stacking tons of holds will shut those Empaths down (even through PToD) or leave them spamming Clear Mind at the expense of using their other buffs which means something risks breaking elsewhere with a missed buff. Everyone else I'm thinking is trying to doing a massive damage spike vs an Empath in hopes of overwhelming that regen ... then again 'foes' don't benefit from the one shot rule but players also don't have 30,000 hp getting effected by IH levels of regeneration. I'm not sure which is worse.

Or put another way. I've literally, between HC and Live, created dozens of SR builds/characters none have had Elude in their primary build since maybe i13 if not earlier. While I have fewer /Regen characters none have ever skipped MoG (either the old version or the new).

Just skimmed through their wiki entry as a refresher. Just about everyone of them at that level has a ranged attack that carries a defdebuff. I'm guessing at least in part your 20% ranged defense was regularly going the way of the Dodo if you weren't using lucks+. Likely this exasperated getting hammered in melee by things like Bonecrusher attacks by other Longbow. You move into melee, ranged guys pepper you and not only does your ranged defense go south but so does your melee, aoe, etc.. and the generally harder hitting melee attacks start landing. Monitor your combat attributes and carry purple inspires.

And here I thought it was Milliseconds of Glory. But yeah good mule, doesn't need slots except to hold said mules and combined with things like Shadow Meld can help get out of a tight spot, buy a few 'moments' for IH, DP, or Recon to recharge etc.