Supertanker

I feel like the travel power at level 4 was the best encouragement. Early leveling is so fast now I don't think anything else will convince the people already skipping it.

I put together a quick mockup of the idea:

Now that there's dogs in the game, why not let the Faultline Detective's dog sit beside him instead of just hearing the barking?

I like when I gather a huge group together for Lightning Rod + Ion Judgement, and the rewards announcements flash on the screen like the opening credits for a movie.

Put the +Perception IO in FA and you don't even need to turn it on.

I've made a lot of Invulnerability characters and always take all nine powers. I usually take most of the Secondary powers too, but often swap out one attack for Air Superiority.

Yes. With six slots you could have five first tier bonuses, or a five tier and a two tier, two first tiers and a third tier... The goal is really just to create more Invention Set combo possibilities. If it seems too powerful, making it unique is a good idea.

This is an idea to add even more diversity and (imo) fun to Invention Sets. Is it too powerful? Maybe, but I'll throw it out there and see if there's any interest. A new Wildcard IO would not give any direct enhancements, but would count towards the Invention Set Bonuses of every other IO slotted into the power. Example: if you have one "Thunderstrike" IO and one "Devastation" IO slotted in an attack, you get no Set Bonuses. But add a Wildcard IO, it counts towards BOTH and now you get the first bonus for both sets. The trade-off is that the Wildcard itself is a wasted slot, it doesn't enhance the power at all. Only one Wildcard IO allowed per power, so you can't get two fourth-tier bonuses. I'm not even sure how often people would use them, this idea is just a fun option to add to creating builds.

Confuse is the most "trickster" power, I feel. Making enemies fight each other, summon pets that then attack them, buff you instead of their partners. And it's a lot of fun.

The Dark Astoria storyarcs help because you can get an Incarnate component at the end of each (with a chance for rare ones.) I'd also recommend ignoring Incarnate Shards, they barely drop and just confuse things. Build everything with Threads and Empyrean Merits.

Keep your xp on, the Incarnate powers are just as powerful as purples (or moreso) and easier to consistently work towards than random drops and an ever-changing market.

Yeah, I target the BP "Sorrow" characters first, their debuffing is really powerful. Luckily they're nice enough to glow green for me to spot them. And of course the Sappers. Sappers must think the entire world hates them, because they can be standing next to the most evil villain in existence and they'll get targeted first.

Take Air Superiority as an early attack, and combined with Flight that unlocks Afterburner for fast flight speed. Air Superiority's knockdown is also a good defensive tactic for keeping Bosses off their feet.