Ultimo

This is a thing a lot of games seem to have problems with... inconsistent scaling. Champions Online is one of the worst. Star Trek Online is too. I mean, they introduced some of the characters to the game from the shows, like Worf. Now, I made my Klingon as tall as was possible, but Worf STILL towers over him. I'm pretty sure Michael Dorn isn't 8 feet tall... Ya, I just wish there was some consistency. They put height measurements on the scaling screen, surely they could USE them? I made a character based on myself. I'm 5'10" but in the game I look like a child, I'm so much shorter than any of the NPCs.

Ah, good to know. I thought perhaps the radius was centered on the pet in which the thing was slotted. Makes a difference if it's centered on ME.

Do they all go on one pet, or can I spread them over all three (ie. I would still like to be able to slot some damage/defense/healing enhancers, as appropriate)? I gather I'd need them all on one pet for any set bonus, but each one is a different set... so I should be able to spread them out?

So, a kind sould sent me those four enhancements... but I'm not certain where to put them. They say the can't go in MM pets, but that seems to be the only place it will let me put them... and I'm uncertain what KIND of enhancements they are... they're red, so are they damage enhancements?

Perhaps I need to clarify what I mean by 95% accuracy. My terminology might not be correct. What I mean is, when I look in the combat log, it says the bots have 95% chance to hit (occasionally a bit lower, but never less than 90%). I'm also not sure what procs people are talking about.

So, quick update. I respecced and added in the two Shields... and that made ALL the difference. I'll carry on with this build for now, and respec again later once I can get the fancy IO sets. Thanks for the tips, all!

I'm still not seeing what the benefit is. I mean, 1 accuracy means they're at 95% to hit already, so any more does nothing. They use so little endurance (Protector Bots possibly excepted), and are summoned so infrequently, that giving them endurance reduction seems pointless. Now, if I was giving them extra slots to get set bonuses, I could understand that... but using SOs or simple IOs... 4 is sufficient: 3 damage, 1 accuracy... which leaves me more slots for other things. Not that I'm hard pressed for slots, I suppose. To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you all, I'm just not understanding the benefit of endurance reduction in things like Battle Bots.

I'm not sure what benefit there is in putting more slots in the pets, unless you're talking about getting set bonuses? I can't afford any of those, certainly not for a L28 character, so I've been using just the SOs for now. They can only benefit from 3 of a kind... so I put 3 damage and one accuracy. One accuracy is more than enough, they're usually at 90%+ to hit, and barely use endurance at all, so I don't understand why you're suggesting endurance reduction. The upgrades I use so rarely, slotting them at all is a bit irrelevant. I slotted for recharge so it would be available when needed, the endurance cost isn't all that significant in my experience... The end reduction in the ally shields were kind of an afterthought. I don't usually use them, so I wasn't sure how often I'd need to use them or how much endurance they would use... so I threw some extra slots in there. I could move them to the pets, but again, I don't see that being useful just yet. People often say I need to take the slots from PFF, but when I've done that in the past, it makes it very unreliable, so I usually max it out, just to be safe. I could reconsider. The Fly powers are a curiosity, really. I usually don't slot fly at all, and just put in one fly speed. However, since I didn't put Hover in there, I thought I might end up using Fly in its place on occasion, so I put endurance reduction in it. I'm not sure about Group Fly being lower cost, though... I found it was VERY endurance heavy, so I rarely used it. I took it, more for flavour than any real utility. Again, I may reconsider. Perhaps I could drop Fly altogether, and put in Hover, and use Group Fly as my regular travel power...? I put an extra slot in Boxing, just in case I did ever want to use it. It should be useful, at least, so one endurance, one accuracy was kind of my minimum. Still, I do use it very rarely. Perhaps I could swap it for Kick, and throw a knockback into that...

Ok, here's a first pass at a revised build. I'll explain some of the reasoning. ALL my characters are based on a concept. Often (usually), they're meant as homages to existing characters in one way or another (eg. The Canadian Shield=Superman, Watch-Man=Batman, Ultimo=Iron Man (more or less)...). Lord Dire is based on Doctor Doom. One of my favourite things is to set the bots on Aggressive, turn on my PFF and then WALK malevolently into the enemy while the bots wipe things out around me. So, the character is designed with Doctor Doom in mind. Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Lord Dire: Level 50 Technology Mastermind Primary Power Set: Robotics Secondary Power Set: Force Field Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Battle Drones -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(33) Level 1: Force Bolt -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(9) Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(37) Level 4: Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(46) Level 6: Deflection Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(34), DefBuff-I(34), EndRdx-I(43) Level 8: Equip Robot -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 10: Insulation Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(34), EndRdx-I(43) Level 12: Protector Bots -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(13), DefBuff-I(13), Heal-I(17), Dsrnt-I(19), ToHitDeb-I(33) Level 14: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(17) Level 16: Personal Force Field -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(37), DefBuff-I(43), RechRdx-I(46) Level 18: Air Superiority -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(19), Dmg-I(50) Level 20: Dispersion Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(21), DefBuff-I(23) Level 22: Boxing -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(23), Dmg-I(50) Level 24: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(25), ResDam-I(25), ResDam-I(31) Level 26: Assault Bot -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(31) Level 28: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(31) Level 30: Group Fly -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(40), EndRdx-I(40) Level 32: Upgrade Robot -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 35: Repulsion Bomb -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(37) Level 38: Power Blast -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(40) Level 41: Temp Invulnerability -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42) Level 44: Energy Torrent -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(46) Level 47: Explosive Blast -- EndRdx-I(A), Acc-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(50) Level 49: Force of Nature -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Jump-I(A) Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest -- IntRdx-I(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(5), Heal-I(5) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(3), EndMod-I(3) Level 1: Battle Drone Level 12: Protector Bot Level 26: Assault Bot ------------ Ok! Here's the rationale. The Battle Drones and Assault Bot only get 4 slotted because 1 accuracy is usually enough, and more than 3 damage will suffer from diminishing returns. The Protector Bots are the only ones that get 6 slots, because they have all the support abilities. I've one slotted each one for now, just to illustrate what CAN be slotted. Usually, I'd slot 1 accuracy, 1 damage, 1 heal and 3 defense. In the past, I've not bothered with the Deflection/Insulation Shields but now I understand casting on one target affects them ALL. That is actually useful. More, I dropped almost all the rifle attacks because they're essentially useless, so I had room for the shields. I didn't take Hover, so I put 2 end reduction into Fly in case I need to leave it on. I did slot PFF with 3 defense, because I find if I don't, I get slaughtered a LOT. I put one more in recharge because I had a slot free, and often find myself waiting around to reapply the PFF. I took Air Superiority, because I do find it very useful. It almost single handedly won me a PvP match, back in live. I don't use it much, Dire does not engage in petty fisticuffs. Apart from that, the rest should be fairly self explanatory. I'll have to wait for the epic pools to get access to the blasts for personal attacks, but such is life. Early Doom relied more on his gadgets, too. So, let me know what you think, what would you change? I know, we've drifted away from worrying about Calystix, but that's ok. He'll keep.

Protector Bots can project Force Bubbles, so they can take Defense. My usual focus is to get my personal defense as good as possible, as soon as possible (not PFF, as that takes me out of the fight). To that end, my priorities were Dispersion Bubble, Maneuvers, Tough and Weave. The Protector Bots are the only ones with extra abilities, so they get the extra slots. The Battle Bots and Assault Bot are really only about damage, so that's all they get. It's not really necessary to slot them for endurance reduction, unless you plan on recasting them a lot... and I generally don't have to. Against most things, my build is more than adequate, capable of grinding down armies of foes with little difficulty. My usual approach is defense first, then damage. However, I don't usually bother with the single bubbles (Deflection/Insulation), as they don't benefit ME, and my bots are more than capable enough on their own. Until Calystix, that is. Against him, NO amount of damage slotting would help, and while having more Defense might allow the bots to survive a little longer, it's not going to help much when one hit will wipe them all out. In any case, I'll tinker with the build in Mids' and see what I come up with.

I can try... All SOs now, I focused mainly on defense (Being a FF Mastermind)... I'll see what I can do.

It hasn't been the melee powers. His pets throw these cones of pebbles, and he throws this blue wave spray thing, all AOE ranged attacks... and the bots are instantly wiped. I even tried souping up the Assault bot with three large purple inspirations, 2 medium orange and three small damage.... and he was still oneshotted. Doesn't seem to be any way to engage him. With my PFF, I could go in and take his alpha... but the bots only last about 2 seconds longer.

Dunno... he's doing an awful lot of damage, I thought something in the caves might be buffing him... like I say, every attack is strong enough to oneshot my bots... even the Assault Bot goes down on the first hit. That's not usual.

So, I'm on my Bots/FF Mastermind. I'm doing missions leading up to fighting this guy Calystix the Shaper. He's a red conn elite boss in this mission. So, I buff up my bots, and send them to the attack. He conjures 4 coral critters. They attack ONCE and wipe my bots out. ALL at once, all oneshotted. So, I retreat, resummon and go back. I spread out the bots, and then attack again, expecting to keep them out of the AOEs that oneshotted them. The bots engage and are all immediately oneshotted. My summon powers hadn't even recharged yet. I repeated the process 4 times, then gave up. There's just no way to withstand the kind of damage he's doing. Is there some trick to this guy I'm not seeing? I've been all through the map looking for something that might be buffing him, 800 damage per attack seems rather extreme... and that's his PETS.

Ya, I did comment a couple of times that I couldn't hit anything, but not in quick succession. The third time I mentioned it, it was part of my preamble, explaining why I was going to leave the group, because I figured an explanation was warranted. I didn't respond to his snarkiness, because I didn't think it was worthwhile. I mean, I did leave in the middle, and I had commented at being unable to affect anything, so I wasn't sure he was in the wrong at all. In any case, as I say, I really came here to vent a little, and to remind people to be nice to each other. Thanks all.

So... I was playing my L26 Psi/Psi Dominator. Someone posted in LFG they were recruiting for Positron 1, which I always enjoy, so I said I was up for Positron. Invitation to group appears, and I join. However, I noted the mission was in Atlas Park... and when I looked, I realized the name of the leader wasn't the one calling for Positron. Not wanting to just quit right away (I hate doing that) I thought I'd give it a chance. The mission was L53, so everything there was purple to me. I couldn't hit anything, and when I did hit, I was doing next to nothing. The enemies ignored my holds and sleeps entirely. I commented a couple of times that I couldn't hit them, and after getting killed while everyone else ran on ahead (I was held), I said again that I wasn't able to do anything to them... I couldn't hit them, couldn't hurt them, they were WAY over my head. I was trying to explain why I was about to quit the group, because I hate leaving in the middle of something, but the leader said, "Well quit bitching and just leave." It left a bad taste in my mouth. It seemed unnecessarily rude. I mean, he invited me to a group WAY over my head, KNOWING I was trying to get into a Positron (low level) TF. What's my point? Don't be like that. It's not necessary to be rude to people, especially when you knowingly throw a low level character into max level content.

I solo most of the time. I don't want my ability to play to be contingent on someone else's allowing me to do so.

Again, turning off xp means I never get to leave that zone for any reason.... never get to gain new powers, never get to do higher level taskforces, never get to do most of the game. And if I turn on the xp gains so I do get access to the rest of the game, it means I can never go BACK to King's Row. Once Batman has fought Darkseid, does he never go back to Gotham?

Ya, Super Strength. In fact, I've always thought the SS set was rather underwhelming, with little that suggests actual STRENGTH (anyone can HIT things, strength is about lifting and moving heavy things), and that it relies overmuch on one or two powers (KO Blow and Rage, in particular).

Actually, back in the day, I had several stories I'm in the process of trying to recreate... assuming I can relearn how to DO it. I'll post a blurb when I finish the first. Not precisely. If I stop getting xp, I don't progress at all, and can't do most other content if I choose to. I don't mind if I don't get xp for THAT ZONE, I just don't want everything there to be trivial. Keep your eyes peeled for my World War 2 arc. Originally, it was 5 missions long, beginning in North Africa, then leading to a battle in the hills of Sicily, then post-DDay Europe, then two missions to track down and capture the last of the German enhanced agents. Each mission was filled with easily defeated allied and enemy soldiers (who could be dangerous, collectively), several allied superhumans based on some of my own characters, and many enemy superhumans, in most missions, more than one! The final mission had a whole team of enemy superhumans for you and your allies to fight. I'll keep you all posted, but I'll reiterate my original suggestion, that we be allowed to do radio missions in all zones.

Yes, but I don't want to STOP progressing... I just want to keep playing in the zone I like for that character. This suggests an alternative, that we be allowed to "sidekick" ourselves to whatever level we want (only lower levels). I thought simply letting us do the radio missions would be simpler.

Ya, I could do that, but then there would be no randomness, it would be the same thing all the time. Of course, that would also let me use my own bad guys...

Interestingly, perhaps, I find Brutes to be TERRIBLE at lower level. I made one based on the Hulk, and he was getting squashed by pretty much everything he met. I switched from Regeneration to Willpower, and that helped, but he is STILL awfully squishy at around L24.

My search fu might be inferior, but I can't imagine this hasn't been commented on before. I hate activating my police radio and getting that message. I think my character should be the one deciding what is beneath his notice! The reason for this is simply a matter of personal preference and RP. For example, I have a character who is a "street level" hero, based in King's Row. It's like Batman being in the dingy, grungy Gotham City. The problem is that not only has he outleveled the street thugs, but he can't even do RADIO missions, which would scale to his level. I'd like to suggest that this restriction be removed. Let us do radio missions, whatever zone we're in. I'd even do them for no xp.

I'll confirm, the endurance definitely goes to MY character.