InvaderStych

Everything about this is amazing! Particularly the seamless fit into existing lore and the Praetoria timeline without re-treading old ground. Love the idea of selecting any AT with a locked origin and the "must choose 1 dark something" requirements, and the progression path with reward for finishing the arc at 50. It also does not seem that out of bounds in terms of scope in order to implement. <<Take My Money Meme Goes Here>>

Agreed. The option to bypass the portal and go straight to FW/NW while staying gold should be more clearly written into the game. It's there if you look, but if you miss it you end up taking the round trip. That's what happened on my stalker run-though. I was using the "Switch Sides Every Time" guide to play out Goldside in long-form. I didn't realize until after I walked through the portal that I didn't need to in order to get to FW/NW and remain Gold as the story for the character (in my head) played out. Editing existing dialog seems like a pretty low priority, but adding either a brief side-arc or just a bit of explanation of the two Wards with the option to go that direction would smooth out that transition and give it some meaning. As to giving them something to do, don't the repsective EATs have their own contacts and an arc or two on both red and blue sides? Really liking the DE/Hami based ideas, but how would that even be written as a player character. DE are all about devouring, and Hami just wants to see the world figuratively burn. Thoughts on *why* a powered being linked to Hami and the DE would end up, effectively, switching sides? Following the "additional content" for Praetoria tangent for a moment (aka circling back to @Piecemeal's comments): iTrials aren't the only way to get there. Belladonna's "After the fall" arc is quite good. So is the one from Number Six. If original Praetoria is 1-20, then FW/NW can take one into the 40s, a zone that is half Last Bastion and half Metronome's space station could be Goldside's "Dark Astoria". Bastion trying to survive, Metronome trying to take over and install a new Cole-Style dictatorship. I guess AM going critical complicates that story-wise (I'd have to read through the arcs again to be sure), but IIRC there is space for more to happen after the events of Number Six. Not something that the fine folks of Paragon/Rogue Isles need to worry about (but obviously, if they wanted to ...), but something where Gold Incarnates could choose to attempt to reclaim their home. Long story, still too long. No more iTrials in the Praetorian story. If Gold gets more arcs, give it a Dark Astoria style zone. Yes, I know this is beyond both the scope of the thread and the capability of the current resources available.

Two Words: Living Spells. Thinking this through as I write, so it will be very rough Some sort of previously unseen type that can mimic human form; borrow the idea of "forms" from pb/ws so costume creator can remain relevant although some sort of "humanoid energy" being sub-set of costume options would be interesting, if a lot more work. Easier to borrow and recolor assets from other places. Form shifts could represent branching paths ala VEATs - could use existing ones: Fireball, Ball of Light, Ice Ball, etc. Creating new (read more potent, read worth being player characters not rando minions) ones would be more interesting. Full on elementals perhaps? Ok, maybe one branch rolls like an MM light - shift to a form and X number more of those appear with you, though combinations would be more flexible. Bamf yourself into "Forbidden Knowledge" and get a couple Fireballs and a Ball of Light with iPet control options. Other branch focuses more on individual potency - IIRC one of the Living Spell arcs has the player chasing down one that is becoming too strong to be left alone? I'd have to go back and look. Either way, taking that path, perhaps filling one of the role combinations that have popped up on the boards frequently, like support/melee for example. Though perhaps that isn't a good example, because why would a collection of sentient magical energy want have a fist fight? It does feel like something that would have more of a utility/debuff/control role? Perhaps primary and secondary here are given branches here as with the MM light version. That one chooses pet combinations, this one is more of a choice of "do I want this block of blasts, or do I want this block of controls" in the secondary, and "do I want this block of debuffs or do I want this block of buffs" in the primary. Both on top of a few base powers before the choice is made. Ok, if you actually read that, thanks for following my ramblings. TLDR: I really enjoy the Living Spell arcs and contacts. 🤣

Ah, good to know. So use slot one for the uni, and the rest are wide open. Makes sense.

Already convinced. I'm one of those oddballs that loves Goldside, and would love to see more content in that direction. As to PEATs, lots of interesting ideas already on deck. Going to have to mull it over. FWIW: My most recent gold-sider is an Elec/SD stalker who's "lore" is that it was built as a joint WarWorks/Seer collaboration for taking on the enemies of the state. Until it became self aware, stopped taking orders, and started making its own decisions before heading off to FW/NW. "Cured" Ghouls and freed Seers might be interesting jumping off points - just to throw something against the wall.

Fair enough. That hasn't really been my experience with the set, but I know my Kat/Rad wouldn't turn down the buff. 🤣 It's likely my expectations for (and what I actually want out of) my scrappers is different than yours - which is all good. That said, my /Rad is night and day more durable than my /SD while solo. The /SD folds on long, solo AV fights where as the /Rad can outlast the target on the backs of PS/RT, Avalanche, and Meld. AVs with "Win Button" powers like GW's mag 100 hold are tougher, but still winnable if I pay attention to when they're about to hit that button. On a team where heals come from an outside source /SD might pull ahead, but on a lot of teams building for durability isn't even really that important as it is easy to lean on the available support buffs and/or controls. With more available time and inf I would carry two builds - one for teams and one for solo. My experience with /Nin on a scrapper was highly disappointing: The +end and +hp clicks there might be numerically superior (I wouldn't know for sure) but they were dramatically more (personally) annoying to use for the speed at which I prefer to roll. In general, I find layering defense on top of a resist set to be more robust in more situations than leaning on the soft-cap from a secondary and calling it a day. /SR's massive DDR and scaling resist are the outlier there. That's a shiny little set these days that too few people are giving a go in favor of the newer ones like /Bio.

Honestly, even before IOs or iPowers, pretty much every AT has probably asked themselves this question at one point or another. To me though, that has always been the beauty of CoH, and why I never got into any of the other marquee MMOs. When I first found Homecoming a theme-team of 7 defenders invited my Brute for a task force. I'm pretty sure my Brute's contribution to the team could have been replaced by the "Reveal" p2w power. 🤣 No single AT is "needed" for any given team.* Embrace it, Love it, and commence to Steam-Rolling with it. 😄 * - Hami raids and maybe the annoying iTrials like Keyes may not actually qualify for this concept, but even those are being done by smaller teams of fully kitted post-50 monstrosities. On the list. I tried to re-roll one of my toons as Widow, but when I saw the limited number of hairstyles I stalled at the costume creator and she became a Psi/SD scrapper. I'm weird like that. 🤣

Saying this as someone who plays 99% melee, and at this point 99% of those are Scrappers: Ill/Rad controllers were the original "Hard Target" soloists. Not a single one of my Scrappers can solo a Giant Monster. Ill/Rad controllers have been able to do that since time immemorial. Dom's are a virtual tidal wave of destruction in the right hands. Which reminds me, I should try to branch out more on ATs. Once i27p1 goes live I might tinker with an archery/archery Corr as that looks like it might be fun, and I've been meaning to try out a Defender as a "Team Leader" toon. Focus on guiding the team and Support abilities rather than charging headlong into mobs and laying down the damage, you know, for a change of pace.

Properly slotted (Heal/Recharge and a little EndRedux) Particle Shielding can already have 100% uptime, even outside of Hasten. Mine is on 34s recharge inside Hasten, and 43.5 outside of it. This is before bumps in recharge from either Beta Decay or Force Feedback. Radiation Therapy is also fantastic. Slot for some Heal, add a Theft of Essence, and run x8 all day long. A big self heal every 18s? Yup. Very good. It's not about the static regen with /Rad, it's about the extra 796hp worth of absorb from PS that refreshes within its duration and firing RT for the heals - if solo. If i were to build /Rad exclusively for teaming I'd slot that puppy as a half-nuke and call it a day. Also, Scrapper Meltdown is a 41.5% damage buff. Tanks/Brutes only get 33% on lower base damage. It's all about the damage. 🙂 Obviously Tanks are more durable, that's their job. 😄

Pushed to Page 2 due to negative feedback from Page 1 Testing: The full context of the original quote in your OP goes into more detail, note the strike-through on Shinobi Suppression by the travel powers also in strike-through.

That quote is referencing a now-reverted change to the way the Shinobi stacked speed/jump with other travel buffs. There was a substanital outcry that the nerf was needless and out of theme for the set. (fwiw, I wholeheartedly agree with the chorus on that) Dig around in the feedback threads for more info.

Awesome! Thank you! Can't wait to try that out!

Thank you for the detail, so does this mean we should expect Scrapper Beta Decay to accept taunt sets on Beta? Patch notes still show BD as Brute/Tank versions only getting the change. I'm working on the road until Monday, but I'll check out both Live and Beta in detail when I get home.

I wondered about that myself. I haven't touched /EnA since Live, and that was on a Brute so likely the taunt was there. Scrapper Beta Decay (Live) definitely has a taunt component in Mids, and although I can't look at the moment I feel like it does in game as well based on the way mobs respond to my Kat/Rad in game.

Well, not exactly. It doesn't hit twice on the teleport target, it just hits for more damage because area mod = 1 instead of 4. I ran logs on it for a while and made sure it was only hitting once on that target. Basically there are two triggers: This one is the teleport: And this one is the AoE damage trigger: The AoE power does hit the tele-target, but Hybrid's extra energy damage only fires from the auto-hit on that target, and doesn't trigger with the AoE hit. Somewhere buried in the patch notes there's a comment about procs and auto-hit powers that aren't damaging. I'd have to dig through to find it again. No clue if that change will alter the mechanics on the auto-hit teleport component. Yeah, major black magic. Really grateful there are folks on the boards who understand the underlying code and math better than us mere mortals. But yeah, the general advice is that if you're at your damage cap normally (popping reds while farming, for example), go Radial, if not, go Core. Another consideration on my Brute was getting another damage type (Energy) to balance out against enemies with high lethal resists. Bots, for example, drop a lot faster with Radial than they did with Core on the same toon. Edit: I found the beta patch note that I was referencing: (If am reading this right, the underlying math with respect to the different Area Factors shouldn't change, just the % chance to fire. Of course since Savage is a bit of "Black Box" who knows if this change is even relevant)

@Jimmy Checking again to see if there's a rational behind not giving Scrapper Beta Decay taunt sets while other Scrapper auras (AAO, RttC, etc) are getting them?

So Say We All. Savage, and Leap in particular has some interesting mechanics. Here's a fun fact about how Leap works (not certain if adjustments in current beta change this dynamic) with Assault Hybrid "Double-Hit" confirmed by the incomparable @Bopper Did that testing on my Sav/WP brute. I would expect the same behavior from Scrapper/Stalker/Tank versions. Not familiar enough with the Domi version, but I assume the same since it is also targeted. Now, if that is worth keeping Radial over Core in overall DPS over time? I have no earthly idea. I kept it on the brute for that little extra single-target proc damage from Leap.

While I really shouldn't speak to MA/ as I haven't actually built one out fully, even back on Live I only really toyed with it, here are some quick notes on /Rad ... ... bearing in mind that others will have a better plan if you are looking for maximum value from set bonuses. I used Unbreakable Guard in Alpha and Proton (5 pcs in the T1 so I have the +MaxHP piece, 4 in the T3) for the melee defense bonus, mostly, but the eng/neg resist is nice to have as well. Gamma Boost is a good place for Heal/Endurance unique pieces, freeing up slots that might normally go in Health/Stamina. Fallout Shelter is a good place for the two +3% defense uniques (I have it at 1 endredux, Gladiators 3%, Steadfast 3%, Imperium Psi Resist, Aegis Psi Resist) Radiation Therapy: Theft of Essence Chance for +End all day long. If you primarily run on teams, slot it up with damage procs for a mini-nuke, if you primarily solo focus on heal and a little recharge (to keep the proc rate up). Beta Decay: Achillies -Res, unless you have an attack in your regular rotation where it will fire more effectively. I used that piece and an Enzyme Exposure for a little extra -To-Hit and EndRedux. Particle Shielding caps on a Scrapper at +796 HP, and mine is overslotted for Absorb at the moment. That said it holds 3pcs of Numina's and 3 pcs of Preventive Med. H/R, H/E, H/E/R for Numina's; H/R, H/E/R, E/R for Preventative. Ground Zero - Acc/Rech from Armageddon, boosted to +5, the rest are dmg procs. I don't use Epic (purple) dmg procs here because GZ at 100% slotted recharge still has a 90% proc rate at the standard 3.5PPM. The 4.5PPM Epic procs are better leveraged on powers with faster recharge, imo. Eradication, Lady Grey, Shield Breaker, Scriocco's, and Obliteration. Meltdown - Common RechRedux boosted to +5. Take this power for the 41.5% damage boost. Seriously. The extra Res is a nice to have, and the crash is functionally irrelevant. If you need a place for Resist Set uniques (see Fallout Shelter) they can also go here. I know, not everyone loves a T9, but if you ask me, /Rad scrapper without Meltdown is a wasted opportunity for a significant damage boost. Tanks/Brutes get a lower boost (33%, ish? iirc) rendering it less useful on those builds. Tank/Brute can usually get to their resist caps without it. Build-Up+Gaussian's while inside Meltdown is +241.5% damage before any set bonuses, insps, or Assault Hybrid Core. With full stacks of Hybrid Core add in another +/- 80% boost. When I was still running my Kat/Rad redside, add the Villain alignment power into (and a few +dmg bonuses from sets) that and it's near-as-makes no difference to the +dmg cap (400%) without insps or outside buffs. Even though I need to tune up my build, I hope that info helps. Depending on your theme, Soul Mastery is a good fit with /Rad for Shadow Meld. With ToE, Particle Shielding, and Gamma Boost keeping the blue bar happy a /Rad scrapper shouldn't need to dip into Energy Mastery for Conserve or PhysPerfection.

Thanks, my understanding of Threat/Taunt mechanics is ... superficial ... at best. 😄

Last time I was in the Beta, CT was definitely doing a version of this. You land where they were if they are moving when you've activated it. I feel like this is OK though as it is, after all, not technically a target power - just one that everyone is targeting via a macro.

Some interesting ideas in there, though it takes me a while to fully read through a build. Whole lotta melee defense going on there. I'll have to look deeper to see where it's all coming from. Couple quick notes though: How effective is that Dark Watcher's -Rech piece in BD? I toyed with it in RttC on my sav/wp brute, but it's impact was hard to quantify and when I dropped it I didn't notice too much of a change. Ditto the +to-hit proc, IIRC it's got a pretty low PPM (2, I think?). If I was going to put a proc in Lotus it would probably be FoTG -Res, but I prefer that one in GD so it stays relevant against hard targets where Lotus wouldn't be in rotation for most of the fight. Agility is an interesting choice, for the recharge, yes? I default too often to just going Musculature for the dmg. Without Hasten though Agility is probably the way to go. I should probably spent more time fiddling with iPowers on Beta or something so I have a better sense of when something else would actually be better than Musculature. Reactive is good for all-round usage. Degen -MaxHP side is the weapon of choice if you are often soloing AVs though. Good news is that with all the Empy merits that get thrown at us for Vet levels it's trivial to build multiple iPowers to swap around as needed. Judge/Lore are things I consider to be "to-taste," so I always pick what best fits the rough "theme" of the toon.

Agreed. Savage definitely benefits from active target switching on a team, and even solo with all the DoT. Honestly, I do this on all my scrappers when teaming, especially the Psi/SD. If she's not hitting a full-health target with GPB it's likely going to be mostly wasted dmg. FWIW, savage can definitely skip Shred - the set is so fast that anytime you'd use a cone, you're better off just using Rending (the pbAoE if my pre-coffee brain is forgetting the names). My brute skipped Hemm as well, but with upcoming fixes to Savage crits, YMMV on a scrapper and Hemm might actually be worth using. On my Brute it was too long of a rooted animation for the damage returned for the way it ended up playing. I tended to Leap in to build stacks, Rending to spend them, then BF to immediately get them back to full. Once I un-learned hitting "Build-Up" (BF in this instance) prior to jumping into a mob and reserving it for reclaiming stacks after they were spent with Rending the brute's damage increased. With /SD I'd probably go Leap -> Charge -> Rending - BF -> <ST or more AoE as appropriate>. YMMV on where BF fits on a scrapper. The damage buff will be, naturally, higher on a scrapper than a brute, so that might not be the ideal way to approach it. The other advantage to skipping Hemm is that Rending becomes the only stack spender, so they're a little easier to keep around. 2 tele-nukes, upcoming Combat Teleport, and big DoTs. Runners shouldn't really be too much trouble. 😄

Then the Beta notes excluding it from the list of powers from Brute/Scrapper secondaries that are getting the ability to slot Taunt sets makes even less sense. /scampers over to the Beta section to see if my question to that effect was answered.

Define "Good," lol. There are better builds out there than mine, I am certain of it. But I posted it in another thread with some disclaimers and info on how I play it. (link below) It's still a bit of a mess in places - probably too many slots in Particle Shielding and Gamma Boost and , common IOs in DA, and only one slot in Tough - also didn't really leverage set bonuses as well as it could. I wouldn't copy this exactly, but you might get some ideas. IIRC collecting the sets I put in armors was relatively cheap to do while leveling. But it is where I landed on the journey to 50. Scrapper ATOs (standard, not superior) are cheaper on the market than buying them with straight merits, so those are easy to get. If you're short on inf, run a "Summer Block Buster" when you hit 50 for that guaranteed purple drop on a toon's first time through, craft and sell that puppy on the market and go from there. Running through Dark Astoria at x8 - I solo'd most of it although I did round up a team to take down Mot at the end - is a great way to stack a ton of inf and drops post-50. And it's a really fun series of arcs. Also, check the Guides and Market section for easy ways to grab some inf without actually needing to "play" the market. I don't consider myself a "marketeer," but I do use it as a tool to keep a "better than modest" pool of inf available. By the board standards I'm probably "middle class" in the economic strata, lol. I just kept GD franken-slotted until I could pickup the Winter-Os over time. The +50% crit proc should probably be moved, and in theory I could/should drop Flashing Steel, but I haven't decided if I really want to do that yet. The proc fires there nicely, but FS isn't part of Katana's "best" attack chain, apparently. Also, Rad Therapy had 3 pcs of Theft of Essence, and 2 pieces of Touch of the Nictus for those bonuses while I was leveling. I'm not really happy with the current slotting shown, but I haven't come up with a plan for a respec yet. I don't remember what was in Moonbeam before I dropped Note: When you *do* get those Epic Damage Procs, don't put them in Ground Zero. It's long recharge means they aren't firing as often as they could, and since their proc rate is higher (4.5ppm) there's no need to limit them to powers with a "guaranteed" 90% fire rate like GZ. So that one will probably stay in RT once I do respec. I haven't tried Sorcery pool yet, so I can't speak to it. Thematically it wouldn't fit with the toon though, and I knew I wanted Shadow Meld. Moonbeam turned out more useful than I expected, but I don't know how to make it into a perma-auto-snipe via having oodles of to-hit, or something, so it's not part of the attack chain. It's more of a way to take out annoying things (Sappers, etc) right off the bat, tag runners, or pull if I need to separate a couple groups from each other. The only thing I would take from Concealment on a Scrapper would be Stealth, unless I wanted Invis/Phase for thematic reasons.