GS4-Shield

Yes! I made the window this month! 85% of target funded at the moment.

Has anyone tested the Cold Domination/Sleet change to be a real pseudopet and how procs can be slotted in it? My understanding from forums and discord was that proc effects were broken. Not only was the damage proc percentage underperforming (as compared with formula for pets/toggles/auras), but other proc effects like Achilles -res would be removed instantly. Also, was the real pseudopet treatment applied to the epic pool variant of Sleet?

Well, darn it... I use Power Boost with my /time MM on Farsight, and I'm pretty sure that still works. I assumed it worked on ice shields. Thanks for letting me know.

For the OP and thoughts on skippable powers: I agree with all the comments Zect made on March 13 (and others feedback). Obviously, either the T1 or T2 blast power is skippable. I originally had the T1 through level 41ish, chose the T2 at the respec that prompted this post, and I’m now back to the T1. It fits into my attack chain a bit better and has equal DPA of the T2. Prior to finding this post, I was considering taking the snipe and giving up Lancer shot. It’s a fine power, but as Zect said: it’s left without a place if you take the snipe. I think this is the first snipe on any character that I can recall. From /cold, I gave up infrigidate (yay for power selection changes), kept frostworks at minimum level 16, and took Snow Storm as a single slot power at 47ish. However, my first mission after my respec was the Trapdoor/Unlock Alpha arc, which I ran solo and I remembered how valuable -slow can be when solo. Yes, I was rusty on this character and squishy characters overall, but the EBs and Rikti were a challenge. I also wasn’t fully slotted from the respec… but my other characters would barely break a sweat at a few EBs. I don’t know how much solo time this character will have, but I will pick up snow storm again at an earlier level at the next respec. I kept Frostworks at level 16 and get good use from it. It also pairs well with Spirit Ward from the sorcery pool. While a few ATs may be HP capped already, it adds 800+HP (level 50 numbers), which is nothing to sneeze it. It’s not convenient, but I can toss it on someone when I see it’s up. I also have power boost on this character for power boosted shields (MORE DEF!), so when I see power boost is available I”ll hit that and refresh shields on whoever is nearby, followed by frostworks. Maybe it would be unnoticed at cap, but frostworks and spirit ward were both very noticeable in an Ice Mistral TF I joined last night. Final question for the mechanics gurus (Zect? 🙂😞 Are there any worthwhile procs for Sleet, Heat Exhaustion, and Snow Storm that I should add? I know toggles are generally a suboptimal choice, and pseudopets are weird. I don’t know if Sleet behaves like the /time distortion field, but my /time MM has some hold and damage procs in that and I visually see the effects often enough to be satisfying. Thank you, Shield

Thank you for the detailed response, Zect. I know of CoD, but usually don’t delve into the mechanics that far. I thought Mids pulled its data from CoD, but maybe I was mistaken, or the info is pulled manually on an as-needed basis. Your theories about not seeing the disintegrate spread messaging due to a busy screen are probably spot-on, too. I was watching closely for this after the prior respec, and a good time to watch this seemed to be during an ITF 🙂: there are big mobs with lots of health that I can keep plinking away at to check for disintegrate spread messaging. It seemed like a good idea at a time. Regarding your homework assignment, I am going to say: No, players won’t receive the end boost. The proc power is flagged for players to receive the buff, and this power is created by a pet. (I’m on an iPad, so I’m not going to try and include the nice screen shots that you did). Even if the proc wasn’t flagged for players only, I still wouldn’t expect a player to receive the buff. Maaaaybe the pet would, but pet mechanics have always been a bit wonky. Way back on live, I dug into Controller —> Storm Summoning —> Pet stuff (Tornado?) when I had Force Feedback IO slotted and hoped the recharge would come to me. I think the pet received at at that time… but later they updated pets to ignore any recharge bonuses so they would use the proper power order. Did I pass? Did I get any grade at all for effort? 🙂

Followup question on this (and thanks to the OP for asking on this combo) Is charged shot supposed to spread disintegrate? The power text says it does, but I do not see the effect of spreading disintegration in either Mids or ingame power. In Mids, I see it for single shot. I am not sure how to view power details ingame when I dont have that power. I respecced a 40ish beam/ice corruptor last week for the level changes for power selection, which was new to me. I switched from single shot to charged shot as part of this and noticed a lot less DISINTEGRATE SPREAD messages afterward. I dug into the power details to ensure charged shot is supposed to spread. The text says yes, but I dont see any power effects listed to spread it. I guess I could roll a new character and compare both powers ingame, but interested in thoughts from power/mechanics gurus.

Thanks, I'll check Discord.

Can someone point me to the post / info referenced by Doom? I see it quoted, but don't see the message. I am guessing that something is/will be? changing regarding toggle form changes, which would be a shame. I just logged into page4 and page5 updates after a ~465 day absence and was looking forward to updating my Kheldians for the changes (power selection levels and toggle suppression). I tried searching here and reading the beta patch notes but my search-fu is failing.

Were any existing KB mechanics updated to use repel in either page3 or the Winter update? Sneak preview? Testing? "See if anyone notices?" I noticed some odd / different behavior while exemping lower level content over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Two details I recall: 1) In the Posi (2?) mission with clockwork and CoT, I seemed to be repelled/knocked by a Force Mage under the stairs into another group of clockwork. I was on my warshade in black dwarf form at the time, which has like mag 200 knockback protection. The first time it happened I wondered if I accidentally jumped and it was stuck, but it happened a second time in that battle. Mids doesn't list any repel protection for Dwarf form. Is this intended for a massive object that stumps around the map with Thud Thud Thud? 2) In the badge mission for "Spirit Warrior", the three destructible objects seemed to use repel instead of KB. My KB defense (on my /shield scrapper now) seemed to have no effect, and I was held against the wall for a noticeable second or two. As I look into Mids, the "Active Defense" power should have mag 10 Repel protection, yet it seemed like I was knocked around with every explosion. It's *possible* that it wore off, though, as I as exemped down and was playing with debuffs and/or without enhancements for Ouro badges. Still, it seemed different.

Dream Doctor's personal story arc also works well, and does work for the old badges. The only oddity I found is that the crystal can't teleport you to the contact, so you have to travel normally to the mission entrance (a portal) in Dark Astoria. It uses the same portal each time, so I kept entering an SG base via LRT / Base Teleporter / Monitor Duty to repeat the cycle.

I'll third the motion. Or fourth. Wherever the count is now. I started a new MM in Praetoria last night with necro/dark. This was my second MM since finding Homecoming ~16 months ago. My first thoughts were "Wow, this is nice with my SoD working again", "these low level SOs are great", and "... where ARE they?" My other MM is beasts/time; while I haven't compared them side by side, my recollection of the speed difference is significant. Give zombies a speed boost like "Ravenous Hunger" or something. On a related topic, I think the second generation MM sets like beasts and demons with time and fire-stuff really tuned those sets well. I think my original beasts/time is like a necro/dark 2.0.

FWIW, I noticed this as well, and I am also on Everlasting. Good to know the icon is just informative and actual day job credit is calculated at login. I'll move those two toons back to finish up this Day Job. Thanks, Shield

Hi Jacke, You are correct; I was not precise with which power I was using. I was using the prestige power option: Base Transporter. When it happened to me, it failed 3-4 times in short succession. I never saw the pop-up window asking to Enter base or enter passcode. I did see the red ring around the power. Clicking the power repeated the animation, but I could not see the pop-up window to enter my base or another. Nor did my EBFP macro work. When I tried using Long Range Teleporter (via the popup menu), my EBFP macro then did work as expected. I tested this a half dozen times since then and again a moment ago, and the problem hasn't reoccurred. When it happened originally, it was immediately after a Hami Raid were many (dozens?) ported to Ouro simultaneously.

Oddly, I can't recreate #2 now. I get the Base popup window in Ouro both with the LRT popup menu as well as clicking the power direct. Cold Hand of Death in DA is persistent, though: several characters and across reboots.

Two bugs that I am seeing with this patch: 1) I can no longer get Day Job credit in Dark Astoria for "Cold Hand of Death". I see the Dayjob icon when I am standing next to the base (for Monitor Duty), but when I move away it should change to "Cold Hand of Death". I tried on several characters. Both have the badge progress at 75-80% already, but it doesn't advance. 2) I cannot use "Base Teleporter" power in Ouroboros. It activates, but I don't get a popup window asking to send to my base (or enter passcode). The power icon stays with a red circle around it. Normally, I hit this and then my EBFP macro button next to it to head to the ZONE-8888 base on Everlasting. I can use LRT + EBFP Macro with no issue in Ouroboros.