Spaghetti Betty

Right now the official answer is "eventually".

I posted mine in this thread here:

Obviously I can't look directly at your screen, but I have an inkling that you were trying to target them before they were able to be targetted. Hostless aren't immediately targettable upon spawning and can even cast off their grab before they do. A keen eye will notice their name popping above their head to signify they can be targetted, since they are considered a pet entity. However, I'm pretty certain all player pet entities can target them before PCs can, so patches and I believe MM pets can start affecting them immediately. I could totally use a fact check on that though. Fun fact: Pets can be targetted by Hostless, which will cause them to fire off their grab and wasting it in the process. This also includes Carrion Creepers!

To be honest, the only instance of "botting" I've personally witnessed was when a player triple-boxed and destroyed my AE arcs. I was more impressed they were able to pilot a Brute, Poison/ Def, and /kin MM at the same time. My content isn't easy, I'll have you know! Other than that, it really just sounds like superstitious blabbing. My experience is my own, however. Nice to see you 2 made it to 50! My Emp Def (Saiko Wand. We've ran some TFs together) is currently sitting at 48.

Oh my god please this

There's a very old trick with Super Speed and following that can really push people around. But I will not divulge because it can be motion sickness inducing!

Get noun'd on, kid!

The only thing I've changed since posting the original build was I swapped Levitate for Mesmerize with the same slotting. I'm hard pressed to get rid of much else in fear of disturbing my barely adequate global recharge. I didn't really care much for trying to build defense as I like feeling blasty as a trade-off. It does lead to solo encounters being a bit meticulous but I think I enjoy that more, and I'm not the kind to have sour grapes over a few faceplants.

Here's how I would go about it! starburst - Tanker (Electric Armor - Energy Melee).mbd Personally, I'm always going to try to punch up damage as much as possible without sacrificing too much in other areas. IMO, I can live with low DEF, as it's easy to come by in a team scenario. I hope some of these ideas work out for you!

Generally sour moments that would require legacy T9 levels of protection. They are almost never prevalent in anything but the most edge cases nowadays, but the OP mentioned endgame content. It's completely possible to build an Elec (and an Invuln for that matter) that hardcaps all RES and have impressive DEF without sacrificing DPS, but requires T9 juggling and precise management of crashes. That is something Rad Armor can't do. Those pesky .0001% moments of gameplay, I tell you!

You pretty much have the right idea in treating your role as pure DPS. Unfortunately, Stalkers do get passed up for heartier melees that can taunt AVs (Tanks, Brutes, Scrappers for specialized teams), or safer, ranged DPS that don't have to worry about getting hit by stray AoEs (4* Rom will blast you with massive untyped damage if you stand too close to the Tank). However, this type of specialized thinking only really applies to 4*. 3* and under aren't nearly as pressured to have the perfect team comp. You can still rest easy knowing that Stalkers still possess some of the highest ST damage, so you should definitely focus on that. Spend your time focusing on EBs, Surgeons, Smelters, and AVs. Bulk isn't really an issue if your team has Barriers and/or lots of buffs, but I would still pick an armor that has a couple of sustain clicks for spicy moments. I know you like Stone Armor a lot. All of that HP and Geode can keep you cozy when the going gets tough! More examples of HM Stalkers are never a bad thing! Here's one I run. cyber slice - Stalker (Ninja Blade - Radiation Armor).mbd

Both are fantastic for end game content! I've run both in 4* content multiple times. Rad Armor is definitely going to be more of a "one size fits all" kind of tank. It has high resists, and nearly unmatched self-sustain. This allows it to complement a larger variety of team comps. Where Rad Armor starts to fall short is in the very upper echelon of challenge difficulty. Mostly self-imposed stuff. I wouldn't be reaching for my Rad Armor Tank for, say, a short man 4*, simply because once it hits the fan, Rad Armor does not have a way to stop cascade failure. Elec Armor on the other hand shines at giving your team support a very strong foundation to build on. As you found out, Elec Armor can cap resists in its sleep. The more daring player can also attempt to juggle Power Surge to reach unbeatable levels of mitigation, but you always have the looming threat of the massive crash getting you killed. Elec Armor's biggest flaw is it's sustainability. While it does take a lot to get through the wall of RES, you only have Energize to fall back on when stuff does, and it takes foreverrrrr to recharge. Thankfully, team buffs multiply it's sustainability very quickly. A single Empathy or Nature Defender can turn you into an unkillable god, no matter what content you're faced with. I would wholeheartedly recommend playing with Burnout as a power choice if you decide on Elec Armor! I would say go with whichever one suits your fancy!

I'm pretty sure both of those powers have a base accuracy of 2.00x. I don't think they're gonna miss much.

Hellions - Someone has to be street-level fodder for budding Heroes, and I think Hellions are fine at that. They provide just enough lore interactivity to stay interesting, but not at a very deep level. When it comes to their demon worship, they definitely do find themselves in a bit in over their heads (which is expanded upon just a bit redside), which I think is fine. Though I think there are some cool ideas for a mid-level trial. Another thing I'd like to point out is Hellions do have a slight bit of scaling strength into the mid teens. Fallen mobs will start throwing molotovs, which can turn into numerous burn patches. Slightly underutilized at the high end of their range, but prevalent enough as a street gang that they remain iconic. Could benefit from a fresh coat of paint though. Skulls - They are intended to basically be a slight step up from Hellions in terms of strength, which is great! The KR revamp gave them a really nice, fleshed out story involving the Petrovic Brothers and are an outstanding introduction to just how tough thugs can be if left unchecked (both in combat and in lore). They are in a phenomenal place right now and I couldn't think of any ways to improve them further. Outcasts - Outside of The Hollows, Outcasts don't have much of an impact in the lore. Not really much there outside of, "Look out, newbie. These guys have powers!" How would you expand upon that, I'm not sure. The group seems pretty defunct after Frostfire is sent to jail and starts his redemption arc. In terms of power scaling, they are already there. Mass hordes of Outcasts can be dangerous to the ill equipped, and have always been that way. Trolls - Trolls suffer from the same problem Outcasts do, but I think it's a little more understandable from a lore standpoint. Superadine abuse has essentially rotted most of their brains and organization isn't exactly in the forefront of their thoughts. However, there are a couple of standouts that we really don't see touched upon. Who is Grendel? All we know is that he was the leader of the Trolls before Atta took that spot, and the massive gulch in The Hollows is named after him. Did he cause it? If so, how is someone with that much power just never visible on our screens? Also, I wouldn't really consider Skyway raves as expansion on their lore, but as more of an environmental anomaly. What could be done to make them cooler? Warriors - I think the Warriors are in the most desperate need of a look at. Back in the day, taking on Warriors was a hefty challenge, as they were one of the first groups to really bring the pain as you were just getting your first round of SOs. Now, not necessarily the case. I would even argue that Council are more dangerous in the respective level range. There are some interesting bits in the lore where the Warriors are present, but hardly ever make any real impact when they're involved. It doesn't seem like it should be that way. For some fun reading, here is their description in the AE: "After making a deal with a demon prince, David Odysseus Hill formed one of the most powerful gang forces in Paragon City. In fact, he now leads the coalition of gangs known as Smuggler's Run. All of the Warriors gain power by drinking from an ancient mystical urn given to Odysseus by the demon. It is whispered around Paragon City that the urn is connected to the Well of the Furies. With his own highly trained fighting force adding the muscle provided by the Hellions and Outcasts, this group is a threat to take over all gang activity in Paragon City." This feels like a huge chunk of info that isn't really played with in the game, or maybe I'm just missing it. With the lore implications, the Warriors could definitely be up for an Incarnate-style expansion.

Aside from a few edge cases, you hardly ever need to dump more than 3 slots in either. Not to enhance their base values, but in order to slot very useful procs in them. Most commonly, you'll see Health slotted with a Panacea: Chance for +Health and Endurance, Miracle: +Recovery, and a Numina's Convalescence: Regeneration/Recovery. Stamina typically slotted with a Performance Shifter: Chance for +Endurance and an accompanying IO or two. This is generally accepted as the best "bang for your buck" in terms of slot efficiency. Personally, I like dropping a 3-piece Synapse's Shock in Stamina along with the Performance Shifter proc to nab a nice chunk of Slow RES. Some edge cases would be a Super Reflexes toon slotting up Health for the extra Regen, as a little bit goes a long way for them. Or those that want to capitalize on Power Transfer: Chance for Self Heal in Stamina.

I will always create the biggest mobs possible, because that's the easiest way to get other people killed! I managed to catch a couple of screenshots this time as well. Marksmen have exactly 1 more brain cell than your typical Council soldier! (Which is usually 0) Pulling everything down the to bottom catwalks makes the volcano room a much smoother experience. Don't mind the fact that most of them were dead by the time I remembered to snap a shot. I'm looking forward to getting more baby Tanks killed next week!

I can't think of perfect examples at the moment, but there are posts peppered throughout the forums of players lamenting that they can't actually learn any of the content because of overall speed and zipping between missions. I even have players in my endgame raid group that just don't know where certain zones are because they're used to TT, Cosmic Transport, etc.

I'll add more comments as someone who definitely did pipe up about this. I'm in no way talking smack about all of the travel options we have now. Of course I use all of them, even shilling out the 20 mil or so on every new toon in order to have them all. But the "forced" interaction with the environment we had to deal with back then did season us up a bit better than the steam train we see now. I say "forced", because there were still fast tracks to the top level even then that required you to go to maybe 3 zones. Does that mean I think everyone should have to do a Dr. Q with no TT? Heck no! But this is definitely not the game where new players should feel pushed to race to the end as quickly as possible, and sometimes the fast travel options do lend the inexperienced to feeling confused about where they should be going. It's definitely a problem of time. Just like trying to pick up an old fighting game, I can imagine completely new players having a "falling down the stairs" moment trying to keep up with seasoned vets. And I'm guilty of that too! But I embrace chaos always.

My biggest issue since 2004 was always not having the ability to sheathe my weapon on my back, but that's finally been brought to us. My newest issue is I want my horned demons to be able to wear sunglasses!

I want to, but I'm wondering what I should trade out in return. It wasn't too big of an issue in my trials, but I'm leaning on trading out Total Domination for it. I hardly ever press that button. I wish I could tell you! To this day, there is little to no synergy in the choices I make on what toons actually survive the climb to 50. Sometimes a concept just clicks. Yup. That's the word, thanks. Brain no worky after wakey.

So, for anyone caught up on my lore, you already know that I am a Melee player at heart. I struggle finding toons from other ATs to play. Dominators are an especially tough cookie for me to crack, due to one big crippling principle that, honestly, stops me from enjoying a lot of potentially cool toons. If I can't enjoy it at a low level, I don't wanna play it! I hope I can save myself a little bit of typing by trusting you know how this mentality doesn't mesh well with Dominators. My one and single Dominator across all my years of playing that finally made it to 50 was an Ill/Sav/Ice. That's a very fun toon to play! Very unique in its approach. Well, I'm happy to say it's joined by a second Dominator: A Mind/Sonic/Ice! I'm not sure exactly what made me want to give this combo a whirl, but whirl I did. Lately I've been throwing myself a bone with alts and bumping them to 27 so I can start with IOs, but not so many slots that powers start overperforming before I've really learned how to use them. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how well Mind Control functions outside of Domination. This is critical for me. I'm a loud and proud complainer of how Doms can feel like a wet napkin outside of Domination. Mass Hypnosis is incredible for the ardent soloer. Sometimes it's not about blowing up a mob as quickly as possible. Sometimes simply containing them and picking them off one by one is the way to go. Of course, Terrify as it's BnB soft control is great for this too. Feared mobs won't attempt to attack as long as you don't hit them. I use Mass Confusion as a panic tool just in case things go awry. Speaking of the single target approach, Sonic Assault is great for that as well! The melee attacks are great. Shout is incredibly strong. And their hold components benefit from Domination. And there's a ton of -Res here too, between Disruption aura and the blasts. /Sonic alone allows me a nice spot as a Debuffer on my team along with the strong offensive options available. Now, what does the build look like? Great question! My build goals for this came after extensive a little no testing on my part! And I still enjoy it! Here it is below: Corvis - Dominator (Mind Control - Sonic Assault).mbd Wow! What a crazy person walking around with almost no protection like that! But I really didn't want it. What really appealed to my goblin brain was how massive of a return you get from proccing Earsplitter and Shout. They each hit like moving vans, which is only amplified if you don't mind getting real snug with your enemy. Levitate, because it's funny. And Ice Mastery is just too good of a pool to pass up on. Those D-Syncs in Ice Storm are actually dirt cheap Dam/Rech ones, and it really helps when I need some AoE damage. Speaking of AoE, it's something I only really bust out if I desperately need to clear a mob quickly while solo, or if I'm in a team and need to help dump some damage. It really does feel like a Blaster with some control, and I'm all for it! Would I recommend this combo to anybody? Absolutely! Would I recommend this specific build to anybody? No!

Since you don't need a lot of stuff from SS, grabbing attacks like Cross Punch*, Gloom, Dark Obliteration, etc. will inflate your DPS when backed by Rage. Even more so if you dump a ton of Dmg% procs into them! *- Grabbing both Boxing and Kick is necessary due to Fighting Synergy

The easy answer to your question is to gate fast travel, but that cat is out of the bag at this point. Back in the day, we were forced to experience more since we were walking (or hovering) until level 14, and even after level 14 our travel power was essentially the only means of getting around that we had until SG teleporters, Prestige TP, P2W options, and now the LRT. For now we can only coax new players into not jumping on the 50 train and smell the roses.