Shocktacular

Another thought occurs: The Sun will appear to align with the tower by appearing directly above it once a day every morning, since it appears to travel southward as well as upwards from the point on the horizon where it rises (the exact time will vary somewhat throughout the year, but it will always be in the AM hours). Therefore, I suggest that the text for the badge be changed to say "the once-a-day alignment of One Statesman Tower with the morning sun" instead of "the rising sun". I'm also going to work out which dates (if any) the Sun will appear to sit exactly at the top of the tower, as well as what time of year (if any) that the Sun will be blocked by the tower, but to do that I'll need to measure how tall the tower is, the distance between the tower and Turtle Island, and any difference in elevation between the base of the tower and Turtle Island (if anyone already has those numbers, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know what they are). This is fun! I like doing this stuff! I'll post again when I've got it figured out.

Okay, I got a map of Kallisti Wharf, drew lines from the island to the tower (center to center and either side), and measured the angles. The flattest angle possible is between the southwestern corner of Turtle Island and the northern side of the tower, which measures 131 degrees from North (pointing slightly east of southeast). For the Sun to rise in alignment with the tower as seen from Turtle Island, it must have an azimuth of 131 degrees when its altitude is 0 degrees (on the horizon). Whether this alignment is possible or not depends on the latitude of Paragon City. I haven't seen an exact latitude, but we know that Paragon City is in the state of Rhode Island and has the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Based on an actual map of Rhode Island, this means that Paragon City would need to be somewhere between the city of Narragansett and Point Judith. The latitude for this area is 41.4 degrees north (with a more specific location, I could add more digits after the decimal, but this covers that region). The Sun rises at it southernmost azimuth on the Winter Solstice, which is on or around December 21st. From that latitude, the southernmost angle the Sun could ever rise at is 121 degrees azimuth. I checked other locations in the state of Rhode Island and multiple calendar dates and could not find any location at which the Sun would ever rise at the required 131 degrees azimuth. Therefore, the sunrise will NEVER align with One Statesman Tower as seen from Turtle Island. Sorry. 😞 This was good practice for my astro-knowledge, though. 🙂

Hey, nitpicky detail here, but... ... the text for the "Tourist Trapped" badge says: "Many who visit the Wharf take a paddle boat out to Turtle Rock Island as a "must see" location. Known for its curious rock formations, incredible views of the Wharf, and the once-a-day alignment of One Statesman Tower with the rising sun, tourists end up here taking photos more than any other place in the Wharf." (emphasis mine) The position on the horizon that the sun appears to rise from shifts slightly from day to day, so a perfect alignment wouldn't happen more than once or twice a year (once if it's on either solstice, twice otherwise). I know that this is nitpicky, but I'm an astronomy teacher, so this bothers me a bit. 😛 Edited to add: It's also possible that the angle between Turtle Rock Island and One Statesman Tower is such that, at Paragon City's latitude, the alignment with the rising sun will not happen at all. I'm going to be working on this over the next few days (otherwise, it won't leave me alone 😛).

Thanks for letting me know. I try to read everything but I must've missed that.

I hope that Chain Induction from Electrical Melee will at some point get the same treatment as the Electric Control chain powers (probably too late to do it for this page, but maybe the next one?).

Wow, the HCdevs are going through lots of builds for this Page, and I want to thank them for that. Thank you HCdevs for your commitment to getting these things right before releasing them onto the main servers. Your dedication to quality is greatly appreciated and is one of the many things that makes HC a true continuation of the original game. Take your time. Get it right. We'll be here.

I always had trouble with Blasters because they always felt too squishy to me. However, in my determination to get one of every AT to 50, I rolled various combos in the hope that something would click. Then I saw another player's DP/Martial Blaster and decided to try it (he was herding mobs and playing mostly in melee, so it looked reasonably sturdy). I'm so glad I did! It's a great combo. DP is very versatile with the Swap Ammo power, which also lends itself to some interesting proc opportunities, like being able to put Slow sets pretty much anywhere (another thing I did was put the Lockdown: chance for +2 mag hold in Suppressive Fire along with the Chance for Hold from the Devastation ranged set, so now it's a decently reliable hold power whether I have cryo ammo equipped or not). I really like Martial because Burst of Speed lets you get into and out of melee quickly, Reaction Time slows incoming meleeists down so they don't just run up and gank you, and Ki Push is very useful for getting the few that DO get to you back out of melee range (plus it's friggin' HILARIOUS to use. I call it "super yeet"). Putting the Defiant Barrage status protection proc in one of the two first ranged powers helps prevent/escape mez and even if that doesn't work, Inner Will is a good "get out of mez free" power, plus an emergency heal. Overall, I highly recommend it.

OP, it seems like you could deal with the "boss-pet is my #1 guy" by playing it like the first T1 pet gets promoted when you get the T2 pet, then promoted again when you get the T3 (boss) pet and you keep recruiting new guys to fill the lower ranks. This also works with the "I'm starting out small but building up to the big time"-type story progression in-game.

I'd like to bump this since I, too, am looking for a mind/psi build for similar play. I've heard that they can be really good... IF you know how to play them. I've wanted something with mind/ so I think I might be giving this a try soon.

In case anyone thinks that SirBronco is joking, he's not. I play with him regularly (mostly for the sheer insanity of it, it's good entertainment), and he's completely serious about wanting to un-level a character.

Okay, the fourth arc is up! Project Oppenheimer, pt. 1 (Arc ID# 66727) Project Oppenheimer, pt. 2 (Arc ID# 66728) Please let me know what you think!

I have a fourth arc in the works. It's going to be a two-parter. Stay tuned for more!

Well yeah, he's a teen, so he's rebelling against his dad by being good. 😛

I'm still getting the "404 - not found" error. Is this on my end or is it still down?

As an astronomy teacher, I approve. 😄❤️

Okay, I think I've got something for you: I kept the face, hair, and bow. I went with a short-sleeved jacket as a sort-of remnant from the "sweet girl" days (since it looks a bit like a t-shirt) and put a bit of blue in there to match her hair and make the costume more interesting. I used the Arctic pattern on the gloves, pants, and boots because of her ice powers. I tried to mostly use blacks, greys, and dark colors, but since her hair stands out, I felt okay making her chest detail stand out a bit. Anyway, I hope you like it! The costume file is attached. IceArcher.costume

Why not both?

I've been teaming with a nightly group who are all currently doing Marine characters. I've made an elec/marine corruptor who's pretty fun. One of my friends has a beast/marine MM that he absolutely loves. I've also started a fire/marine controller because I've seen them mentioned in various places, but she's still a lowbie for now.

Do the mini-kheld pet recipes only drop from bosses or can you get them from EBs/AVs too?

Wow, 2 hours in and we're already 2/3 of the way there! You have my contribution. Keep the good stuff coming! 🙂

I saw a bit of discussion in the Beta feedback forums, but I thought I'd make something that more people are likely to see. Now that Marine Affinity is out, what are you guys pairing it with? What ATs are you using it on? Are there any pairings that are especially synergistic or anti-synergistic? What do you think of the set overall?

This. So, SO much this. I'd also like some sort of "desolate area" like in the crash path of the Rikti ship where there's some city wreckage and bits of things but it's mostly barren (maybe have some hills or something to keep it from being "too boring"?).

I'd say whichever AT you feel like you survive best with. Some of that depends on playstyle, but armored ATs probably have an advantage here. Brute and Sentinel would be my top picks, personally. (Also, shameless plug for the Praetorian AE arcs in my sig goes here)

I know that they used to be mutually exclusive, but I thought that was changed a few months ago. I'm not completely sure, though. I also took Group Invisibility instead of Superior Invisibility for this reason initially. I remember considering re-working my build after the adjustment, but I just didn't have room for SI without getting rid of GI and I wanted to keep GI to help protect my Phantasm.

1. Like others have said, build for recharge. Also, remember that only 5 copies of a given bonus value apply, so if you're trying to get that sixth "10% recharge reduction" bonus by slotting lots of purple sets, don't bother; it won't do anything. The first 5 will, though, and you can have more recharge bonuses of other values that will still apply (ex. you can have 5 "10% recharge reduction" bonuses and up to 5 "7.5% recharge reduction" bonuses and all of them will apply). 2. I went with psi because it fit with my character and I like having Indomitable Will for mez protection. With all the +rech in my build, it only has a second or two of downtime anyway. 3. What zork said. Stat boosters are always good. 4. This is obviously just my opinion but... Don't skip Spectral Terror. It's your primary means of group control with Illusion (since Flash has such a long recharge) and it's got some -tohit that will stack with the -tohit from Dark. You can also put some damage procs from fear IO sets into it if you want so that it does actual damage. 5. The "Chance for Build up" proc from the purple pet set Soulbound Allegiance WILL WORK if you put it in Phantom Army, and it's great. Also, get a Knockback to Knockdown IO for Phantasm (if you're taking it) so that it doesn't knock enemies out of your Tar Patch. (As an aside: I ended up taking Phantasm because the buffs & heals in /Dark + Group Invis + Maneuvers is usually enough to keep him alive most of the time even on high-level content). 6. Just be aware that ill/dark can be VERY clicky and fast-paced in combat since you have a number of things that will need to be re-applied frequently (mostly PA and Fade, but also Tar Patch, Spectral Terror, and Soul Absorption if you need the +regen/+recov). There are also quite a few summons and location AoE powers, so being able to quickly and accurately target the area where you want them to appear is important. Also, I'm not sure about the compatibility and stacking of Shadow Fall and Superior Invisibility. Does anyone here know how that works, exactly? And how does Group Invisibility figure into things?