Heraclea

The starting package for a character that catches my fancy and that I mean to get semi-serious about levelling includes a Panacea HP/End (level 7), Miracle recovery (17), at least one Performance Shifter Chance for Endurance (17) and a Numina eregen/recovery (27) . As soon as they have two slots in basic attacks they also get the Acc/Dam and the 'special' from their two ATO sets. They also often, and if able to slot them, will want Steadfast Protection and maybe the PvP armor uniques. This means that the starting package for a new character takes approximately 50-60 millions in inf or the equivalent, and 400 ~ 420 reward merits (8 hero merits) and, if squishy or needed, at least 4 points knockback protection. I usually don't spend inf on this stuff, fortunately, because I tend to stockpile all of these things and have them handy; so what it usually takes is catalysts and unslotters because the available ones tend to be higher than the minimum. This is the basic package for any new character that gets to level 7.

I never mind PUGs and seldom mind hard settings, because I'm usually on a tank or sturdy brute. Barracuda might be an exception, though. Katie Hannon definitely is. Never run Katie on anything higher than +0 for the first mission, Can always boost it for the red cap missions that follow.

Aye, the Atta mission is great fun for melees, almost every room has a place to corner yourself and make them all come to you. Good practice, especially on an under 20 character. It may help that I used the Atta map in AE and always know where the boss room is.

The only mission I make sure I have a skip avail;able for is the bombs and hostages in the Rogue Isles from Levantera. Jusr about every character does at least this arc, and gets rid of that one. Once you finish that arc you're done with Vanguard. The missions that annoy me most are the ones that involve finding things on large outdoor maps. Crimson and Unai Kamen are usuallly to blame.

Whatever Serendipity gives three of, Karma gives one: Aegis, by contrast, gives a fancier version: I can't begin to guess either of these here.....

My blaster main is Archery/Devices. Pure ranged damage dealer right there. I usually skip melee attacks in blaster secondaries. This one fits my blasting playstyle best. I stealth in, set a few traps between me and the spawn, scatter caltrops to discourage too-friendly mobs, and then rain down death. If you enjoy a stealthy doublenaught spy character you will enjoy this blaster combo.

I am currently levelling a Staff/Ninjitsu character, a pure concept character, an attempt to build a light retiarius gladiator that has naught to do with Japan. I have the +crit chance proc in Guarded Spin, my opener. Guarded Spin does seem to both crit when done out of stealth, and proc the proc so that Eye of the Storm, which usually follows, will crit against several targets. Not sure I am getting the most out of my stealth bonus this way, but it has worked so far.

Ran the new-ish Shauna Braun arc for the first time earlier today. Family oriented story. And.... Made me smile. Paragon City has the worst politicians. Spanky Rabinowitz, Robert Alderman, the guys in this story, and the nefarious Councilman Birch. None of 'em worth saving.

Biggest issue I have with Ninjitsu is remembering the names of the powers and relating them to what they do. For me, the real names of the powers are 'the melee defense toggle, the other defense toggle, the click mez protection, and etc.'

Anonymous - Quan je voy le duç

I use the spenders liberally, and also use the powers when there is little to spend; then again on the tanker I am running with Dark Armor/Savage, I tried to give the character every endurance advantage I know how, and the end result may be overkill The discount is noticeable, though, especially when levelling.

If this goat pentagram design from an early Azuria mission is available, I haven't found it yet, The band posters from the same mission would also be appreciated.

Here's a screenshot of the Lusca finale.....

I have a dark/savage tanker that I quite enjoy. Savage pairs well with end-hog armor sets, so Inv/Savage will at least have that going for it.

The one advantage of Savage Melee that nobody seems to have mentioned is the endurance discount that is always building from the Frenzy mechanic. As such it pairs well with end hog armors like Dark Armor. I have a Dark/Savage tanker that I rather enjoy.

I just started a Staff/Ninjitsu scrapper (for concept reasons; building a retiarius) and I can confirm that Staff has quite adequate AoE and gets many of them early. so early that DFB was a bit of a pain. OTOH, a Spines/Energy scrapper is one of the mainstays of my AE stable these days. Clears faster than any Spines Brute I've tried. Energy, especially paired with Spines, seems to be a random collection of powers; your mez protection is also the taunt aura, but then again you have stealth. But you can get well above the softcap to several types without compromising the build in any way.

The character that has grown on me the most in the series is.... Then again I haven't read the comics and maybe this is not how it plays out.

I was going to use the Freedom Phalanx as allies that show up at the last minute in my most recent story. but while they can be used as contacts, they aren't available to appear in missions. Went with PPD instead. Could have tried creating them in the costume creator, but I wasn't sure what would spawn if I created a friendly group with nothing but 'archvillains.'

You realize that the heat death of the universe is coming up in June.....

Probably easier to make a TF toggle that switches off incarnate powers, or active incarnate powers. And if that stuff is being fiddled with, can we make the TF settings award the badges they'd give in Ouroborus? Right now I only set them to get a readout on the time and number of deaths when the TF is over.

Anyone who arrived would join at the lowest tier of membership unless promoted, I assume. Base storage defaults to the top two levels. I don't see strangers joining your SG to steal as a major impediment.

I would just as soon create an alternative to Synapse and Citadel from scratch, and allow either to fuflil that tier in the Freedom Phalanx accolade progression. For a replacement for Synapse I'd suggest something that continues the Skulls/Family story line out of Kings Row, which now is a dangling plot thread. Skulls and Family fit the 15-20 tier well. Move Back Alley Brawler to KR and make him the contact, he fits the zone well and would make sense in the role. In some ways Synapse and Old Posi are nice chunks of XP for levelling characters. Old Posi lacks the CoT ambushes and simulacra fights where the wrong team can come to grief. New Posi 1 is the main consumer of Super Inspirations for me, which may be unfair to new players.

There are some armor sets like Dark and Energy that have stealth. Why it's so is a bit of a mystery to me; since all brute armors have taunt auras, stealth is about as useful as the nipples on a boar hog. They do provide a brief moment where mobs do not notice you until the aura fires, but I've never found that super useful outside of speed runs. But they do add a little bit of defense, and take defense sets, which is good for muling stuff like LotG Recharge, Kismet Accuracy, and Reactive Defenses Scaling Damage Resistance.

I have taken taunt on all of my brutes. But unlike a tanker, I tend to think that for a Brute taunt is not a high priority, and I typically end up taking it after Tough and Weave are in place; this typically means not until the twentysomething levels or later. If nothing else, it makes a good level 49 pick that needs no slots.

For maps specifically designed for the purpose, the Fire brute remains king of the hill. Fire/Spines is justifiably popular, though I understand Fire/Rad and Fire/Claws come close. Most characters - dare I say, all characters with solid S/L and fire resistance or defence can farm. Farming is not a competitive activity, 'least not for me. I farm on several characters. For a scrapper you're going to want a full strength taunt aura; I have farmed on a Spines/Energy scrapper and it works as well as anything. Of course farming goes beyond tailored AE missions; you can farm paper and radio missions, you can farm DA missions, you can farm task forces. My fire/willpower scrapper 'farms' the Shadow Shard TFs when they come up as a weekly.