Heraclea

Some combos I have tried and enjoyed include: Archery/Devices. A pure blasty blaster. A weapon set without Pistols' busy animations. No melee attacks at all. Many options in the secondary, from caltrops to trip mines, that serve to keep too friendly mobs at their distance and let you work raining death from afar. Queen of Halloween. Ice/Plants. The blastroller, bringing holds and debuffs. Three ranged ST holds and one targeted AoE hold made this blaster my character of choice to bring to Hamidon raids.

IME any toggle with any kind of debuff or damage added will be detoggled by ANY mez, however brief, in PvP. So if you are Willpower you are constantly losing Rise to the Challenge, and if you are Invuln you are constantly losing Invincibility, and so forth. Since these are linchpin powers for those sets, they don't sound to me like a good idea for a PvP character. They are major reasons why my reaction to PvP is to get the hell out and not go back. This is why I suggested a tanker primary whose aura is purely offense, and that does not form a major part of the system that keeps you standing: like Fire for instance.

No; Combat Jumping and anti-KB IOs are enough.

I have a Dark/Savage tanker I quite enjoy. The recovery discount in Savage helps. But a Dark/Dark tanker gets another fear in the attack set.

If wanted to PvP, I wouldn't make a tanker. Tankers basically have no role there. Keeping toggles up is a constant nuisance. The only melee class I'd consider for PvP is a stalker. But if I wanted to make a PvP tanker, I'd consider one where your aura toggle plays a very small role in keeping you alive. Fire would be good for that. You will definitely need massive knockback protection for that purpose, so take defense toggles like Weave (for Karma) and many travel powers like Combat Jumping (also resists immobilize) for Blessing of the Zephyr. You can put one of each in Combat Jumping. Steadfast Protection can go in most of your primary powers; in an autopower like Temperature Protection it can't be detoggled.

I may do the same, and will probably drop Rain of Fire and Fire Breath while I am at it. Most shared Fire builds seem to skip them, though I worry whether I am going to end up with an endgame only build without them. That usually isn't how I roll. and they do have worthwhile sets. I went Munitions for Body Armor, and am using that to mule three resistance uniques.

Blocking tactics assume that you are familiar with mobs' behavior the first time you run into them. They also mean one more demand on your attention in the middle of all the chaos. One more thing that says 'stop whatever you're doing and go do something else!' This game needs that nonsense like it needs a second, evil head. Much better to have toggle deflection that just works.

The power description made it seem as if it were a toggle. I guess it isn't, so I took it as my level 44 pick. Not enough left for fighting pool unless I respec into it, so I will probably go with Maneuvers and Combat Jumping for the final two.

Not sure if this counts as a zone geometry bug, and I didn't have the presence of mind to take screenshots, but I got the wrong map in the Founder's Falls safeguard bank mission. Map borders were not mission borders, could not get at the place the map said the exploration badge was. No PPD outside the bank, which I hit on at random. Was able to complete the mission; got the temp but not the badge.

AH avoidance is the key to my strategy for obtaining sets. Still, I do often buy individual needed enhancements with my fire brute, who typically has more inf than most others. But this is seldom, because I have a stock of Panaceas and similar valuable enhancements as well. The chief problem is that most of them are level 50 when you want them at level 7, so that's the chief use of catalysts and unslotters.

I have very little feel for AH costs, because my SGs act as collectives and we fuss over all sorts of things and keep massive stockpiles of rare and uncommon salvage as well as enhancements. We tend to craft everything, even from junk sets, because we gamble with that stuff until it lands on something we can use. Reward merit costs are something I am much more aware of than AH costs. And there are merit-cheap sets like good old Multistrike that are worth slotting, having small but useful bonuses for both defense and resistance. That's one of the mainstays of my heavy builds. It also is much more balanced than some of the rare sets with shinier bonuses; it does a good job at enhancing the core function of a power than some others, which often shortchange accuracy. Another trick I have learned is to buy multiple Accuracy/Damage buttons from Kinetic Combat at twenty merits apiece, then roll three converter wagers on those until you draw a straight. Unless you are a jinx, this will take far fewer merits than buying each piece outright.

Mostly this is a question of not getting quite what I expected. I typically skip melee powers on blasters. I have heard Fire being praised and I wanted to check it out. I paired with Atomic because I was also curious about that. I built like a typical blaster, taking Stealth and Invisibility, relatively key to the build because of their usefulness as mules, though I could revise it and mule in Combat Jumping instead. Similar considerations suggested my choice of Munitions; Body Armor is a useful mule. Basic question: do I need to revise my expectations and turn the character into a tank? Generally don't build blasters that way. Rather I use stealth to set the terms of combat and avoid unnecessary aggro. But it turned out that Inferno is a melee attack. Of course I took it, it's the nuke you get. Atomic's t9 is also a melee attack. And you get a taunt aura in Beta Decay. I did take it because I have enjoyed similar powers on armored characters. But it's always dropping and I tend to leave it off when it does. There's apparently another taunt aura in Radioactive Cloud, which I have not take yet given my disappointment with Beta Decay. I am also leery of trying to build for defense on squishies, since it's hard to get enough to make a difference, and without debuff resistance it's not all that valuable anyways. Building resistance is much harder and it's almost impossible to get to the key number of 50% starting from zero. Instead I built to my expectations taking Hasten, though on a blaster you seldom run out of attacks, and stealth, even though it's inconsistent with Beta Decay. If I make a tough enough blaster Beta might just make Hasten needless. I could drop all that for fighting pool, even if starting from zero I generally think that's lipstick on a pig as well. Any wisdom from the hive mind would be appreciated.

I am quite fond of Preventative Medicine on all my characters. It only ever procs if you have taken damage, so just seeing it there is a warning, 'hey, you had better look at your health bar.' Since it can proc if your health is less than 100% it isn't always cause for alarm. But the lower your health is, the better its chances.

I like finding off-label uses for costume parts. Yodeling Berserker's trachten are a set of variations on a theme.

I just started a new blaster, fire/atomic, and I was wondering the same things. I seldom take melee attacks on blasters, but if the t9 is a melee attack I maybe need to give it a second look.

Ice melee gets a lot of control for a melee set, and is fun to watch. Ice/WP brute would let the blaster shine while having basic capabilities for keeping her safe and allowing her to enjoy the game. Willpower is a low key armor set that gets adequately tough and is easy to build and play.

I have an Ice/Plants as my blastroller. Good combination of holds and debuffs. My main Hami raider.

I have an abiding fondness for the old Marvel phonebook style collections of classic Avengers and the like. Black and white, but it makes it easier to study the art. The Walmart DC Giant books are maybe the only good things come out of DC in the past decade. The Garcia-Lopez Superman collection is also worth your time.

Garmarna - Herr Mannelig

I do very little marketing. When I do, what I do is to craft any yellow recipe that does not need rare salvage, that the Fates have dropped the salvage needed to make it into my lap. If it's in a disfavored category (mostly sniper and endurance modification) I gamble that into a different uncommon; then I do a category gamble to turn it into a corresponding rare, then rare-class gambles until it lands on something useful. Most of the usefuls go into the SG kitty. When I have a glut of a certain IO the surplus goes to the AH. The hard part is all the level 50 IOs you end up with that you need at level 7. This is the prime use for me of unslotters and catalysts. I stockpile those as well and use as needed. Catalysts are earned by running a couple of 50s until they get their daily catalyst. Converters and unslotters come from 'odd' reward merits (not a multiple of 20 or 50).

Rad and Bio armors have two of the most useful t9s in the game. You don't have to die to use them, and they don't get you killed when they stop. That's enough to put them head and shoulders above other t9 powers in several armor sets I could name.

Grateful Dead - Franklin's Tower

I put all the rare salvage and at least one of every piece of uncommon salvage in storage bins at the base. This way, all I have to do to find the salvage I need is to check every bin. I had grander plans to keep it all organized. So it goes.

AFAIK all of the servers have global channels named after the server, and in addition Servername TF for task force recruiting, and Servername Badges for badge missions,, hunts, and related boasts. You should join these channels for your server; a lot of recruiting happens through them.

These are Heraclea's Amazons on Torchbearer: Heraclea Tanker (invuln/dark melee) Century: Pedones Rank: Consul Birth: Roman Amazon Religious tendency: Traditional (strong) Heraclea commanded the first expedition of the Roman Amazons of New Colchis to Paragon City. Her encounter with large numbers of Skulls in Perez Park led to the Circle of Thorns learning of the Jewel of Hera from a fleeing Skull. This resulted in the first formal and officially sanctioned delegation of Roman Amazons to Paragon City. It was on this account that she was appointed as consular legate to the city. She is a less than ideal diplomat, laconic, sarcastic, and given to fits of temper. As such her appointment to this delicate mission was questioned in the home islands. Further controversy back home is stirred up by Heraclea’s strong belief that the Vanguard are dirty fighters of doubtful honor, and that the Rikti may be the lesser of two evils. These opinions are widely but not universally shared. Yamnaya Blaster (electric/electric) Century: Indagatrices Rank: Consul Birth: Roman Amazon Religious tendency: Scythian (strong) Yamnaya (Cælia Iulia Iamnæa) was sent by the Comitia to keep an eye on Heraclea and make sure that she causes no trouble by her heated opinions. The two see eye to eye on very little. Her agnomen Yamnaya refers to the Yamnaya or Yamna archeological culture found in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, believed to be the original home of the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language. She represents the Amazon espionage bureau, and is their liaison with the Vanguard, something Heraclea would never do. Heraclea is not much fonder of her being a sapper and a sneak, but this works well enough for her. Yamnaya is the founder of the Scythian faction in Paragon City, and is chief hierophant of Mithras and the initiatory cults. Catrina Tanker (bio/spines) Century: Pedones Rank: Prætrix Birth: American Religious tendency: Spiritist (strong) Catrina Calaveras was an archaeologist who was sent on a strange head trip when she discovered a mysterious crystal skull. Visions induced by the artifact revealed that she was to be sent to Paragon City as an emissary of the Aztec gods. It seems the Aztec gods were peeved at the Skulls, for obvious reasons, and it was her task to eradicate them. This meshed neatly with Heraclea’s goals, and her multilingualism (English, Spanish, Nahuatl) allowed her to pick up Latin quite quickly. Catrina is responsible for leading the Spiritist religious faction and established the Forum Olocunarum to commune with the Encisi spirits. Heraclea is not fond of this, but apart from that they see eye to eye on most issues. Mother of Vinegar Sentinel (water/willpower) Century: Nautæ Classis Rank: Ædile Birth: American Religious tendency: Traditional Mother of Vinegar acquired superpowers when a cleanse she got from Gwyneth Paltrow’s website went horribly wrong. She volunteered to receive Amazon training after learning about where Heraclea carried the Shard of Kalak. If anyone could help her master her problem, these people could. Grandma Gnosis Controller (illusion/radiation) Century: Ballisticæ Rank: Ædile Birth: American Religious tendency: Neutral, leans Spiritist A Marine Corps veteran, Grandma Gnosis joined the Amazons to study mysticism and magic. Maiden Heaven Scrapper (fire/regen) Century: Pedones Rank: Ædile Birth: Celestial Religious tendency: Nazarene (secret) She’s on a mission from God to find bad people, and set them on fire. She is ‘secretly’ a Nazarene, a secret that isn’t particularly well kept. Plaster Caster Blaster Century: Ballisticæ Rank: Prætrix Birth: Roman Amazon Religious tendency: Scythian Cynthia, the Plaster Caster Blaster, is fascinated with American spy and action films and her ambition is to become a James Bond Girl. (She is rooting for Idris Elba BTW). She listens to a lot of Firemullet, and takes plaster casts of male rock stars. She is an accomplished field engineer and learned all about espionage from an ad in a comic book. Jungle Jenny Brute (radiation/electric) Century: Pedones Rank: Prætrix Birth: Jungle Religious tendency: Traditional Raised by gorillas in the jungle, Jenny is a key ally of Heraclea. Once a circus strongwoman, she has a beef with the Carnival of Shadows that goes way back. Ice Minstrel Blaster (ice/plants) Century: Nautæ Classis Rank: Prætrix Birth: American Religious tendency: Indifferent Ice Minstrel hailed from the world of show business, but when vaudeville died she made her way to New Colchis. Some say that she was frozen in time since the 1920s. She is a fierce enemy of the Devouring Earth, although what they ever did to her is something of a mystery. Her speech is peppered with references to Stephen Foster, James Whitcomb Riley, Al Jolson, and other mostly forgotten popular culture. Omphale Brute (staff/regen) Century: Pedones Rank: Consul Birth: Lydian Religious tendency: Scythian Omphale is the famous queen of Lydia. She captured and enslaved Hercules, dressing in his lionskin and wielding his club while dressing him in her gowns, because it pleased her to do so. Omphale is the chief representative of the Roman Amazons in the Rogue Isles. Anima Sola Tanker (dark/savage) Century: Pedones Rank: Ædile Birth: Unknown Religious tendency: Spiritist Anima Sola appeared one day on the streets of Paragon City, speaking Latin. The police believed on that ground that she was a Roman Amazon. Not so: it turned out that she had been imprisoned two thousand years in some Nazarene netherworld, apparently on the ground of some matter of the heart. How much of this is true, no one knows. Heraclea, shocked into sympathy by this tale of woe, took her in without questions. Her agenda is unknown. Pomba Gira Brute (dual blades/fire) Century: Pedones Rank: Ædile Birth: Brazil Religious tendency: Spiritist The Spiritist faction of Roman Amazons recruits heavily in Latin America. It helps some that spoken Latin is relatively easy for native speakers of Spanish and Portuguese. Pomba Gira is an ambitious young woman from Brazil. She has a taste for the finer things in life. She takes her name from an Afro-Brazilian spirit of female sexuality, said to be the wife of Exu (Eshu), an important trickster and oracular spirit identified with the Devil. To avoid complicated explanations she just calls herself ‘the Devil’s ex-wife’. She is always looking for ways to make money and otherwise to get ahead, and is willing to dirty her hands marketeering in ways that others do not. Ann Atomic Scrapper (kinetic/rad) Century: Pedones Rank: Consul Birth: Roman Amazon Religious tendency: Traditionalist Anna Furia Cito, originally of patrician rank, always was a troublemaker, though good at heart. She was riding her chariot along the Via Appia when she saw a distinguished looking old man with a lame horse. She offered him a ride back to Rome, but could not pass up the temptation to look inside his satchel. Turns out the stranger was the god Mercury. Never know who you'll run into these days. Mercury was amused by her carrying on and gave her the boon of extreme fleetness of foot. She made her way to New Colchis. There, she became an alchemist studying the tattoo inks used by the Tsoo. She never succeeded at duplicating them exactly, but she managed to brew up a plaid ink; not wishing to mark herself with it, she drank it instead. She took to superheroing like a natural, and now calls herself ‘Ann Atomic.’ Impetua Tanker (willpower/mace) Century: Pedones Rank: Prætrix Birth: American Religious tendency: Traditionalist Impetua is a headstrong young woman from Kings Row, with strong political convictions. Trained on New Colchis to be a blacksmith, she returned to Paragon City. To organize. She is an ally of Sea Witch and the Scrapyarders, but still occasionally lapses into the Tumblrisms she learned at Sarah Lawrence. Circe of Aeaea Controller (plants/poison) Century: Arcigeræ Rank: Ædile Birth: Titan Religious tendency: Traditionalist You may have heard of her. She turns men into pigs. Asked why she allowed this witch into the embassy, given this predilection of hers, Heraclea answered ‘Quomodo cernere possit?’ (“How could anybody tell?”) La Faiseuse d’Anges Stalker (ninja/ninja) Century: Indagatrices Rank: Ædile Birth: French Religious tendency: Spiritist A simple wise woman who assists young women in trouble. Chief instigator for the revival of the persecution of Nazarenes. Fast friend of Impetua.