Stormwalker

Maxim 37: There is no overkill, there is only "Open Fire" and "Reload". - The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

This would be useful for me as well. The sound sensitivity issues are proportionate to team size. A 4 man team is much less hard on me than an 8 man team, because you have half as many AoE's hitting the spawn at once. But teams inevitably end up at 8, so I end up avoiding them except for TF's (where I just choose to endure it because doing TF's in a full team is traditional even if you don't have to anymore).

I generally solo except for TF's, though sometimes I duo with a friend. Mostly this is due to sound sensitivity issues - all the AoE's from a team hitting all those targets at once gets unbearably loud even at very low volume settings. But it's also partly because I just prefer to play at my own pace and not have to worry about whether the team wants to go faster or slower.

It varies a little bit from character to character, but for any character who doesn't have a specific solution of their own, I have a couple of characters in my SG who are capable of producing supertech devices, and a subspace storage device is well within their abilities, so everyone in the SG has access to that tech as part of their standard kit. Some of my characters do also use utility belts, pouches integrated into the costume, etc., to keep stuff they want to have at hand (either for convenience or because they don't want to risk relying completely on a device they don't understand).

I wanted to post the previous scene before adding this because of Skylancer's origin reveal in the scene... Dramatis Personae (which is a fancy way of saying "Characters likely to appear in these story bits"). Skylancer (Science-Origin Blaster: Energy Blast/Energy Manipulation/Force Mastery/Flight) Real Name: Celeste Alexander (no secret identity, she was in the news as Celeste before she became a heroine, so there was no real point) Age: 20 (appears perpetually 17 as she has stopped aging) Height: 5'2" Weight: ~100 lb. Birthplace; Paragon City, RI Occupation: Heroine/College Student (Major: Heroic Studies) Known Powers: Absorbs energy directly from her environment to fuel her cellular metabolism; maintains a constant high-energy field in her body. Energy absorption cannot be turned off or suppressed Acts more as a capacitor than a battery, if she doesn't vent energy regularly, she will exceed her storage capacity and "leak" energy as a soft white glow. Can focus and project energy as visible light (white in color) and kinetic force Energy blasts, forcefields, kinetically-enhanced strikes, and thrust generation for flight Channels blasts through her body down her nerve cords. At high levels of power, this causes nerve damage, but the damage quickly regenerates (see "slow regeneration" below). Completely incapable of stealth, her energy field can be detected 10 miles away at idle, and much farther if she is actively using her powers. In theory it is possible for someone with a strong enough stealth ability to mask her energy field, but she has yet to meet anyone who can. High-energy field is hostile to microorganisms and renders her immune to most diseases. This also presents reproductive challenges, not that she is in any hurry to address these yet. Slow regeneration. Can heal any non-fatal wound given time, and it's not clear exactly how much of a wound it would take to be fatal to her. Soft tissue damage heals in minutes to hours, depending on severity. Bone damage takes hours to days. Nervous tissue regenerates particularly quickly. No longer ages due to regeneration, may be functionally immortal, but it's too soon to tell. Hypersonic flight Buoyancy in air attained by modulating her energy field Thrust generated by kinetic pulse Drag/heat/friction management by shaping her forcefield like a bullet Capable of accelerations in excess of 100g briefly, but at these accelerations she loses all ability to change direction and becomes briefly incorporeal, so it is not useful in combat except as an escape mechanism. Capable of spaceflight Still needs oxygen (less than a normal human because of her greatly modified metabolism. She can carry enough air with her in a bubble forcefield to sustain spaceflight for a couple of hours. Anything longer than that requires supplemental oxygen. She does not have her own equipment for this, but Vanguard can provide it if needed. Enhanced reflexes Normally has below-average strength for a woman her age, but can briefly overdrive herself in cases of extreme need to attain mildly superhuman strength. Doing so will almost certainly result in torn muscles and possibly tendons and ligaments as well, but with her regeneration she can recover from these injuries in a matter of hours. Other notes: Cannot be cloned directly More correctly, can be cloned, but the clone will not have her energy field and would quickly "starve" without additional intervention. The clone would have the powers she received by way of genetic modification (regeneration, enhanced reflexes, neural reinforcement) but without the energy field to fuel them, the energy demands of her body would be too much for her crippled metabolism to meet. Copying her powers would require duplicating the energy infusion process that was used on her in the first place. This part of her origin is a carefully guarded secret. Keeping this secret is helped by the fact that the lab where she was infused was destroyed during the process. Skylancer believes, as does the general public, that her gaining superpowers via the treatments that saved her life was an accident. She was told that she had a much higher affinity for the energy she was infused with than was expected, and instead of a weak energy field that would sustain her life, she got a powerful one that gave her superpowers. FBSA has reason to believe this is NOT actually true, and that the researchers who performed these treatments fully intended to grant her superhuman powers. Much of the likely evidence was destroyed when the equipment overloaded during Celeste's infusion, destroying the lab, so this cannot be proven one way or the other. None of the researchers involved (all of whom survived the lab's destruction, though some were injured) has admitted to any such intent. Some of Skylancer's genetic mods strongly suggest the team was aware that she would gain superpowers, whether that was their primary goal or not: Reinforced nervous system enables channeling of high-power blasts Regeneration allows her to repair the damage her own powers do to her when she goes all-out. Enhanced reflexes would be entirely unneeded for a "normal" girl. She appears to have been intentionally wired for sensation-seeking behavior and adrenaline addiction. They have not told Skylancer this since they can't prove it, and no information they have suggests that she was ever aware of the researchers' intentions. FBSA expects the intention was to empower her and then offer her "guidance" in a future career as a hero, for reasons which may or may not have been entirely altrustic. The destruction of the lab set back the project substantially (and called a great deal of scrutiny to it) which appears to have scrubbed any such plans entirely and Skylancer has pursued her hero career independently. Kitten America (Science-Origin Scrapper - Claws/Super Reflexes/Body Mastery/Super Jump) Real Name: Serina Willmore (no secret identity, she's far too distinctive) Age: 22 Height: 5'6" Weight: 135 lbs. Birthplace: Paragon City, RI Occupation: Full-time Heroine Known Powers: Transformed into a catgirl Vastly accelerated reflexes Superhuman strength, dexterity, and agility Nearly perfect balance and body control Combat and hunting instincts Greatly enhanced senses of hearing and smell, and somewhat enhanced vision. Retractable claws (she does not use her own claws in combat, however, she uses equipped claws) Fast healing, but not true regeneration Powerful, wiry musculature means she runs well but leaps and pounces even more dramatically. Can leap small buildings in a single bound. Other notes: Gained superpowers via a lab accident SERAPH is still not entirely certain this was an accident and not sabotage by a Council agent Serina was known to be a very careful worker It seems odd for an experiment like hers to explode to begin with.. Experiment involved studying the effects of Council super-soldier serum on hero cell samples Intent was to learn how to treat heroes who might have ill effects from being exposed to the serum during anti-Council operations. Explosion in the lab caused Serina's body to be riddled with glass shards coated in altered genetic material. Personality changes Serina: was a shy, cautious girl, not quite a wallflower but definitely introverted. was cheerful and friendly but a little quiet. had no violent tendencies and was the sort to flee if threatened. was patient and methodical in her work. Kitten: is rambunctious, mischievous, energetic, and outgoing. exhibits numerous obviously feline traits, including a degree of capriciousness (though not in times of great need, where Kitten becomes very reliable). relishes both the chase and the fight, and can become somewhat feral when pressed. is impulsive and thinks quickly on her feet, can seem reckless to those who don't share her insights (and tends to not explain herself), but there is much more of Serina's methodical thinking behind her actions than most would realize. While the outward changes are dramatic, there is much more of Serina's careful, thoughtful mind remaining underneath than even Kitten herself realizes. Most of the changes to her personality are changes of demeanor rather than nature. Nanodrive (Technology Scrapper - Street Justice/Willpower/Body/Super Speed) Real Name; Angela Black (definite secret identity here, for reasons) Age: 23 Height: 5'8" Weight: 145 lbs. Birthplace: Tyler, TX Occupation: Hero / Martial Arts Instructor Known Powers: Prototype combat nanoregenerators in her bloodstream provide the following: Rapid Regeneration Can heal any non-instantly-fatal wound in seconds to minutes Super Speed Can run over 200mph and make combat maneuvers at those speeds All the rest of her movements can be similarly accelerated Acceleration is available in steps, so she can be as fast as she needs to be up to her limit. Enhanced Reflexes Always somewhat enhanced, and steps up to match her speed as she boosts it upwards Tactical Analysis Essentially has an onboard tactical computer which helps maintain her situational awareness and advise her on optimal tactics This mostly works for herself individually rather than on a team level, but it does provide some squad-level analysis. Multi-disciplinary Martial Arts Training Not a master of any one art, but has incorporated multiple modern martial arts into her style Style is focused more on practical combat and quickly disabling opponents than any particular philosophy. Not at all afraid to fight dirty Other Notes: Was the head of security at Emerging Dynamics, a small company which was attempting to compete in nanotechnology and cellular regeneration with Crey. Company scored a major defense contract Crey tried to buy the company, and when they refused, resorted to forceful tactics Crey raided the ED labs to try to steal the nanoregenerator prototypes. Angela was critically injured during the fighting. To save her life, the lead researcher injected Angela with the prototype nanoregenerators. Nanoregenerators instantly healed her wounds and she drove off the attackers With the prototypes lost (nobody but the head researcher and Angela know what happened to them) and the labs wrecked, ED's board of directors sold out to Crey. Crey is still trying to figure out where the prototypes went. If they find out Angela has them, they will certainly want to capture her and "study" her to not only obtain the prototypes but analyze a live human test subject. THIS is why Angela has a secret identity. If they figured out that Nanodrive was Angela Black, they'd know immediately where those regenerators went! "Yeah, naming myself 'Nanodrive' was probably not very smart in retrospect, but it was all I could think of, and it's not like those are the ONLY nanomachines running around in Paragon City." Ember Soulfire (Mutation Blaster - Fire Blast/Fire Manipulation/Fire Mastery/Flight) Real Name: Ember Soulfire (her original legal identity is not known, so FBSA arranged for a new one and this is the name she picked) Age: Unknown, estimated 24 years Height: 5'8" Weight: 130 lbs. Birthplace: Unknown Occupation: Full-Time Hero, Super Group Leader (Trouble Incorporated) Known Powers: Fire. Everything fire. For all intents and purposes, Ember's connection to the element of Fire is so deep and strong that she is Fire. Hence the name. Yes, this does mean she feels a degree of compulsion to burn and consume everything around her. She has in fact done this before, and destroyed her own life to the point that even she doesn't know who she was before it happened. She has learned, through years of training with numerous professional psychiatrists and psionicists who specialize in helping mutants manage out-of-control powers, to keep a lid on it. "That doesn't mean I don't still feel it. It just means I can say no." There was considerable argument at FBSA whether she should be considered a Mutant with a flame power, or a Fire Elemental made flesh. She chose to go to GIFT because some of the MAGI people creeped her out with the way they talked about her. She can create hot enough flames that the primary effective limit on her power is her desire to avoid collateral damage. "I burned my life beyond recognition once. I don't want to do it again." Flight by managing convection currents in the air. Don't get too close to her while she's flying unless you want to get singed. Tops out at about 100 mph. Effectively immortal. You can defeat her by exhausting her to the point of collapse, but you can't actually KILL her. Total oxygen and heat deprivation might kill her, but that's hard to accomplish when she can casually melt most any vacuum apparatus one could construct. Ejecting her into deep space would probably work, but she's not going to space if she has any choice in the matter. "Putting me on a spacehship/space station is probably a bad idea anyway." Other Notes: After her rehabilitation, formed Trouble Incorporated to give other would-be heroes with troubled pasts a place to go and a support structure. This also serves to help remind her where she has been and why she doesn't want to go back to that place. SG gets extra scrutiny from the city and the FBSA because of Ember's past and those of some of the team members. This frustrates her, but she accepts it as the price of her own past and of trying to help others. Not everyone in TI meets these criteria; some of them are people who she became friends with as a hero, or who she thinks will make a good example to the ones she is trying to help. "Troubled pasts" doesn't just mean "used to be a criminal". Examples: She took Nanodrive in because she's a fugitive from Crey. She took Kitten in while Kitten was trying to sort out her new identity. Kitten stayed after she GOT sorted out because of friendship and gratitude. She took Kyriea in because Kyriea looks to everyone like an enormous and terrifying demon, when Ky is actually a mutant girl whose power absorbed a bunch of demonic energy and made her look like that. On the other hand, sometimes it does mean that: Shadow Ruby is a reformed archvillainess, who is actually kind of a kindred soul to Ember because her magical artifact tries to compel her to do evil and Ruby has subjugated it only by force of will and is forcing IT to do good as penance. Ember is not naturally a patient person. She has quite a temper. Being a leader is forcing her to manage it better, which is a good thing for her even if it's a great struggle sometimes. (many more to come, will add screenshots for Nanodrive and Ember later)

Katherine Madison, R.N., stood in the doorway, watching the colorfully arrayed youth as she moved through the ward, stopping to spend a little time with each of the patients there. Most would have considered it a heartwarming sight, she thought. It was just the sort of thing that was the stuff of TV appearances and charity commercials. Over the years she'd worked in hospitals, though, it was an event she'd seen repeated dozens of times. Some movie star, singer, pro athlete--today it was one of Paragon's "heroes"--would come through and make an appearance, looking for a bit of a boost to their public image. They were so practiced at this sort of thing, she thought, always seeming all concern and good will. Then, once their little visit was done, they disappeared as quickly as they came, seldom giving anything to the hospital and never appearing again. She turned her critical eye on the "hero" in question. "Skylancer", the registry had called her. She was short for a cape, barely five-foot-two, and very slight of figure. Probably ninety-five pounds tops. She needed to eat more, Katherine thought; as she stood, a strong glare from a street punk might break her. Even so, she didn't seem afraid of advertising her presence. No, she was quite the flashy one... all dressed in red white and blue, and all of it skintight, with a winged motif on her top and her tights showing a streaked pattern that spoke of energy and blazing speed. Even her white split cape, adorned with a blue starburst, spoke of someone who accustomed to soaring over the common rabble. She wore no mask, merely a thin metal headband that kept her flowing blonde hair out of her bright blue eyes. It seemed she wanted people to recognize her. She wondered how someone who clearly saw the skies as her playground could relate to these children, most of whom were bedridden or otherwise disabled. Still, they responded to her with smiles... smiles she so rarely saw, and Katherine's heart softened a bit at that. Most of these children had precious little joy in their lives, and if one Paragon's high-flying heroes could give them a little of that, it counted for something. "Skylancer" stopped at one of the beds, clasping the hand of the boy there, just close enough that Katherine could overhear what she said to him. "Don't give up, okay?" she told him, still with that smile. It was easy for her to say, Katherine thought, scowling again. As with so many of the other children in this ward, the boy's condition was degenerative. The doctors didn't want to say it, but she knew from the looks the doctors shared with each other when they left his bedside that it was likely to be terminal. "I know it's hard being stuck in that bed," the young woman continued, still holding the child's hand between hers. "I *know*. You've got to believe, though. I'm from Paragon City; I see miracles happen every day." She winked, and the boy smiled at her. "Trust me on this." Platitudes from destiny's chosen, Katherine thought darkly. "She's amazing, isn't she?" a voice spoke from beside her, and she turned to see Dr. Jemison, one of the senior doctors on the staff, standing next to her, holding a thick medical folder in his hand. "Look at the way they light up when she talks to them." "Oh, yes, it's great," she mumbled, the words not coming out as sarcastically as she felt them. She might not care much for the cape, but she was determined not to let her mood dampen the children's happiness in this moment, short-lived though it might be. "It's always nice to see someone take the time to visit these kids," Dr. Jemison added, smiling. Then, he spoke up. "Miss Alexander, we're ready for you now." The hero looked up from her conversation with the boy. "Just give me a moment longer, okay?" she asked, and the doctor nodded. Katherine blinked. The hero was young, no doubt, but not quite so young as to be a patient at this facility. She stole a glance at the folder in the doctor's hands, one that was overstuffed with papers. It was the sort of file one only found with the most unusual case studies, those where the doctors had tried everything in the desperate search for answers. On the tab of the folder was the label "C. Alexander". Did the girl have a relative in this hospital? Was that what brought her here? It would explain some things... but Dr. Jemison had spoken as though she was the patient. She frowned, confused, and then the doctor spoke to her again. "Miss Alexander is here to give some cell samples and let us take some readings for research, you see," he explained. "She always insists on visiting with the kids first, though." Katherine could not quite suppress the look of surprise. "...but why? That's not really the sort of work we do here, is it?" She looked at the folder in his hands again. "Ah, I should remember, that was before you joined us. Miss Alexander was one of our first patients here, and her condition was at least as bad as any of our current patients. Probably worse. I wish we could say that we cured her, but she was beyond hope; her disease was incurable, degenerative, and would have been terminal. It took a breakthrough -- someone else's breakthrough -- to save her life; the powers she has now are... a side effect of her treatment." Suddenly, Katherine understood. That was *her* file the doctor was holding. The file of a dying girl who'd somehow *found* one of those miracles she spoke of. But what sort of treatment gave a sickly girl superpowers? She shuddered at the thought. "Lots of people wouldn't give it a second thought," Dr. Jemison added. "Especially considering that we didn't, and couldn't, save her. But not little Celeste. She's determined to try to give something back. It’s her hope and ours that we can find something in her altered cellular structures that might lead to treatments for other children with similar diseases." He shook his head. "It’s a faint hope, but she’s determined to help in any way she can. She's always been a special one, though, even when she was still our patient. We should all be proud." If Katherine were honest with herself, it wasn't pride she was feeling in that moment... but rather shame. She'd been quick to judge, to assume the worst. Looking at Skylancer again, she could see the signs. Her slight, fragile-looking frame was likely the result of growth stunted by her illness. Her ability to connect with these children, and the infectious joy she spread throughout the ward as she passed, reflected the genuine concern she held for their lives and her personal understanding of their struggles. Those signs had been there all along, Katherine knew, but she had allowed herself to become too jaded by her past experiences to look for them. Skylancer stood up from the child's bedside then and walked over to where they were standing. "All right, I'm ready." Then, she turned to Katherine and smiled. "Thank you for taking care of them. I might wear the costume, but you're the heroes here." The words stung, coming as they did from the one whom she had misjudged, and yet Katherine felt something else welling up in her heart as well. Yes, she told herself. She did take care of them. And she'd continue to do so. "I should be thanking you," she finally responded. "These kids need hope more than anything else." Skylancer shook her head, still smiling. "No... if I give them hope, that's good... but you give them something better still. Faith, hope, and love, after all... and the greatest of these is love." Katherine turned away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. "I... thank you." "You're welcome." Skylancer--Celeste—responded. "I remember my time here. I remember those who took care of me. Even when they knew I was a lost cause, they still cared for me, and did everything they could do for me. I won't forget that, ever. You do the same for these kids, I know. I can tell." She stood a little straighter and turned back to Dr. Jemison. "All right, lead the way." The doctor nodded, and the two of them walked off down the hall, talking. Katherine watched them for a long moment, feeling compelled to look on the girl for a little time with more favorable eyes. Then, she turned back to the ward, and the children there. Yes, she would give them love... all the love she had to give, and maybe she could find a little hope as well.

So, this next piece is the beginning of a much longer, yet untitled and still unfinished (honestly, I've barely gotten started on it) story involving many of my characters and some of a friend's characters, too, and revolving largely around my energy/energy/force blaster, Skylancer. Some of my personal headcanon plays pretty largely in this story, one of those bits being that Skylancer is a good deal more powerful than the game actually shows, which I attribute to her holding back a lot (as many of the more powerful comic book heroes do). This is just a matter of my concept of this particular character being a bit more of a "marquee hero" than CoH really allows us to have. You'll also find very few references to the Well of the Furies in my work ,because, well... I don't really like it very much, personally. I tend to conceive my "Incarnate" powers as just being further mastery of the powers the characters already have and/or (especially in the case of Lore pets) equipment they've had made for them by my supergroup's resident tech geniuses. So, if your view on RP stories (which I tend to kind of think of as more "City of Heroes fanfic" anyway, since I don't really RP much anymore) doesn't allow for taking some liberties with the source material, then you may not like this story, and that's OK, but when giving feedback please understand that the story is what it is and don't harp on that particular aspect of it. All other feedback, positive or negative (as long as it's constructive) is still entirely welcome. As I've said before, I'm going to be releasing this slowly over time, partly in the hopes that I can get my writing jump-started (it's been stalled quite a while) by the time the posts get caught up to where I am in the story.

EM is superior in terms of raw single-target DPS (EM is very probably the #1 scrapper primary in terms of raw single-target DPS, after all), but the difference is not that large. The animations are not without gameplay effect, depending on what secondary you choose. If you are going with the typical Long ET -> TF -> Short ET -> BS -> <gap filler of choice> Scrapper EM rotation, there is a long stretch at the start of that attack chain when you are stuck in long animations which leave you pretty vulnerable; if you are using a clicky secondary, this is not an insignificant factor as you run the risk of needing to click a heal and not being able to because you are stuck in a long animation. EM actually takes this risk a step further because Energy Transfer costs you HP every time you use it, and yes, it can kill you if you are at low enough HP when you use it. MA only has one really long animation you need to be concerned with, so this is less of a risk there. But if you absolutely want the biggest numbers, you want EM.

Well, I hit 50 today, got my Tier 1 alpha, and busted up my first Pylon tonight. Didn't bother timing it because the build is not remotely finished yet (not even in my final spec yet, much less actually have all the set pieces I need), but I was able to verify that even now I can just go ET -> TF -> ET -> BS -> EP -> repeat even when I get both short ET's, at least when Hasten is up. When Build Up is up or I need to heal I just stick that in place of EP, typically. She's already a whole lot of fun to play, and I can tell that as I fill in the remaining pieces she's just going to get better. Thanks to everyone for your advice.

Numerically, EM is better. But MA is not at all a bad set. In terms of feel, they're so completely different that it's hard to compare them. MA is graceful and pretty and feels faster than it actually is, and hits like a truck. EM starts out quick and punchy (its starter attacks are pretty quick) but by the time you really build it out it's kind of slow (TF is really slow, and ET is REALLY slow except when it isn't) but hits like a freight train loaded with trucks.. Both are full of great superhero feel, but it's a very different feel. Both sets are lacking in AoE but deal very strong single-target damage. If you want to kick people in the face and look fancy, go MA. If you want to smite things with the glowing pom-poms of mighty power, go EM. I have two EM (a Scrapper and a Brute) and an MA (Scrapper) and love all three of them.

There is definitely a lot to like here. I hadn't ever really thought of using unused attacks as two-piece set mules, that's a good idea, and I definitely like the slow resistance, since this build needs to stay fast to be effective I will miss some of the lost of hover speed, but with the slow resistance I won't miss it all that much, because I'll still be at 37.55 MPH (with Evasive Maneuvers), which is plenty. And I agree, Focused Accuracy isn't really needed in this build. It's nice for dealing with Nemesis, but you're right about the amount of global accuracy rendering it a bit redundant, and removing it frees up a number of slots for other things. On top of that, I think your build may actually be less expensive than mine. Maybe not, with the Blistering Cold pieces, but at the least it isn't much more expensive. Will definitely look very closely at this, thanks!

It is; when TF "crits" goes off you see "Energy Focused" pop up twice. That said, it's my understanding that Long ET -> TF -> Short ET -> BS -> <gap filler of choice> -> repeat is still the highest DPS attack chain for at least Scrapper EM even without the Critical Strikes proc in play. The Critical Strikes proc just makes it that much better because it's frequently Short ET -> TF -> Short ET -> BS -> <gap filler of choice>. Also, I am finding that at least when TF doesn't crit, I can actually just do ET -> TF -> ET -> BS - EP -> repeat and it works, at least when Hasten is up and I have a few enemies to feed Entropic Aura's +recharge. It doesn't quite work when TF does crit - I end up with a bit of a gap before TF - but I think when the build is done and I actually have the full amount of recharge it calls for, it will probably work just like that. The only real drawback is the risk of getting beaten down to low enough health during the Long ET animation that ET's health cost kills me, but avoiding that is largely a matter of paying attention to my health and using Energize before ET if needed. This is the other reason that having a bit of a gap in there isn't too terrible, because often that gap gets filled with Build Up, or Energize, or Energy Drain anyway

Yeah I have noticed even on my (Claws/SR) main, when I die, it's almost always due to "Where did that [3rd, sometimes 4th] Master Illusionist come from?!" I think this is probably why I tend to remember my Dark/Dark from Live as being so unkillable, when the general performance of the sets suggests he probably wasn't as tough as I remember. But being able to completely laugh at Carnies made a strong impression.

Thanks for the feedback! The scrapper ET mechanic is that if TF crits, instead of extra damage you get two charges of Energy Focus (meaning your next two ET's are short). This is where some of the need for Recharge comes in because it means TF has to be recharged after Short ET -> BS -> (whatever you fill the gap with, WH in my case) -> Short ET or the attack chain breaks down and you don't really benefit from the TF crit. This is also why ET has to be in the attack chain twice, otherwise you fail to leverage the extra Energy Focus charge. So the attack chain you listed, which only includes ET once, won't really work for a Scrapper. This is also why the Critical Strikes proc was in ET - to push that TF crit, because getting that extra Short ET in the rotation more than half the time is a massive DPS boost. The reference to a purple was more indicating that I only needed a purple to softcap my Negative defense (at 40.49% in my original build). The problem that I am having right now is that if I get spawns with multiple Carnival bosses in them, especially multiple Master Illusionists, I am just toast, because their psi attacks wreck me before I can beat them down (unless I pop a bunch of inspirations, of course), Since psi defense is hard to come by, I was looking for psi resistance to make me tough enough against those attacks that I can live long enough to hammer down a couple of bosses, at which point the threat is greatly reduced. That said, while your build gives up the psi resistance, it does add some psi defense, so that part might even out. I had Power Crash in my build at one point and... I'm not over-fond of it. With the taunt aura, enemies always seem to want to surround me anyway, so getting much use out of its cone is difficult, and the interaction with Energy Focus is kinda useless since I can never manage to saturate its cone even before that is factored in (since it doesn't actually make the cone any larger), so it basically wastes an Energy Focus charge that would be better used on my next ET. That said, some of your ideas on slotting things may be useful when my EM/Inv Brute gets to higher level, so it's still helpful. EDIT: I need to check, but I think ET -> TF -> EP -> ET -> BS -> EP may be a viable rotation that is better than using WH in pure single-target situations. Thank you!

So, I'm getting close to having my second 50, as Stardriver has hit 46 now, so it's time to start figuring out her build (even if I can't afford all the stuff to go in it yet, I want to make sure I'm building in the right direction). Energy Aura is a new experience for me, as is building for a typed defense set rather than a positional one. Intended attack chain is Long ET -> TF -> Short ET -> BS -> WH -> repeat. I don't know if I have enough recharge for it, though I can get pretty close now when Entropic Aura is saturated and I don't have all the LotG's or any of the purples yet (obviously, since I'm not 50 yet). Thus, EP is still slotted as I currently have to use it as a gap filler. I don't know if I will still need that when this is done or not. No snipe (I know it's customary for EM scrappers to take one) because I can't fit either of the available ones in the concept. I have WH and EP to fill in my attack chain as needed. You'll notice I'm mostly six-slotting my attack sets here instead of going for additional procs; limited experience thus far suggests that I need the psi resistance to survive against large spawns of Carnies. I'm certainly not hurting for single-target damage as it stands, so I feel like that's a fair compromise, but I'm open to suggestions as to how this could be handled better. Negative remains a bit of a hole, but nothing I can't solve with a purple. Feedback is greatly appreciated. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Stardriver: Level 50 Mutation Scrapper Primary Power Set: Energy Melee Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Energy Punch -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(3), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mk'Bit-Dam%(25) Level 1: Kinetic Shield -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(7), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Rct-Def/Rchg(9), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Rct-ResDam%(11) Level 2: Bone Smasher -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Hct-Acc/Rchg(17), Hct-Dam%(19), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(19) Level 4: Dampening Field -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(21), ImpArm-ResDam(21), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(23), ImpArm-ResPsi(23) Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 8: Power Shield -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(27), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27), ShlWal-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(29) Level 10: Entropic Aura -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 12: Fly -- Flight-I(A) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31) Level 16: Energy Protection -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(31), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(31), Ags-Psi/Status(33) Level 18: Whirling Hands -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Arm-Acc/Rchg(33), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Arm-Dam%(34), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(34) Level 20: Energy Cloak -- ShlWal-Def(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(36), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(36), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(37) Level 22: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 26: Total Focus -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(39) Level 28: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(40), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(40), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40) Level 30: Energize -- NmnCnv-Heal(A), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(42), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(42), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 32: Energy Transfer -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(42), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(45) Level 35: Energy Drain -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(45) Level 38: Weave -- RedFrt-Def(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(45), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 44: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--Build%(50) Level 49: Evasive Maneuvers -- Flight-I(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Rest -- Heal-I(A) Level 1: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 1: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Heal(11), Prv-Absorb%(13), Prv-Heal(13) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(15) Level 1: Energy Focus Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Portal Jockey Level 50: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Task Force Commander Level 12: Afterburner ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1466;654;1308;HEX;| |78DA55935B4F13511485CFD029A52D2D56EEF73B94162A359A784DBC0006948458F| |4CDE040A7A5DAB4CDB418F91BBEF862345140FD1B3E7AFD1BBE70F196E853DD74AD| |03C324ED377B9D73F6DEEB9C338B4F671A3399B96BCA08DFCC5BE5F24A6ACDB14A2| |5DB6958DCA858955CB1A0E409A42A969376724F6CC72761B79EB4B268E76D3B315B| |B09DEC26829EA3B1193B6317CA47A3D7371C4B05978AC57C622E9FCBAE5702B5F75| |4C9B6D321C8876AAE903D1945664BB9B5C48D625A0A58E58AED6C76480BA3F27B11| |933FE3B03F55F5AA8C60DC547559721D3473E423B0E3B13029719B7BF19EA726D6E| |F930760C30FF22718F805BE8CE9B5B2D818ABAB89E118782A4A4E80A7E3E438E895| |CA1E56363DEDF2D66BAA96B3C8DC12356A6DB68D9013E02BA9E8E522C31B87870EB| |25E32FA7446DF1C3275CD93B7C19E05B2D5A8D1278BFC5CA4FC83C81494E30D6A31| |380C7148C490AE1D62CD3EB241D23471D0D3740EB9FBA6C92438701E7C2D2E227AD| |F2217B01F0397C8CBE0E015F22A7911F44BA566EDB2996E86E976F81649D72374E9| |97DE5BB5A1568A8688ED5A6CEF829137D25BA7BE109D1F99E613F9191CFB427E25B| |F811EC9D8AD77A1FB1FC4F1DFE41FF22F6F9118E9D5467AEFA1A78914B90C4EDD07| |9377C12D69AF5FB7D7FFD0C4640B8CAD926B641A9CB4C1A0541CE2BE1B4311649CE| |46E98D2FBA8EE7D34CCC100DB0891CD604A2C44F5D645790776424AC5B5187F8EE3| |5A969909DD70620BE2996D72877C0B26DF91EFC10FE2769A0DAB69DEC37EF3F893A| |DF6B802A57886774E88531097CCE38F551923107703EE992CB077428C42DC77891E| |B580CF31300F36EEE2481BBF8307AEC986E24E849F81DB31A59F6A75496626B5990| |7EE60D51D58EE40C931067582FF047FC11D| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

It could have been before that, as far as I know. I was on hiatus from the game (I did that pretty regularly, to keep from burning out) at the time that they announced they were closing it down. Think I missed Issue 22 and 23 entirely. But during the time that I was actually playing on Live, it was never as bad as it is on HC, at any level or in any build. To put it in other terms, I never felt the lack of a taunt aura on Live. Didn't feel that much difference between my characters that had one and those that didn't. Sure, there were runners from time to time, but it never felt like a problem on Live. On HC, I actively miss the presence of that taunt aura anytime I don't have it.

I never had problems with Elite Bosses running away in the old days (not counting Nemesis, who always runs after he puts his forcefield up, but he's a special case). I never had the Kronos Class Titan run from me in the old days. I sure as hell never had an Elite Boss run away from a level 12 blaster in the old days! And as noted, I have seen this kind of thing in characters that were slotted entirely with DO's. You don't believe me because you don't want to believe me, but it's true, and I'm not the only person who is seeing it.

You're missing my point. Runners happened on live, but never to the degree that we see here, not just in high-level characters or high-end builds, but throughout the level range and even in low-end builds that don't do significantly more damage than on Live. I have seen excessive runners even with characters that are slotted with DO's! Something has been changed, and the flee behavior is broken.

Nope, because it doesn't just happen at high level or with high-end builds. It happens throughout the entire level range, and even with characters who have crappy builds (I should know; being relatively new to Homecoming, I don't exactly have huge amounts of inf yet, so I have been leveling characters in low-budget builds constantly since I started here a few weeks ago). The difference between leveling my Claws/SR and DB/SR, who lack taunt auras, vs. my Energy Melee/Energy Aura, DB/WP, and Kinetic Melee/WP, who have taunt auras, is dramatic. EDIT: In fact, let me go so far as to point out that my Electric/Electric blaster had Chernobog (an Elite Boss) fleeing from me at level 12 (EDIT: Actually, I think she was level 11 at the time. She's level 12 now). Which, since she's a blaster, utterly trivialized that fight. Which is broken in an entirely different way.

For what it's worth, Scrappers don't want a taunt aura to hold aggro, for the most part. We don't want to be tankers. But right now, the flee code is broken and chasing runners all the time is really, really frustrating. If they fix the flee code back to the way it was on Live, we won't need a taunt aura. But the way it is right now, we do.

I mean, I'd take a taunt aura pool power on my Claws/SR in a heartbeat (probably drop Elude for it), but at the same time it would be kind of annoying to have to take a pool power as a band-aid to fix the broken flee code.

Or just fix the flee code so that freakin' AV's (and everything else under the sun, too) aren't spectacular cowards. It wasn't this way on Live. That said, the supposed "reason" why some sets have a Taunt Aura and not others is because those sets have an aura power (such as Invincibility which gives +def for every enemy in its area, or Entropic Aura which gives +rech for each, or RttC which gives +regen for each, etc.) which scales its effects based on how many people are in the area of the aura, therefore they get a Taunt component to help keep enemies in that area. This is a bogus reason, as it's not at all necessary for those powers to function, it just makes them more efficient... in the exact same way that having a Taunt aura makes ANY scrapper more efficient - it keeps enemies close in where your AoE powers (including said auras) can get to them!

Re-reading this thread, I feel compelled to say, "This, except he forgot Shadowmeld." Mostly because that was what my katana/regen used on Live to patch Regen's deficiencies. Worked pretty well, but even with that my Katana/Regen was never as strong as my Claws/SR or my Dark/Dark or even my Kinetic Melee/WP (though, admittedly, the Katana/Regen had better DPS because Kinetic Melee). She was strong enough to be fun, though, and that was all that mattered.

As others have said: WP is easier to level until about 35, which is when SR really starts to come into its own. This is when SR actually gets its AoE defense toggle (which really, really, really ought to come earlier!) Also, WP is easier on end after level 20 because of Quick Recovery. That said, once you get to level 35, /SR is generally a stronger set. Also, while /SR doesn't offer as much of an offensive boost as Shield or Energy Aura, it does offer a small chunk of free +recharge in Quickness, as well as free movement speed. Note that SR, being primarily focused on defense as it is, has a few specific villain groups you need to watch out for. Now, Rulaaru you aren't going to see much unless you go looking for them, so they're not so much a factor, but Devouring Earth with Quartz emanators can be very dangerous if you don't kill the Quartz really fast. That said, my primary bane in the 40-50 range as /SR is Nemesis, because of Vengeance stacking. Of course, if you're running at +0/x1, this will never be a problem as a single stack of Vengeance isn't an issue. It only becomes a problem when you start facing much larger spawns with multiple lieutenants that can provide multiple stacks of Vengeance. Even then, as long as you are careful to weed out the bosses and minions before you kill the lt.'s, it's generally not an issue... it's just something you have to be aware of. By contrast, /SR completely laughs at the faction that the resistance and regeneration sets (including /WP) really hate in level 35-50 content, that being Malta. If they can't hit you, they can't debuff you, and they can't drain your endurance, and for this reason SR has a very easy time with Malta compared to Willpower. I can attest to this personally as Malta are actually one of my favorite factions to fight on my /SR, and I got spoiled by it... when my DB/WP scrapper got into the 40's, I discovered that Sappers are a vastly more dire threat to /WP than they are to /SR. Actually, there's another reason why /SR doesn't have to worry about Malta so much, and that comes down to one of the little quirks of /SR (a quirk that is shared by Shield Defense, incidentally). In /SR, your mez protection is not a toggle power. It's a long-duration click. This can be a little bit of a hassle in that you'll probably have to devote your autofire to it, which means you can't set Hasten on autofire and will have to remember to hit Hasten manually when it comes up. That's a minor annoyance, though, in comparison to its benefit, which is this: getting detoggled on /SR doesn't drop your mez protection. So, even if Mr. Sapper does manage to roll his 5% hit chance two or three times in a row (I have seen it happen) and steal all your end, causing your toggles to drop? You still have mez protection. If you can pop a couple of purples (or an Incarnate power like Barrier) to bridge the gap in defense until you can get your toggles back up, you can keep on fighting like nothing happened. Or you can just pop a blue and hit Elude and not even worry about your toggles (just don't forget to wait for the crash after you clear the spawn if you do that). By contrast, on my /WP I find that if I get detoggled fighting a pack of Malta, I am immediately held and then pummeled into oblivion before I can get Indomitable Will back up or pop Strength of Will. So, every set has its advantages and disadvantages. /SR handles some villain groups better than /WP, and /WP handles some villain groups better than /SR. That said, I think in the overall balance of things, /SR is stronger than /WP at high level. That said, /WP is easier to level, and is a reasonably solid set all around. /WP also comes with a taunt aura, albeit a weak one, which is a nice thing to have on any scrapper with the way enemies like to run away these days. Something else you should probably be aware of is that your own personal playstyle will also influence your experrience with each set.. My personal preference is for /SR, to the extent that when my DB/WP scrapper hit level 41, my "I should have rolled this character as an /SR" impulse hit the breaking point and I rolled up a DB/SR. The DB/WP is now at level 42, and the DB/SR is now at level 31, which says something about the relative play time allotted to each since then. That said, both of the DB's are hoverscrappers, and /SR offers a significant advantage for a hoverscrapper in that Quickness boosts flight speed (and can be slotted for flight speed), and that was a non-trivial factor in the decision. Mostly, though, /SR just feels better to me. And that's something you can only decide for yourself after trying the sets. Regardless of which you choose, you'll get a pretty strong character out of it and you'll learn how you feel about whichever set you choose, which will inform your future choices. (And it should be noted, I don't hate /WP by any means. I have a Katana/WP and, in fact, a Street Justice/WP that I quite enjoy, though both are still low level, and a Kinetic Melee/Wp at level 31 who is a lot of fun even if Kinetic Melee has abysmal damage output. It's just my DB/WP that gave me that "I coulda had an /SR" feeling.).

The Girl in the Picture - Addendum: Hero of the City (featuring Serina Willmore, a.k.a. Kitten America) She stared down at the medal in her hand with a certain sense of disbelief. It seemed it had been only yesterday that she'd been just another SERAPH lab assistant, watching the heroes come and go with a certain sense of awe and no small amount of envy. Everything that had happened since seemed almost unreal, like a waking dream. She reflected on the adventures that had passed since that fateful day when she had been so changed. She'd hardly known what she was doing at all when she started. Her first costume, with the open vest, had been a mistake; sure, it had *felt* nice over her fur, but she'd quickly learned better than to wear clothing that wouldn't stay in place during a backflip. The claws had at least been a better purchase. She didn't use those so much anymore, not since she'd gotten the Vanguard energy blades, but they'd served her well in many battles. She remembered the first time those claws had cut flesh, the first time she'd drawn blood in battle. She remembered the mixed sense of revulsion and elation as her predatory instincts kicked in. She remembered her first encounter with a gun, and the terrible rush of fear and excitement as she found herself having to dodge bullets--and found herself able to do so. So many things had been so frightening then, and seemed so minor now. A Hellion punk with a handgun, a Vahzilok zombie, the crowd of Skulls on a street corner just within sight of her bedroom window... all these things had been grave threats once, and only the feral surge that came with using her powers had kept her from fleeing in terror from those early battles. Now, she knew she was made of stronger stuff. She'd fought Council stormtroopers, and sinister corporate agents. She'd earned countless honors in battle against the Rikti invaders, and she'd put down the vile schemes of the mighty Nemesis. She'd faced off against the shadowy Malta group, and done battle with evil mystics deep beneath the Earth. She'd even fought Lord Recluse himself, and somehow won the day. And while she might not have ended any of those threats, she'd held them in check, and kept the city safe time and again. She remembered looking at heroes, admiring them, wondering what it must be like to live as they did, free to soar the skies or leap from building to building. She remembered trying to comprehend the courage it took to face down the great evils that plagued Paragon City. She smiled, remembering her innocence, her naivete about what it really meant to be a hero. She'd had some things right, even then. It took courage, and determination. More than that, it took faith... faith in the ideas of justice and freedom. It took sacrifice to protect those ideas from those who would trample them underfoot. It took love... love of life, and love for the city she stood and guarded. And it took a city, a City of Heroes, that stood behind its defenders and refused to cower before evil's fury. She was proud to serve that city, and proud of the honor it had bestowed on her. Even more than that, though, she finally felt confident that the old Serina, the smiling girl in the picture on that old SERAPH ID badge, would have approved of her deeds. She placed the medal in its small display, setting it beneath that old ID badge. It just seemed like the right place for it. For once, she thought, the words said it all. Serina "Kitten America" Willmore Hero of the City 6 December 2008 [This is the date I originally wrote this piece, the date the original Kitten hit SL50]