[How should I Scrap?]

4 hours ago, Sarah_ said:

how should I scrap?

 

With reckless abandon.  Out of the two suggestions above, mace is a late bloomer because better damage but more endurance hassles.  Honestly I think everything works with bio.

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

1 hour ago, Ukase said:

It's hard to do that and share bad jokes. explain things fully, to try and answer questions preemptively. 

 

Feel free to also answer questions emptively and postemptively.

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

21 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

1 (one).

 

Then do /emote dice twice and add that many zeros.

Huzzah!  You get 100.

 

Lucky for me it wasn't a pair of sixes (1,000,000,000,000)

 

*Mails Yomo my leftover shrimp and grits from Monday's dinner*

 

Shrimp are basically water fleas, you cannibal

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

37 minutes ago, BlackSpectre said:

It’s difficult to act in a way that is always considerate (too many hidden variables), but regardless it is a worthy goal to strive for… and this is what I consider the gist of what you’ve been saying, kind sir.  🙂 

 

Be kind and thoughtful, or else I'll cut you!

[Why have Incarnate switch cooling times?]

On 10/29/2025 at 9:04 AM, Andreah said:

Because if it weren't like that, it would be possible to exploit it massively. Most good intentioned people wouldn't, but enough would that it's one of those nice things we can't have.

 

I agree.  The answer I have to the OPs question is:  you can't do that probably for the exact same reason that you want to do that -- it will make your character much more powerful and the PTB don't think that's a good idea.  And I agree with them as well.

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

8 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

Other people getting the gift may not feel the same way.

How do they say it "don't look a gift horse in the mouth"? It is intended as a gift, and wasn't given out of disrespect.

 

Fair enough.  I fell victim to conflating my experiences and my opinions, so let me give some more concrete examples that happen with frequency.  (Also, I just like the word 'detritus'.)

 

1.  Someone comes up to my new alt in Atlas and sends a tell, "Hey, would you like some influence or [insert item here]?"  Awesome.  That's kind and thoughtful and behavior I try to emulate.  No problems, I decline politely and gratefully, and feel slightly better about the community here.  10% of the time.

 

2.  Someone comes up to my new alt in Atlas and opens a trade window without any preamble.  I do not enjoy this, because it is interfering with whatever else I am doing at the moment, be it crafting, /AHing, trying to find or start a team, or sending lewd messages to provocatively dressed and willing robot characters.  I shut down the trade window.  Sometimes they try to open the trade window again two or three more times.  This is not a major inconvenience, to be sure, but it is also not a major inconvenience for the person to take the time and effort to send a tell and ask me if I want or need anything.  30% of the time.

 

3.  Someone comes up to my new alt in Atlas and gifts me directly something nice, like a Panacea without any preamble.  Not a time or window suck for me, since it happens automatically, and generally I won't even notice at the time.  This is good because they are doing what they think is something nice, and this is bad because it removes me from agency.  I don't need a Panacea; I don't want a Panacea; this gift would be better off in the hands of someone who needs or wants it and I wish you had taken the time to figure that out.  So 10/10 for good intent, but 0/10 on execution.  5% of the time.

 

4.  Someone comes up to my new alt in Atlas and gifts me things like their unwanted SOs or snipe recipes without any preamble.  I get it that they are presumably not doing this to grief me and fill my inventory, although I have my suspicions.  But I don't really want to take the stuff that you don't want to be bothered to sell at the vendor.  Vend it yourself, then offer the inf to someone who wants it.  I'm stretching the metaphor here, but it's as if I see a homeless person in need on the streets and hand them my half eaten tuna sandwich and a used battery because they can eat my leftovers and sell the battery to someone who needs it.  I'm not doubting the giver's intent to do good, but it's really not helping the recipient as much as it is helping you get rid of your garbage and trying to feel good about it.  This habit of giving rankles me, and seems to happen about 55% of the time.

 

My objective for giving is clear communication.  Give to people who want and need it.  Give a preamble.  Heck, give an amble and a postamble as well.  I realize this is my opinion that has been shaped by my personal mores and experiences over the years, both in and out of game, and I realize I am more likely to benchpress the Atlas statue than to get anyone else to start sending tells before giving anybody anything.

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

When I was doing my giveaways, I made sure that people needed to come to me and ask which is why I did it through in-game email.  There are many many times I've been playing a brand new alt and someone runs up and tries to give me inf or items without even a word, and I find that really offputting.  I understand that they are trying to be nice, but no, I don't need or want your detritus to sell.  I'll get my own.

[How inf much is “just enough” to give?]

9 hours ago, BlackSpectre said:

The holidays are fast approaching and benevolent heroes everywhere will be offering gifts and charity to fellow players. 
 

Imagine a new player. They’re struggling to scrape together the inf to purchase SOs, salvage and recipes and rising to the challenge. They constantly complain that they don’t have enough to purchase what they want, but they’re also motivated to acquire it. When they finally get their item they are elated. Super happy and in turn proud of their accomplishment. Now imagine a kind and well meaning player suddenly dumps 1 Billion inf on them as a gift… obviously it would abolish the struggle and the joy that comes from that struggle. Would we really want to do that? Or would a small gift be better? And if so, how much would be enough?

Back on live I calculated that it would cost about 17.5 million inf to slot DOs and SOs from level 1-50. Homecoming’s enhancement costs are probably lower, but I haven’t done the calculations so I don’t really know. Would 10 mil inf be too much? Would there be a better amount? 

 

 

I hear you.  Maybe this dated thread will help give you more data:

 

 

[Could Cross Punch be a smidge wider for Tankers?]

Only if you increase the +defense on Combat Jumping for Dominators.

[Titan Weapon Scrapper or Brute??]

On 9/16/2025 at 8:02 AM, WuTang said:

Also, which powers in TW are considered "skippable?" Right now in my build, and since the secondary is Ele, I've skipped Defensive Sweep. I've also skipped Follow Through, but mainly only because I wasn't sure how momentum worked (still don't) and being locked out of an attack waiting on a proc seemed less than ideal to my brain.

 

When I play TW on scrappers, I always keep Defensive sweep and usually skip Titan sweep.  The +def from Def sweep helps a ton on a resistance based build.

[Hardware V WiFi]

Something that you might want to keep in mind is how you use your computer and what else you have running at the same time.  I am a unrepentant multi-tasker, I've got a browser up with about fifty tabs, and I'm running about 5-10 applications at a time.  Some are more intensive than others and yeah you nailed it a lot of the time the bottleneck is internet connectivity.  I have recently started using Obsidian and although I love its functionality, it cuts my connectivity to a bare minimum so I try not to use it while I'm also playing something like coH.

 

[The current state of the market - thoughts?]

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

The panaceas...someone is clearly playing in that area.

 

I'm not going to say this is me, and I'm not going to say this is not me, but this is me.  It's all me.

[Experimentation and Adrenal Booster]

On 10/10/2025 at 4:38 PM, Championess said:

To me I'd always recommend taking an origin pool, they tend to have real quality stuff if you build into it a little.

 

I'm not sure if I want to emphasize this because I usually do this, or because it's a smart play.  A little from column A, a little from column B.

 

I often make alternate builds for my high end scrappers:  1. Force of Will; 2. Experimentation; 3. Sorcery.  I don't make the third one often, but when I do it's a doozy

 

 

[Experimentation and Adrenal Booster]

46 minutes ago, Ukase said:

Corrosive Vial looks nice. I like a good debuff, but this is just a defense debuff. I'd prefer a resist debuff. I generally go with the kismet and tactics, plus a few purple sets, so accuracy isn't often a concern. 

 

Throw in Achilles Heel and Annihilation procs.  It's frankly overpowered.

 

47 minutes ago, Ukase said:

Does anyone use Adrenal Boost?

 

If you've got a free power slot, sure.  I originally thought it helped your resistance to confuse or terrorize, which would make it more useful in certain situations, but it looks like it just adds duration to your confuse and terrorize powers, which is niche to the point of absurdity.

 

for Experimentation builds, I'll go with Experimental Injection (base slot, Preventative proc), Speed of Sound (base slot, Universal travel slow protection proc) and Corrosive vial with 2 to 5 total slots.  Adrenal Boost is fine if you have room for it, but it's hardly necessary.

[Kill the Surgeons…]

Earlier this year, I was on a PUG ITF and one of the members of our group was wearing the Cim Surgeon costume for the entire ITF.  It was brilliant.

[Lag from the endless times - or perhaps endless lag? Anyone else?]

My endless lag

 

 

[Hibernate (Scrapper Leviathan patron pool version) inconsistencies]

I very recently resurrected a Battle Axe/Ice Armor/Leviathan scrapper and updated it for the relatively recent changes in Battle Axe and Ice Armor.  I have both Icy Bastion (which seems to act a lot now like Hibernate before being deactivated) and Hibernate, and I use them both in solo +4/x8 general play.  After at least a dozen missions, I have noticed some inconsistencies in Hibernate that I've never noticed before.  This might be due to the fact I've never used it frequently before, but here goes.  These are specifically about Hibernate and not Icy Bastion, although I suspect they might be interacting in an unintended manner.  

 

1.  Sometimes enemy damage breaks through after activation when I'm Untouchable.  The way this happens is that damage comes in while the power is still activated.  Not often, and yes, I'm sure that this is occurring after the 0.75 second activation time because the health regeneration and endurance recovery has already kicked in.  Maybe I'm not sure what Untouchable Mag 1000 means, but this is in the middle of one or two x8 mobs.  I'm fighting mostly Nemesis right now, so I'm thinking that maybe this is an effect of stacked Vengeance?

 

2.  Sometimes Hibernate breaks, much like I've observed Geode breaking in the past.  Again, not often, but maybe one every other mission.  I believe Geode is designed to break if enough damage is taken, but Hibernate is not designed that way.  The way this happens is that the power is activated and functioning and after a few seconds the power is deactivated and put into cooldown.  If intended, I can only imagine that this has something to do with an Untouchable timer, since Icy Bastion and Hibernate each involve the Untouchable status.

 

3.  Sometimes the Hibernate button greys out for a period of several seconds or much longer.  This happens the most (every few minutes) and I'm suspecting that this has something to do with Icy Bastion being previously activated but it is not consistent.  Sometimes it happens when I haven't used either power for at least several minutes.  I've been suffering a lot of lag in my current circumstances so I think that might also be a factor

[The current state of the market - thoughts?]

3 hours ago, Bananiac said:

 

Do you mean to imply... that players are ... NOT ... making new characters all the time?!? I don't understand...

 

The rate at which new characters are created has decreased for various reasons, while the rate at which new IOs are created has increased for various reasons.

[Crafted Enhancements - Black Market Grouping - Split Up]

On 10/4/2025 at 4:18 PM, Troo said:

 

It's great that enhancements can be crafted low and sold high.

Sometimes though, I wonder if this is fair to lower level characters who are progressing normally through the game?

 

B-b-but they all have the same trading history?!?!?

 

WITCHCRAFT!!!

 

[The RNG of converting]

On 10/3/2025 at 9:27 PM, Andreah said:

I guided an advanced AI through this thread, and it had these observations to offer.

 

I've been noodling around on my Ultimate Enhancement Guide for years now, but I keep getting bogged down.  Partly due to the fact I want to avoid tables like the ones above.  At this point in my existence, I may be more artificial than intelligent, but it is interesting to see what an AI or two came up with.

 

 

[Axe/Ice questions]

Looking at this thread, I pulled out an old lvl 50 scrapper that pre-dated both the upgrades to Ice Armor and Battle Axe named, imaginatively enough, Ice Axe.  I'm in the process of running her through the paces in this newer gentler world, but here are some thoughts so far:

 

On 9/24/2025 at 4:31 PM, Wolfboy1 said:

1. Plug the Psi def (or res) in Ice without gimping everything else? 

 

I'm generally not a fan of non-positional typed defense, but frankly I don't worry too much about this to be honest.  Since I'm running through all sorts of content, I won't make a specific "psi enemy" build and I'll just make up the difference with healing/regeneration and oh shit buttons.  I've got three builds on this one:  a Force of Will build, an Experimentation build, and I'm working on the Sorcery build now.  Lots of oh shit buttons out there!

 

On 9/24/2025 at 4:31 PM, Wolfboy1 said:

3. The ST chain...is Gash not something that should be used (keep in mind im leveling with this currently).

 

I try to have both a ST chain and an AoE chain.  For Axe, I usually find that Cleave, Chop, and Swoop are sufficient because I'll have a ranged attack from an epic pool, I'll have a Force Feedback proc in Cleave that helps, and there are other buttons to push for Ice Armor that keep me upright.  If I were going for pylon times, I'd focus more on ST options.  As a leveling build, yeah, it's tough at first and I'd consider taking another attack or two at lower levels that you respec out of later.  Honestly, I pick up Kick pretty early and use it until about level 12 or so.

 

On 9/24/2025 at 4:31 PM, Wolfboy1 said:

2. Where should the Scrapper ATO's be slotted?

 

My basic ST chain is Cleave, Chop, Swoop, +.  My basic AoE chain (and AoE is glorious on this alt) is Cleave, Axe Whirlpool, Pendulum.  As such, I go against the grain and put the Crit Strikes proc in Cleave.  It has a good chance of activation for a small AoE, and since I spend 95% of my time fighting x8 hordes, it activates a ton.  I'll put a FF +rech in Axe Black Hole and/or Pendulum as well, and I generally skip out of Hasten because that proc is going to be dinging like crazy.  

 

Normally for a non-defense based scrapper, I'll split the Scrapper's Strike 3-3 for the extra defense bonus, but I'll probably 5 or 6 slot the set in Swoop since I don't really need it.

[New rare enhancers that grant status protection in Karma/Steadfast Protection]

The issue with status protection in this game is that there are haves and have nots.  Melee classes get seemingly tons of status protection, and non-melee do not.  It has always been that way -- I'm not saying that's right or correct, but it is intentionally done by design.  In fact, I feel like if anything, the push is to make status protection more precarious for those classes with free status protection -- see what happens when you are fighting big mobs of Malta and your scrapper gets held for a few seconds because there was a short overlap of magnitude, or at the introduction of FREEM.

 

I'm not a big fan of arbitrarily adding rules or tools that help one subset of players over another, and I'm also not a fan of adding rules or tools that don't apply to both players and mobs.  So my unpopular view would be if new status protection tools need to be introduced, they should somehow be useful to ATs that don't currently need them (like how Rune of Protection provides resistance, so that melee classes could also get some benefit from it) and should also apply to mobs.  Yes, that would ruin crowd control based ATs, but hey, at least you wouldn't get held anymore.

[The current state of the market - thoughts?]

On 9/27/2025 at 3:29 PM, Ukase said:

I was making a billion a day..not every day. But most days. 

I don't know who's willing to spend 4.4M to list for less than 8M. After the salvage cost, and the cost of converters, the profit margin is slimmer than it's ever been. I still have my lowbie bids on the recipes. And one of them has filled in the last two weeks. 

 

Good times.  

[Disconnect Time]

6 hours ago, Skyhawke said:

 

Oh lord, he's outsourcing the work!

Step 1:  establish reputation 

Step 2: outsource based on that reputation 

Step 3:  …

Step 4: Profit!

[If you were a ghost, what powers would you have??]

Haunting.  I am going to haunt the crap out of all of you.