Ukase

The road to pixel wealth in CoH has many paths. Some are better than others. But, in order to be really helpful, we need more information. How much time are you willing to invest? Do you have a second account? How much influence do you have to invest? (technically, you don't need any) Have you read Yomo's latest guide/adventure, the meandering path to a billion? No point in my reciting it. Look through this very market forum. Some guides even have pictures.

I play some to 50 and stop without incarnate. I play some to 50 +3, t-4 in all slots. Some I play to 50 +3, t-4 in multiple options in slots. (more than 1 destiny, interface, etc.) Some haven't made it to 50, but this is usually because they aren't that much fun, not because of anything else.

Numbers aside, I will be transparent. I have never done an Apex with a melee character, except once. We got the Master, but Apex Mastery is simple. Still, I am reluctant to do Apex simply because of the annoyance of having to move away in between attacks because of the blue patches. Magisterium Trial is another example of where playing a melee character annoys me. Move in, move out, etc. With ranged, I still have to move, but I can attack as I move. It's safer, easier. So, my thinking is that even if math were to not support the blaster, the blaster would still edge out because of the flexibility of ranged attacks vs melee. I do acknowledge that I've played probably 20x more hours as a ranged character than as a melee. So, it could very well by my own playstyle that flavors my opinion.

Ice blast is soooo much better than a silly corruptor. No need to worry about scourge because with ice blast, they're already dead. I've played both. The ice corruptor isn't bad, mind you, but ice blast is still very much the best blast set. I don't care what the numbers say about fire. Ice has far better mitigation as you level. For level 50 play, the fire has an edge, but leveling - I'll take ice every time. The corruptor is good in team play, given the secondary. But, it's also a bit busy, as you have to pay attention to a lot more than just your own hp. You have 1000 slots - make both and you tell us what you think.

I also can confirm an anecdotal experience like this, but also after having parked characters for a lengthy period of time for, say, a day job. Parked a character for a day job. Badge acquired, Log in, run mission, purple. Three times. Didn't happen on the 4th and 5th, happened on the 6th.

Shield/Mace Tank Fire/Fire/Mace Blaster Ice/Ice/Mace Blaster Fire/Rad Corruptor Ice/Kin Corruptor Ice/Cold Corruptor Rad/Stone Tank Ill/Dark Controller Controller and Ice Corruptors would have perma-hasten, the Cold Corruptor would have burnout with heat loss. So, you'd have 6 rains, 3 Blizzards (2, plus the 1 after burnout use) dropping within a very short time frame, plus two infernos with fulcrum shift. So, a pretty big initial blast of damage. 3 scourges to whittle things down the rest of the way.

Can I just say I enjoyed this? And I learned something! Me! A player who did similarly, got a billion in a week without really trying hard, just about 15-20 minutes a day, twice a day. While you bought common salvage on the cheap from the AH, I've been scouring the AH for cheap rare recipes. Buy 'em for 100 to 3K and sell them for 5k-10K.

I do think the Vanguard Merit currently is in the same position as threads and emps and astrals were back in live for non-incarnate trials. On live, you'd run a mission at +4/8, clear a good sized map and come away with maybe 10-12 threads. With no astrals or emps as a reward, just the reward table, and you could only do it once a day, I think. It was woefully insufficient unless you did iTrials. The Vanguard Merit drop rate is also insufficient in all content other than MSRs. Is that for the best? A number of players do MSRs every day. Some even level their characters doing ONLY MSRs. Some probably do it for the social chatter, but I think the predominant motivation is easy xp/merit conversion once they get the badges associated, as well as the hvas and the salvage sack. Because of that, I don't think many would take advantage of this proposed system, unless the drops were meaningful, and it's difficult to see how meaningful they would be with the suggestion drop rates. //begin mini-rant I would personally love it if the open zone MSR went by the way of the dodo bird. While most are polite and out for fun, it's nauseating to read/hear the same myths about stealth impacting spawns and/or taunt. Yesterday I was teamed with a level 4. That's reason alone to do the instanced msrs with Apparition. I can't pretend to understand why this bothers me so much, but it does. Call it a pet peeve. I just don't see why I have to use all my powers while they just use brawl and a t-1 attack from their primary, if that. It's no secret that most that do an MSR put an attack on auto, and tab out and do something else, checking back in every few minutes. Support characters just spam heals on auto. Blasters will put some AoE attack on auto if they have it, if not, they target through a pet a single target attack. I would venture to say only 25% of the non-melee players are actively attacking/buffing as they would in a conventional mission.

I like the idea of tying things to other content. The buffs, though, I'm on the fence about the strength of them. Candidly, players that use IO sets simply won't need them. I don't know the percentage of players that use IO sets...but I'd guess more than half. Granted, just because folks use sets doesn't mean their characters are slotted well (not necessarily min-max, but with various metrics like recharge and defense in mind). Obviously, opinions will vary on this, but that's just mine.

Well...mathematically, it's true, but it's defeats within a mission map are half debt.

For me, I have fond memories of taking my first fire/fire tank at level 36-37 into Crey's Folly and burning freaks up to level 39, when I noticed the xp wasn't rolling in as fast because I'd outleveled them. It was fast. I was solo, just burning them up, and I didn't have to spend time checking in with a contact, traveling to a mission, etc. ITF didn't exist back then. lol, a lot of the game didn't exist back then. When HC opened up, I set about to revisit this, and I discover the Super Stunner. This is an npc that I believe was implemented before shut down to combat the very thing I was doing. Leveling efficiently without help from others. The darn thing would drain my end a bit, and place that patch on my burn patch..and instead of things being easy, it was something I had to pay attention to. So..I found something else to do. Players are like water for the most part. Mostly going in the path of least resistance. This is why hazard zones are largely ignored, imo. (yes, there are players that seek out challenges and difficult content, but I think these players are fairly rare) So...the only way I can think of making hazard zones more populated would be to increase the rewards for the mobs within them.

My grandmother used to say, "If you're bored, it's because you're boring". I can understand finding them (or any other npc faction) a bit routine. I consider the Warriors to be an element in the game that makes the suspension of disbelief less necessary. All criminals don't wear flashy spandex with sparks flying from their fingers and farts. I don't find them boring any more than freaks, arachnos or the overly-noisy cimerorans. If you were to change anything, change the dialogue while fighting them, or at other points within the arc. If you suffer defeat, I can just imagine something along the lines of, "Ha! You might have the hitpoints of a security level 25 @archtype, but you fight like a level 7 hellion!" or "That's what happens when you spend too much time in a fire farm"

I can't believe I didn't notice this before. The Shield Wall unique boosts resistance of all damage types 5%, not 3%.

First - to the OP - probably an oversight, but purples are called Very Rare, not Rare. But, anecdotally, they're not very rare. They drop routinely. Just not all for the same person. In my specific case, I learned last year that I was allowed to have 3 accounts. When I made the third account, that seemed to be when things started to go much better. Kind of like fishing with nets. The more nets you have, the more fish you're likely to get. The more missions you run/(mobs you defeat) the more purples you'll get. IF you were only after purples, it would make sense to drop the difficulty to get through the mobs faster - more mobs in less time means more chances at a purple per time interval. But - many aren't just after that. Power leveling alts and/or friends can factor into that decision. I remember once thinking I did something wrong when I got 4 purples in 11 minutes. Even sent a petition thinking I broke something or found some kind of exploit. They told me I was just very lucky. Non-farm characters, anecdotally, I can tell you, they get more purples when they haven't been played in several days to a week. It's happened to me often enough where I think there's something to that, but then I log on a long neglected alt, and no purple. Weird how perception bias works. Windfalls, there's something about them. I don't think they work as intended, if they work at all. They certainly don't increase influence gain. But anyways, I digress. Yeah, they can be streaky. But I've gotten more than I'll likely ever use. In addition to stocking the bins in my own sg, I've stocked the bins in my own sg. I've over 700 + stashed. Dunno if I'll ever use them. I keep thinking the devs will do something about farming to negatively impact afk-farming, and when they do, I expect the price of purples to increase. I aim to be prepared.

It wouldn't bother me...but so many players now PL to 50, picking powers in no particular order. I would venture most of them use level 50 IOs instead of attuned, and they would think themselves seriously gimped if exemped below 45.

I very rarely actively farm. I do the afk route. And from what I see of the rad/fire builds, they are less sturdy outside of the farm than the spines. But, as they say, your experience may vary. I really should make one just to play around with it, but for some reason, I haven't. I think it's because I don't like rad melee. On my tank, I found the animations to be longer, and sluggish. I can't imagine they'd be any crisper or faster on a brute. If someone says otherwise, it may be worth a second look.

Just my opinion, but if you already have a viable spines/fire, there's no compelling reason to do rad/fire for a very marginal improvement in dps, particularly if you're thinking of afk-farming. If not afk, over time, I suppose it could be worth it, and you may find you enjoy it more. (or less!) It's not real money, but it is real time. Give it a try if you're inclined, but me, I'm sticking with spines/fire.

I have a few thoughts. Squishy. It's the wrong word. Blasters, Corruptors, Defenders, Dominators, Controllers, MMs...these are not "Squishy", nor are they collectively "squishies". If your character is "squishy", it's because of the way you made it. My blasters, corruptors, defenders, etc - they're not squishy. With a blaster, there's no such thing as mez. You can still attack while mezzed. And, with proper slotting, the mez doesn't last very long at all. Same with Corruptors, Defenders, MM's & Controllers. They have buffs that can decrease the time spent mezzed. It's really a non-issue, at least in the higher levels in most circumstances. That said, there are circumstances where it can be troublesome. The aforementioned MSR. In these cases, there's so many buffs going on, that Hasten would be better autofired, because it would recharge sooner than Clarion, and Clarion will break a mez if one happens and you forgot to use it. But barrier is probably better, because it would prevent you from getting hit by the mez attack, particularly if it's stacked every 30 seconds with other barriers. But that's just my .02. It's also quite useful in the Underground trial, with the Olympic Guard stuns and the intermittent confuse in the final fight. Other than those situations, I don't even have it slotted. There's just no real need for it in my experience.

Either my doms are terrible, and my blasters are awesome, or your doms are incredible and your blasters are horrible. Or maybe both. That said, I don't think Doms need a buff, but maybe some of the powersets could use a boost. In my experience, they do next to no damage, even with domination. They kind of reek of sadness. But - I'm likely playing mine wrong. I swore off of them, but a friend talked me into trying earth/earth, and it wasn't bad. I don't have perma-dom because it's not needed. It's nice for end recovery, but proper slotting negates the need to sweat endurance. But, again, playstyles vary. I may not like them, but others think they're fantastic. And when you team with these folks and you see how they get things done, you can see that it's more often than not a playstyle/player issue, not an AT/Powerset issue.

The thing about the low pop servers...that's what the HC devs were aiming for, no? The whole point in getting more servers was to reduce the load on the ones already there. Excelsior, arguably the most populated server, I still come across folks who think the server is dead. Not sure what their logic is, but I suspect it's more due to the time they're playing, the content they're trying to get a team for, and possibly, their reputation. When one makes a comment some might find derisive, they may make a note to treat that player with disdain. I hate to say this, but what may be the biggest problem is the tired debate from live: some players are so OP they simply don't need to team to achieve what they want in game. So they don't. But I guess that's off-topic for this thread.

Aha! I've yet to complete those! Update: No sooner did I finish Seer Marino's arc and get Agent of Chaos badge, I saw the fires where I usually see them. So thanks all for your insights. I will be testing with another character whether it's Seer Marino's arc, or the Agent of Chaos, or one of the other arcs that unlock them some time in the future.

In game, things are...well, frustrating. They are frustrating because there still seems to be open hostility for the marketer by people who genuinely have no idea what they are talking about. They are so clueless, they lack the ability to discern they lack the ability to even understand what they are talking about. My current stack is 230 Billion, at least, in liquid Inf, with well over 50 level 50's that are fully kitted out with what I would consider the better enhancements available. I still haven't opened a ton of winter packs - and until the stack in the AH goes down to less than 10M, I may not. And if it never does, that's fine too. In real life, I'm a dull person. I have 20% of my pay put into my IRA automatically. I learned a long time ago, it doesn't matter how much/little you make. Nobody wants to work for a paycheck and pay all the bills and have nothing left over. Pay yourself first. I deal with Vanguard, and I'm not speaking of the npc faction in CoH, lol. They charge me absolutely no fees other than some fraction of a tenth of a percent to manage the funds. It's dull, and may not bring me immediate wealth, but over time, the stack gets bigger. It's difficult to pay some bills trying to save so much, but over time, I've learned to go on what I call "cash diets", where you eliminate ALL impromptu spending. No vending, no convenience store stuff, no movies, no purchases from Amazon, no coffee/lunches/dinners bought, etc. But it is dull working from home, I get it. And I do miss literally the boss's daughters. Hard to believe an old fat guy like him produced such beautiful daughters. I'm met his wife and she's more troll than woman, so I'm thinking in the back of my head they're both adopted. But, I digress...but I think that was the point of this whole post.

Hmm....I would guess the only unlock left for this character on red side are all the patron arcs. Oh well, all in good time. Still have 38 other badges to work on until Luna sells the event badges.

So...I've noticed that the building with the fires in Mercy are...unusual for me. Unusual in the sense that I'll see a character taking damage on the building, but I see no fire. I'll zone out, return - see the fires, but as I approach, they go away - all the while the other player that was taking damage before is still taking damage. I set down next to them, no damage. I've been able to "rest" in these fires before, and have never had any real problem. On occasion, I'd alt out, and alt back in and the fire would be out. I'd go park at a day job or something, come back to it later, no problem. I thought maybe I should log off and re-verify the manifest, did that, no change. Anyone else have these kinds of issues? I'd rather not put the pocket emp to work. Suggestions? If it's helpful, the character is a Shield tank.

You have Friedman and no Keynes? Tsk, tsk.