Ukase

I had never heard of this Cake server, but I went and checked it out - mainly because I saw a video of this primalist thing and I was curious. I don't know what I was expecting, but it's a different experience there. I won't say good/bad because candidly, I didn't really give them much time. The primalist seems interesting, but it's really just some epic/patron powers that you get at an earlier level - but the recharges seem a lot slower than they do when you get them at the normal levels of 35-50. But, again, I didn't really "test" anything. My main reason was I like the way things are on HC. There are still stalkers, Forts, Widows, PBs, WS's that I've yet to play to 50. So, I don't need any new ATs, nor do I need new powersets. As for Tequila - my Norton AV would lock Tequila up every time I ran it until I made an exception. Account set up on Cake was easy enough. They gave me two accounts, when I only asked for one. But, if I want to go from level 1 to level 15 - I have to ask them through discord. Seems like there would be a better, easier way, but what the heck do I know? I just know I like the way HC does things up to this point. I see no compelling reason to play on other servers.

I don't agree with a lot of the things he said/did regarding the game, but make no mistake - Jack is bright, and industrious - the man gets things done. They don't hand out those CEO titles to people unless they're generally the smartest people in the room - that also work harder than anyone around them. You may not like him, but you should still respect him.

You people really puzzle me. Playing other games?

I thought I would share this experience of mine. When the game shut down...I'm really not remembering what I did - whether I deleted the game, or maybe I got a new hard drive and didn't port it over. Then, on The Titan Network, Paragon Chat came about and I may have downloaded the game from there - and it went into my downloads - but there was never any file structure to it - just all the files dumped in a mess. I had Vidiot Maps from issue 23 already on. But when the new patch came out, I just couldn't get it to work, because despite my best efforts at creating folders - the game installation was just a mess. It was clear to me that if I were going to finally update the patch for vidiotmaps, I'd have to uninstall and reinstall the game. So I did. I share all that because from what I've read, I wasn't the only person whose files were in a mess. So - the good news is - it only took about an hour to download. I had been putting it off, because I was thinking it would take 12 hours or something. So, if you've got decent internet, and you've been putting it off - just reinstall the game from homecoming, following the instructions they give, and then you can more simply follow the instructions for adding the new patch.

True enough - but one thing about CoH market is you have no way of definitively knowing who is doing what. Some time back, someone took a screen shot of him listing lotg 7.5% at 6 inf or some ridiculously low price and still getting 6-7m for them. Other than screenshots, we just never know who to curse or bless. At this point, the only reason I'm marketing now is for the fun of it and to give it away - when it's my idea. Panhandlers are frowned upon and treated with disdain.

I haven't been doing too much of any of it - just crafting and converting what drops. But, with an afk farm character on a second account, that's a lot of drops. I asked myself -- maybe I should save myself some time and simply invest the time and see if I'd be better off selling the salvage, the recipes and the converters. But then, I do the math in my head, and the crafting, converting...it's just insanely more money. I never sell rare salvage from the 41-50 range. I keep it all - most in the reserve vault, and my farmers will withdraw as they need it. I never sell purples - unless it was a dedicated day of buying recipes for about 2/3 the crafted value and posting them. I made 250m in about 2 hours on a day..so did it the rest of the day. Craft for 10 minutes, go play a bit, repeat. What has gotten my attention is the supply of LotG 7.5% -- has increased. And so has the price. I'm almost 100% certain that one or two people are buying these up, and relisting them for 1.5-2M more. And another one or two people are doing their best to seed the market and list the price at about 7m. Clearly - people ARE willing to spend up to 10M on one of these, but there's just enough benevolent marketers that sell them cheaper where the price had stabilized for weeks at about 7m. But the past week has seen them go up to 9m or so. In the aftermath of all those candy canes from the Winter event - the blessing of the zephyr's recipes and IOs must be in large supply, as that price seems to have gone from 3-4m to 1-2m...but it fluctuated back up for a day before it went back down again. I have thousands of these useless candy canes, lol. What I'm keeping my eye on closely are ATO and Winter O prices. I don't want to sell the ones I have, because I know, sooner or later, an alt of mine will want to use them. But I also want to realize some profit from the 400 or so winter packs I bought. It's so tedious and slow opening them, I think I'll still have some NEXT Christmas!

Well, that makes it an easy choice. No acrobatics. Thanks.

Yeah, I have been doing the same...but if the hold resistance aka "2 mag hold" protection is useful, it may be worthwhile. I just don't know the mag of the hold the npcs use.

CoH isn't a game about destination, but a journey. As I've played, I've tried numerous ATs, numerous power-set combos, with many more to explore on my list. Recently, I'd discovered that I really like Rune of Protection - not for the resistance, but for the hold break/protection for my characters that don't get it - i.e. what some of you call "squishy". I don't call my blasters/defenders/corruptors "squishy", because I don't believe they are. I build them to be tough! I was monitoring the help channel when an MM was worried about kb, and I suggested a kb proc, which handles most of the kb problems easily and fairly cheaply, too. But, then someone suggested Acrobatics for the kb, as well as the hold resistance. Presumably, Acrobatics can protect against a mag 2 hold. While that's a useful bit of data, it doesn't tell me if that's enough to protect against a +2 CoT Mage at level 16, or any other npc. The problems with Acrobatics is it would require me to get SJ or or Jump Kick. I could deal with SJ, I suppose. Or use Jump Kick as a mule for a kin combat set, if push came to shove. But I don't really want SJ as a travel power. I much prefer SS. It would also use up .18/s endurance - another toggle to run. In contrast, Sorcery with Rune gives mystic flight, which while it isn't super fast, I don't have to worry about it running out like I do a p2w Jet Pack. And Spirit Ward or Arcane Bolt are nothing to brag about, either. Either route I go, I have to take powers I don't really like, nor will use often, if at all. So - I can easily just "try it", but I figured I'd simply ask for your thoughts on Acrobatics and if you found it worthwhile.

It wouldn't matter to me how "sexy" it is, if there were only 17 people online across all the shards to play it. I personally have never heard of "We have cake". I can only surmise that this is because they are smaller. I venture to rebirth when HC is down for extended maintenance, which isn't often. I can appreciate the "working for it" aspect of the old Live version, but the cupboards of the AH are bare, so even though I know how to build a base and piles of influence, it is painstakingly slow without folks to buy and sell. I am not in the majority, I am afraid. I don't see the need for any new powersets, or content. There is still much to be done for me before what's available gets dull or boring. So, I say, leave the "sexy" alone, and work on what we have for the long run. Then we can worry about the rest. There's little point in putting unpaid hours into development of something that may get stripped away with little warning.

So, I made a fire/time corruptor. Had the build made before I started, and was looking forward to seeing how the numbers would play out. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1600&c=781&a=1562&f=HEX&dc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ut - with only Maneuvers, Combat Jump, and Dark Embrace running (the ones that impact resistance & defense) my in-game defense numbers do not reflect what mid says - not hardly close. In game, it shows: Ranged Defense: 25.68% Melee Defense: 27.56% Smashing Defense: 19.75% Mids shows: Ranged Defense: 49.6% Melee Defense: 49% Smashing Defense: 43.7% This is without Farsight being active. In game, with farsight doesn't get this high. I share this because a lot of you are much savvier than I am regarding mids. It may be that there's some setting I've not properly adjusted. If so, please advise. I posted this here ...because frankly, it is a corruptor build and I wasn't sure where else I might put it. Still, a fun toon. Far more enjoyable than the fire/sonic I recently finished. Will be my last corruptor for a time though. Four in a row is a bit much.

I used to do it that way - and then on a weekly TF being Synapse, I thought - why am I killing myself at level 16 on a Synapse, when I can just wait until it's a weekly - if what I'm after is the merits? If I want the tfc - as mentioned, the Invader accolade can be done at level 1 (although traveling through for the badges would take more time than if I wait until level 4 when I get Super Speed, but better still to wait until 12 for a Celerity to be tossed in the slot.) I do think for MOST people, the way you're doing is probably the better way. Most folks need those merits. I'll never spend all the merits I have now. Must be sitting on over 10k worth, not including hero merits and what's in my email from the winter packs. If I have to do any task force, I plan to be at least +5 over the max level (unless it's a 45+ tf) so I can take full advantage of the extra slots (and 2-3 powers). Doing posi at level 8 is just insane in my mind. Much better to wait until 20 for posi 1 & 2, 25 for synapse, etc.

Just in case I'm wrong - don't think so - but can we confirm that you get Heart of Darkness if Villain/Rogue OR Heart of Light if Hero/Vigilante? And if you switch alignment, the badge simply changes title along with the change?

Up to 1515 until May, I guess. Unless I learn I missed one...

The only 2 things I would change about that guide is to not disable common recipes, despite the workbench. That's free money. Task forces are great, but do them at least 5 levels over the cap for that task force. You might as well have all the slots and powers you can get to make the ordeal less painful. Well.. painful is too strong, but I'd rather be level 25 and capped at 20 for Synapse, then be level 15, for example. I would further suggest you only do task forces if they're fun, or the weekly for double merits. Or, you just want the merits. Doing the task forces for task force commander is just wasting time. You can get the Invader, red side equivalent in about 25 minutes, maybe less if you hustle.

Heh, well, that's why having several alts can work in your favor. Play one each day. 10 alts, then have a full 10 bars of patrol xp for each one.

Yes. When you have the Chronologist Day Job from Ouroboros, you get a random rare recipe drop after completing each mission. It's just anecdotal, but I swear my characters get PvPios, about one a day, when I do this with my characters. When I don't - I'm lucky to get a Perplex. (an uncommon recipe that's worth less crafted than as a recipe sometimes. ) So, not only do you get 7 bars of patrol xp, you also get a lot of progress towards that day job badge. By the time i'm level 10, I typically have it.

Ladies, Gentlemen...I have one word for you. Resources. Okay, I misspoke. I have MANY words. When you want folks to be transparent (above and beyond what these fine dev folks already are!?), you're asking someone to take the time to explain things that are essentially none of your business. Seriously! We're all on the outside, looking in. I completely understand that you want to know more - maybe you don't want to invest time in a system that may shut down if you'd had all the information available. But - what we have is a game that people are voluntarily making available for FREE. Just enjoy it, Donate if you can. We don't need to know anything, other than how to log in and play. That's it! You, me - that fool who is level 50 and can't find a merit vendor - none of us need to know anything other than how to log in and play. I would much prefer these folks on the HC dev team focus on things as they think best. If it turns out it's not best, so be it! I got to play, and I'm grateful. Instead of taking time here - let's all go to the test server and look and see if we can find things that they need to know about.

I'm sure I'm in the minority with this perspective, but let me say this. I do like the PvP IOs. Namely, the Glad Armor 3% def(all), the Shield Wall 5% res (all) and the Panacea +hitPoints/recovery IO. I'm even okay with their being PvP IO sets with different rules applying for the different zones, PvP vs PvE. And, I don't honestly mind PvP. It's kind of exciting - if I'm in the mood for it. But - I do not like my character suddenly having different combat attributes upon entering the zone when I don't have any full PvP IO sets contributing to those same attributes. If I am at resist cap in PvE, I should be at resist cap in PvP. There will never be "balance" in pvp, because the ATs are different. They take different IO sets, get different bonuses and well, they're different! I think more people would pvp if the same rules applied to pvp as they do in pve. If a Sentinel is OP in PvP - so what? Every AT is going to shine somewhere, somehow, in some circumstances. That doesn't mean you have to change the rules. If it becomes City of Spines/Fire brutes, does that really hurt anything, if that's what people are happy with? In concept, certainly not ideal, but ultimately, we can look at why people like these flavor of the month powersets/ATs and find ways to address those wants/needs without changing the rules. I realize we have the option to make different builds for PvP if we like. It's not an issue of influence for me, it's an issue of not wanting to take the time to learn all the nuances of how differently things work in PvP. If the rules were the same, I would think more people would do more pvp because they would be better at it. People don't like what they're not good at. They won't become good at it when you gate it with odd rules...and why did travel suppression have to follow us from PvP into PvE? I hate travel suppression, but I digress. Okay, rant over.

So, on the help channel yesterday, someone had an issue with Null the Gull not telling them their progress on Dimensional Warder - one of the requirements for the Portal Jockey Accolade. I completely understand that many play a number of alts, and the idea of keeping notes on things just makes things seem like work. I also understand that many just make a character to fit a concept or theme and will do certain things, and avoid others. I also know that there's a fair number of players that pursue the "4 passive accolades" - Atlas Medallion, Freedom Phalanx, Taskforce Commander, and Portal Jockey. The other accolades ...not so much. I used to go after Geas of the Kind Ones, until I saw the defense hit. Now, only for characters that will tank hami regularly. (hami doesn't care about defense) I thought to myself - Portal Jockey is easy...Tina Mac's arc from 40-45, then Maria Jenkin's arc, plus Tina's Hydra Dimension mission, along with Maria Jenkin's Nightstar mission that gives you Shrouded, as well as the Siege mission she gives. Then, off to bricks for a couple of plaques, LFG to Khan contact (or ouro to FF) and get the third plaque - done! I do those arcs and plaques with ALL of my characters. It's a given. But..we're all different. Some of you avoid soloing like the plague, and will only team. And you hate forming teams, so you never talk to a contact for a mission. I can't do anything about that. But for those of you who are okay playing solo, or are okay forming teams, I thought I would share my "process" and my thoughts for getting to level 50. 1. I don't generally do DFB straightaway out of the character creation tool. I hunt a bit. I would do the beginning arc for the merits, but I'm sick of them already. So, I hunt until level 4. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I like to start some "project" characters with no help from my other characters. They start with zero inf and proceed to level without XP buffs and play with the goal of 1 billion influence by level 50. Others will see the p2w straight away and obtain all the TP tools, the buffs (secondary mutation, Mystic Fortune, Inner Inspiration) Reveal, Workbench for some, Ninja Run, Jet Pack, Envenomed Dagger, Summon Pets, Recovery Serum. If it's a build I know in advance, I'll get some buffs, too. If not, I need to know how well I'm building the character - buffs will hide weaknesses, and I need to know if my attack chain is possible without them. If not - what am I lacking? Endurance, defense, accuracy, etc. This is why everyone should go solo for at least one mission every couple of levels. AT LEAST ONE! Know your characters - what they can do, and what they can't! Push yourself. Try +1 at level 10, see how it goes. Try +2 or +3 at 22, when you probably have SOs or IOs. I never use TOs. I never use DOs. I use Set IOs, IO procs, Winter O's, ATOs or SOs. Once I'm at level 25, the IOs edge out SOs and I never use them anymore. Not all of you can afford to do this in a similar fashion. That doesn't make you a bad player. It probably means you don't have the time that I do. I work remotely. As long as I get my work done, I can play this as often as I wish. If ANYONE asks me how to make influence in the game, if you (and I) have the time, I will chat your ear off and share what I know. If any of you on Excelsior, Torch or Indomitable want me to start a character and lead you through my process, I will take up to 7 of you with me on this journey to 50+3 t-4. We can even make all of you a billion influence along the way - with some understanding that the RNG will have a lot to do with how fast/slow that happens, along with how much time you're willing to put into explorations, story arcs/tfs for reward merits and crafting and converting. It won't be an every day thing, but a once a week thing. There's a couple of reasons for that. One - I don't team often because I work remotely and sometimes have to go afk for a call. It just wouldn't be fair to teammates for them to do the work while I get paid to work. The other reason is patrol xp. Every 24 hours, you gain a bar. I would prefer to wait 10 days, but people tend to have more structure and a 7 day cycle is more predictable and easier to manage. I suppose a 2 week cycle would be better, but then you get rusty, or maybe fall in love with another alt. At level 4, I usually get Super Speed. Between levels 1-4, I will explore for badges in Atlas, making sure to get that plaque for 1/5 credit towards pupil badge. (The other 4 are in Kings, Echo:galaxy, Perez Park) Once I get Super Speed, I head to my base and take the portal to Echo:Atlas and get those badges, and then Echo: Galaxy for those badges, and that one plaque, (another 1/5 credit towards Pupil badge) and then off to Ouro for the portal which I won't be able to use until level 14, but I'll have it. Then - I park my character. For a week. Before I do - I will ensure I have the two full sets of ATOs for my AT. Sometimes, I have these either in the sg storage, or in my email from all those winter and hero packs. If I don't, I'll get them. Usually by buying the cheaper ones, and converting if necessary. Occasionally, just buying them with inf outright. I also make sure I have the glad 3% defense IO, the Steadfast 3% defense IO, a kismet 6% toHit IO (it's called Accuracy, but it's for toHit) a shield wall 5% Resist IO, and the Panacea hit points/recovery IO, a Celerity Stealth IO and, if needed, a KB protection IO. The PvP IOs can be slotted at level 7, if you have a power that will take them. The rest will make me wait until level 10 or 12. The lower levels come fast. I think if you have the IOs all ready to slot, it speeds it up even faster. The idea is to spend the time on the front end getting these things ready, so when you get an invite to that high xp team, you're not missing out because you have to shop & slot. After a week, I'll bring the character back on and head back to Atlas to do a DFB. I don't object to the idea of doing multiple runs, it's just that they're mindless. They bore me. I'd much prefer to get to the Hollows, or Kings Row. If someone is doing Frostfire, you can bet I'll try to get in on that and save myself the trouble of doing David Wincott's tiny arc. If not, I'll do the newer missions in Kings Row. They're quick and simple. Not too much traveling around. If I'm dealing with a power set I know well, like ice or fire, I'll form a team. If I don't, I'll go solo. You can't learn much about what you can do and what you can't by teaming, as the team buffs/debuffs hide your abilities. You may get a heal, allowing you to keep mashing buttons and killing faster. But you won't really know what you can do solo. If you don't know what you can do solo (even if it's not much), then you don't know what you should slot next in some cases. Not soloing well? Why not? Is it your reflexes, or are you not paying attention to certain combat attributes? You need to know this stuff to get the most out of your characters. And if that's not your cup of tea - that's perfectly okay. It's just my style of play. Most other players will have no idea that you're not paying full attention. Some like to do DFB for times for all those buffs. They last until level 22 - which is when IOs and SOs come into play. But, for me - you miss out on those painful levels before the SO/IOs. I think there's things to learn in those levels. But, if you're familiar with the powersets, then no real harm. Once I hit level 14, I will do the spelunker mission through Ouro, and get the other plaque for Pupil history badge. At this time, I've likely already gotten the explores and plaques in Kings row. Now, all I need is the vamps and puppies for Atlas Medallion. I will try to get those at level 23. Level 17 - I can afford it, so I hit up the merit vendor and get SOs. If you're not filthy rich with merits, this is a horrible idea! I have over 10k in reward merits. I can afford it. I want SOs at level 6 if they're available! Dual Origin and Training Origin are horrible - very low percentages. The levels go so fast, most people don't slot anything! I want my SOs, particularly because the percentages are much higher than anything else when you're sub level 20. In the early 20's, SOs are still better than IOs, but the set bonuses can make up for some of that. Generic IOs can serve a purpose for powers like Hasten or Assault - but if they will take an IO set, it's just foolish in my mind not to consider what sets would serve you best. I don't use Generic IOs if a set is possible, unless I'm franken-slotting and a generic IO will do better. At level 20, this is when I will either do Stephanie Peebles in Striga for that 2 hours of Fire shield, or if a project character, I'll do hero tips first, then Peebles. Once I hit 23, I'll see the p2w for buffs, set the team size slider as high as I think my character can handle it, and solo moonfire's first two missions. If I'm feeling sociable, I'll form a team to farm the first two. If I'm feeling comfortable with the character, I'll log on my fire brute alt and set it to /8 and get it done that way. I don't sweat the TFC task forces anymore. I do want to do Yin for the Freak Tank bosses, though. I like Croatoa, but I don't like the hunt missions. The lines of the territories for the defeats are annoying. Too often, I have to pull them into the area to make the defeats count. But, when I hit 25, I'll often go to Croatoa. MSRs can be a hoot. But often, when too many lowbies are on the league, you don't fare so well, and it's not much fun. I tend to wait until level 35 before doing msrs. I also tend to avoid the midnighter arc, and will go to night ward mansion for access to Cim. At level 30, Provost Marchand has a couple of arcs that are great. The first mission of his first arc - available at level 30 - I tend to farm that when I need just another bubble to the next level. In the 30's, we get three slots - and that's when the set bonuses can really begin to set your character apart. I set that difficulty slider to +4/8 and let the allies do everything. I just lead them through it. At level 35, after I make sure I have access to Cim and belong to Vanguard (always kill 10 monkeys - fast and easy.), I see Null the Gull and become a villain. I copied the below from a guide I saw on Discord from @Tax_E Invader - +Max Health Hero equivalent: TFC Badge - Earn all exploration badges in mayhem missions (9 in total, Atlas Park, Kings Row, Skyway City, Steel Canyon, Independence Port, Talos Island, Brickstown, Founder's Falls and Peregrine Island). TIP: Lord Schweinzer, contact in PO that will give you on-demand mayhems. He's unlocked by getting the Hero Slayer/Bloody Hands badge which can be earned by completing the RSF ~2 times. Another way is to do the Brickstown SSA from Dakota Berg with the third mission on -1x8. If I plan to get one of the patron pools, I'll do Black Scorpions arc, otherwise, back to Null and go back to hero alignment. At level 40, I do Tina Mac's arc. Sometimes, when I see people asking for Anti-matter, I'll form a team for the last mission. Rarely will I lead teams for the ones prior. It just takes too long, and honestly, I can solo them faster. I may not get all the xp, but I'll get the merits, and the story arc completion xp bonus is huge. If I get more arcs faster, and not waste time forming teams, it's almost a wash. Then I look for the Hydra Dimension from Tina. Accept whatever mission she has, abandon it, repeat until I get it. At 45, I do Maria Jenkin's arc. It always starts with Infernal, which is a waste of a mission, as Infernal is in the arc. Sometimes I auto-complete it, sometimes, I just get it over with. It's only a couple of minutes to zip through and destroy the altar and clobber Infernal. Sometimes, if I'm just level 45, Maria likes to give non-arc missions. I'll sift through these the same way - accept, abandon until I either get the arc, or Siege, or the Shrouded map with Nightstar. At 50, I do Trapdoor's arc immediately. Unlocking Alpha with this arc is quick and super simple. Trapdoor as an EB is a pushover no matter your AT/powersets. If you lack dps, lead him to the lava. Hero One and Holtz aren't so easy, but with inspirations, they're manageable. Auto-complete if you feel like it. Then it's off to DA or Ouro for whatever you feel like - Heather Townsend is fast and easy. About 10 minutes for the entire arc. Forming a baf league takes almost as long! The one advantage iTrials have is when you get badges, you get extra random incarnate salvage. Badges will get you a free random uncommon, a random rare for MoItrial, and the reward table. Some get you bonus threads. TPN gives you 60 threads for pushing Maelstrom away. UGT gives you 60 threads when you beat the pair of AVs. If you're on Excelsior, look for @Forger and his Mastery-iTrial runs. He's knowledgeable, and most importantly, he reminds us that our worth as humans isn't defined by our success in iTrial badge efforts. There are other competent leaders, but he's the main one for badges in iTrials. That was a lot more writing than I intended! Sorry it's so long!

I should have my head examined. But, I'm going to suggest this anyway. There are two arcs, or two missions that should get a badge, but do not. 1. Frostfire 2. Atta. These two missions were candidly, the ONLY two missions I clearly remembered from before the close. Frostfire was and still is for many, the capstone of their characters career. Atta was what you did to get through the mid teens, possibly into 20 if you didn't suffer defeat and incur too much debt. (depending on a full team, when you started the arc, of course) Anyway, it just seems to me there should be a badge for these two.

Well...I actually thought the lack of cut scenes in iTrials was a good thing, but I suppose we have to make sacrifices for the newer players that may have never seen them. As for the rest of the fixes - that was fast work!

The idea of PA being unbuffable and the synergy of radiation debuffing the npcs...this was an observation made by others long before me, for sure. In fact, I never even thought about it! The primary reason I made an ill/rad back in live was I had never made a controller before, and they told me my ice blaster with its holds was woefully inadequate to help vs. hamidon. So I made the ill/rad. I learned a good bit about hold magnitude, something that had completely eluded me before, as well as the under-used term "damage mitigation". I made one this time around to solo GMs and task forces with AVs that my other characters would have a harder time with. (could still do it, but only if fully IO'd out, and often needing a Summon or Lore pet) The Spectral Terror, the PA, and often heroic, but foolish Phantasm, they all blend together brilliantly once you get used to managing them. If nobody has ever played a controller, I suggest you at least try one until the level 30's. It may be tedious, and boring at times, particularly if you solo more often than not, but what you will learn will make you a better teammate when you team with a controller, or at a minimum, appreciate how much thought goes into playing one well. Because when an ill/rad teams, not only are they managing their pets, but they're also trying to help you remain alive with their limited heal. It's a fair amount of work!

This is by no means the best optimal build for an ill/rad controller. I'd made one back in the day, and it was fun so I made another. There was someone in help channel asking about the recharge necessary, and he/she has asked if I could share the build. So, here it is. I'm not savvy enough to know how to just put "click here" to open the build, so you'll have to cut and paste it into mids. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1479&c=645&a=1290&f=HEX&dc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

I'll ask this here - and it's about as stupid a question as I can think of. I work remotely, I do have time, I think to do some testing. How would one go about intelligently testing and providing meaningful feedback? Is it just a matter of playing the game as I normally would, but on the test server? Or is there more to it than that?