Ukase

You know, I've looked at that Data View on other builds and never saw anything worth seeing that I didn't already know. For whatever reason, I never used it this time. Appreciate the reminder.

So, a player asks for help on the lfg channel. Fine. I was just wrapping up an ouro arc, so it took me 90 seconds to send the message to see if they still needed a hand. 3 minutes later, I get the invite. I get on the team, three others have also arrived to help. And I get on the map, and I know the map. Shadowhunter isn't even on this map. All this idiot had to do was say, "No, I'm good". But because I was trying to be helpful, I end up wasting time. I do not get it. /emote Gibbs head slap on this dork.

I don't have to use /whoall in PI or Ouro or other zones. I think it would be nice to not have to type out a /command. Remember, there's a lot of players who don't know the command and don't visit the forums. Every zone should be searchable - and not just villains and rogues looking in red side zones. If I'm vigilante, I should be able to search The Abyss as well as The Hive. And Rogues should be able to also. This whole alignment deal is really old. We should make every zone co-op.

So, we'd have our equivalent of the Dow, where we take the 10 most traded/bought/sold enhancements and their prices, add 'em up, divide by 10 for a @Yomo Kimyata index? I think we're in a bear market, lol. "Hey, the stock is on sale! Buy now!" So, I like the creativity of the idea. I've no idea how this would work, so I can't generate any legit feedback on it, other than it sounds interesting.

If the flyer/ad is any indication, we're in for a treat! In more ways than one, I imagine. A very nice job on the flyer/ad!

Yomo is absolutely right with the recharge time on those anniversary Experienced temps. But, that's not the only place to get those - the hero/villain and winter packs also have them. So, just anecodotally, because I have a bunch of these in my character email, I will grab one. And only one. Use it, and it disappears. Then I grab another, and use that. And that gives me 10 bars, and then I grab a third, but don't use it until I use up the 10 bars I have. These are from the hero and winter packs. From @bopper's post, the odds of getting them are just more than 1/4 of a percent. Caveat Emptor!

Stop your complaining, young man!

When each character is responsible for their own billion influence, you have to start somewhere. For whatever reason, I feel compelled to make a billion inf (and the enhancements for that build don't count in the tally) on each character. Using converters has always been an integral part of my inf-making efforts. Buying cheap stuff, turning it into pricier stuff. Sometimes, I get there by level 5 and sometimes by level 45, just depends on how much fun I'm having running story arcs/tfs with that particular character.

This was a case where the description in mids doesn't really do the powers much justice. I skipped it in favor of Acid Arrow. If I were to respec, I'm not sure what I would give up for it. Hmm...maybe rain of fire. Actually, I'm an idiot. I didn't remember the name of the arrow I skipped. I actually have Ice Arrow. The debuffs this thing does in pretty nice. I almost think this should be a defender, rather than a corruptor. And I might make one, but I have a thing for Scourge.

Hatred? Of who? Positron? His armor is ugly...but besides that... Numina? I can barely see her. Penelope Yin? She sure can twerk! (See the cutscene in one of Mr. G's arcs.) Citadel? I don't know anything about this dude. Other than he's weak and always uses the medi-porter when I'm doing the Pandora's Box 5/5 SSA. Manticore? Other than his costume and hair are all the same color, I have no beef with him. Synapse? Just another weak hero. The guy we have to thank for "Flurry". Statesman was really the only one I thought was interesting. I never looked at Stateman like he was Jack Emmert. Why would I? Jack is a real dude, and Statesman is a bunch of pixels.

So, I actually made one of these. The debuffs are quite good. I'm a bit disappointed with EMP Arrow. While I was pleasantly surprised to see an unenhanceable 11.25% addition to all damage types except toxic for 4 minutes...once it's cast, it's in that spot. Doesn't follow the target or me around. Fortunately, the recharge on it isn't that bad, and it can be recast. There's a lot to like about trick arrow; but if you're solo a lot, which is as I understand it how Snarky rolls fairly often - I don't think it's the best fit. On teams, it's fantastic. The recharge on the debuffs are fast enough to use most every fight, depending on how things play out. But, the end use from those arrows adds up; I've had to be clever in slotting sets that boost max endurance and recovery, and reduce end cost for them as well. (I probably wouldn't have to be so mindful if I hadn't pursued recharge so much, but the more often EMP and Oil Slick Arrow are up, the better. I just wish it had one Arrow to boost my character in some fashion. Regen, HP, Recharge, something. That 4 minute boost to resist is not that useful because I tend to play at range; so I always have to close in to get that buff. A minor thing, but it's still a thing. The debuffs though, they are fantastic. Acid Arrow does a LOT. And I almost skipped it. Glad I didn't.

The sad thing is, I have 14 pts of kb protection, but his "Begone" must be more than that...yeah, at least mag 20, if I interpret this convoluted formula properly. City of Data would be so much more useful to me if variables were clearly defined. The power doesn't seem to be an AoE, so not sure why the variable is worded that way, but sometimes, when you have to come up with unique variable names in a program, it can be a chore when there are probably a thousand or so other more appropriate names already used by other objects in the program. At least, that's my guess.

Fighting Adamastor on a dark brute. I just got slapped off the platform, with the red words "Begone" flashing across my screen. This made me laugh chuckle. While I detest getting knocked about, that was pretty funny. I wish I'd been able to screenshot that to share, but my fingers were too slow.

This always puzzles me when folks say this about the Brute ATOs. Now, I recognize that I've never been able to get fury up to 100%. I always assumed it was because my health rarely goes below 85%. But the set bonuses for the two brute sets are quite good in my opinion. I don't see any need for any adjustment. They work fine to me. Granted, I am admittedly obtuse, and frankly, I don't go looking for problems. If I notice one, it's got to be pretty bad. I just don't see why there's this negative attitude regarding the Brute ATOs.

Are you one of those folks that just play mostly one character? How do you get your influence? How are you funding your characters if you're not endlessly exploring multiple zones for the cheap reward merits, and then exchanging those reward merits for loot to subsidize your character's build? I have a few characters that don't really go looking for all the explorations, but those characters tend to be purpose specific characters. Like my ill/rad controller that has Siege/AM missions held for my alts that want to complete Portal Jockey. Or my Rad/SS tank that holds the Schweinzer contact and just sits in Port Oakes next to him for my characters that want Invader/TFC. But a character that I play routinely...I don't think I can ever leave a zone without grabbing the explores. That's how I get the influence to fund their builds. Congratulations for playing in a way that's different. I'm just curious how you get your influence to build your alts.

I am not really clear on this, so I should just keep quiet. But, it's my thinking that an ITF will have XP gains of X, where the ToT will have higher XP gains per minute - simply because the EBs give more xp than standard EBs. So, as far as I understand, it's an apples to oranges comparison. (assuming team comp is the same) Also, Alpha unlocks at a faster rate than Judgement/Interface. There's perception, and there's reality. In game, I have a really hard time separating the two, because often, perception IS reality. Seems real enough to me. I put 90 characters, I think, through ToT this season. Most were solo. The ones who were teamed were those characters who might benefit from more incarnate XP. I think I might have taken 2 characters under level 50, as there's never enough 50's to keep things afloat at times. Like many of us, I don't mind getting vet levels for the various drops and incarnate XP. I can only speak anecdotally, that I think @tidge is on to something. Crappy team, crappy results. I often got my 10 prismatics faster solo than leagued, simply because of the large number of freeloaders who are unslotted, fully relying on team buffs instead of having any pride in their characters and putting their best foot forward. But I digress, sorry. Ultimately, while I think results are important, for me, it just sucks the fun right out to do all the analysis required. So, I just target the EBs, get my 10 prismatics and go. XP, even incarnate XP will come. For my time, I'll be doing the labyrinth runs with a murder room for dessert, and then the occasional iTrial if I'm in the right frame of mind. There was a time when I would trio box the DA arcs and while that is as efficient as I can get for reward tables, it's not really any fun. I'd rather get one reward table from a labyrinth once or twice a day and take quite some time to gear up than getting it done in a day or so being bored out of my mind.

Man, the original post takes me back. I remember getting quite hyped up when they thought about taking away the emp merits/vet levels in AE. At that time, I was so tired and weary of iTrials, aside from underground and magisterium, that if they took that away, I was going to really suffer. (Well, not REALLY suffer, but it was going to suck) My play style now is so different from back then. I haven't farmed emp merits in a farm in 2 years maybe. A long time. I have 3 spines/fire farmers from before the AE -def changes that are maxed on converters. I also have 3 rad/fire brutes also maxed on converters...just in case I decide I need to farm. But, the way the game is for me now, there's just no need. I would see players on the same character with vet levels over 100, and not super high badge counts - like 500-800 or so. Enough where I could tell they were playing the character because they liked it, not for any other real reason. Sure, they would hustle reward merits like anyone else, but I don't think they needed them to fund their next alt. But, I digress too much. I have to echo @Glacier Peak's advice. I don't think there's anything in game that will outpace the murder room in the labyrinth. But that is for level 45+. Until you get there, play on indom where your 2xp from START stacks with the 2xp on indom. Then transfer to your server of choice. Just anecdotally, I got 2 vet levels (with some patrol xp) in about 40 minutes. That's just not done in any of my fire farms that I recall. (granted, they were afk farms) I don't think the labyrinth can be beat with the current mechanics in play.

I have too many words to share. And most of them are dull and boring. @Maelwys I appreciate your taking the time and effort to showcase why you think the way you do. It was a lot of work, I think. Probably took you more time than I would feel comfortable with, if it were me. You also took note of my specific mention of certain powers which explained why I thought what I did. I can't dispute math. But, I can try to bring up the realization different players will build the same AT powerset combos differently. And, often, the net result is one player will crash and burn, and another player will burn and thrive. There's a lot of knowledge about the damage cap, attack chains, layering defenses and resistances that many players, if they even know, don't think about. I often don't think about any of that stuff until I suffer defeat and can't see the reasons in the combat logs or my combat attributes. Why a brute? Well, brute over a scrapper because of higher resists and HP. And a brute over a tank because of more damage when fighting single targets like the EB/AVs in Maria Jenkin's story arc, and easier time leveling up. But - @Story Archer I foolishly forgot the most reasonable solution: We have 1000 slots. Make all three. Then come back and you tell us why, or why not.

I do not agree with this for a second. SOME tankers might be a little bit better for a few seconds here and there. That's it. Brutes, with fury dish out so much more damage it's not even close. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I have played a tank. I have played a brute. The brute wins the dps competition EVERY single time. No exceptions. It doesn't matter that a tank has more targets. It never comes into play - at least, not the way I play. I jump in a mob, hit the AoEs, move to the next mob. I play them the same way. The only real difference is I take taunt on the tanks. The tanks are certainly more survivable, I'll grant you that. But the same thing that makes the brute's single target damage better than the tank's is the same thing that makes the brute's AoE damage better than a tanks. Fury. That's based solely on my anecdotal evidence. I do not believe your assertion for even a split second. Brute with burn kills faster than a tank with burn. Brute with shield charge does more damage than a tank with shield charge. I've yet to see an exception to this with any tank I've played.

I suspect there are a lot of these types of alignment points that may be earned outside of the alignment missions. I need to start making notes, because - for example, while doing loop hero, you have to run that 5x for the badge. 20 merits each run. But, if I can amass a list of all the actions/choices that will give specific alignment points - and then run the appropriate arcs, it'd be pretty nice to just run a morality and get the 40 merits on top - without having to run a single alignment mission. The strange thing about that Loop Hero arc, I can't be sure, because I didn't right it down, but I swear I got a heroic point no matter what I did to Miss Thystle. I'll be taking yet another character through and plan to make notes on what actions give what kind of points.

A little story which might shed some light how easy the zombie badges are to get. As we are likely aware, Adamastor is capable of being summoned 1 hour after his last defeat. I zone in with my ice/dark corruptor. Adamastor can be summoned - but for whatever reason, it hasn't been done yet. I saw the call out in lfg, so quickly logged in my corruptor who is already at the platform. I summon my lore pets, figuring they will summon Adamastor within a couple of minutes. And, the Zombie event begins. I did absolutely nothing but put my lore pets to aggressive. I got all the badges in less than a couple of minutes. Doing nothing but waiting to clobber Adamastor. My lore pets did all the work for that. I didn't even have anything targeted. It probably helped there were more than a half dozen folks waiting on the platform for Adamastor. Pretty sure I don't see those kinds of numbers when I'm solo and nobody else is around.

Appreciate the heads up.

<doh!> Well, that I knew. But I can't take the reward merits and convert them back to VG merits - technically, we cannot send VG merits to our alts. Jus' sayin.

So, I have no beef with expansion of radio missions into any faction. But, if you're just killing time waiting for whatever - tip missions eventually lead to a morality mission which gives 40 merits. Sadly, there's only a couple of these per faction (at least, that's what I see on my SG mission computer) but still, given the repetition that radios are, I would think tips would fall into the same category - except you get PAID eventually.

Pray tell, how do we do this with Vanguard merits?