Ukase

There's no point in my discussing this if this is your approach. "Need" doesn't enter into it. "Want" is the driver. Now, before you take exception - I stopped reading your post when I read this. It's just clear we're not going to agree on this - and that's fine. I know you know your stuff - and you're probably gifted with much faster fingers than mine. I just cannot enjoy the game going sans enhancements. Fortunately, I don't have to.

Slotting build choices, as you say, should (and do) require thought and effort. The thought and effort is on the sets chosen. Common IOs require nothing but the perfunctory 1-2 acc, 2-3 damage and 1-2 recharge and maybe an end redux. The "detuner doesn't seem necessary" - the OP never said they were necessary. The OP offered a solution to a problem that players often have in game. We use attuned sets because we see value in those sets over the common IOs. When you play a character that uses sets, and then take the sets out for common IOs, it's no longer the same character. It's a weaker character. Lower recharge. Lower recovery. Why set a player up for that kind of experience? It's obvious, a lot of players use these common IO and strip them out. But why even offer that as a way of doing things to a player who's already reached 50? The post is about the dilemma presented. The usage of common IOs doesn't address it, it just makes the OP's character a lot weaker if they happen to exemplar. A lot of players who don't level up with invention sets won't see the value in this detuner proposition. I do! But it would depend on how it would be implemented. Because the last thing I want to do is accidentally use one and detune something I didn't intend to.

Well, no, I would never tell players that just use SOs over level 30 have a trash build - but I would think it. Most of us already think it in terms of "good enough, but not what I'd use". That's not a secret. They're "good enough" for most things, but for certain content, unless the player is known for competence, it's not going to inspire confidence. I'm thinking of the OP's dilemma. Wanting to have your stuff boosted, but recognizing that unslotting or burning a respec to get the attuned out and replacing with level 50 replacements is a bit tedious and time-consuming. The idea of a de-tuner is a reasonably good idea, depending on the implementation and cost. It would solve the problem presented. Now - your solution could solve it - but not nearly as well, nor as efficiently. And, when the OP, who's already 50 does some sub-50 content for a weekly...the stats they leveled with...gone. Because they used your advice. The recovery they were used to - gone. Your solution is viable, but ultimately, the character the OP would be playing just wouldn't be the same character. It would be weaker. Or, as I call it, trash. As for the 2nd part, I hadn't gotten to Tyger's post yet. I'm not singling you out on purpose. I don't even pay attention to whose post I'm responding to. I'm just looking at the content of the post itself. Don't you worry, his take on the OP's suggestion is even worse. I recognize that the OP recognizes this is just a QoL suggestion. The world's not going to end if the idea is tossed out with the trash. But, I think there's some merit to it. It would be quite useful. I'm not sure how often I'd use it, as I'm not clear on is how viable the "detuner" would be if the cost exceeded that of 5 boosters- whatever that cost might be on any given day on the AH. Sadly, the market cost of various items vary with demand and supply, and as a result, it can add a layer of complexity to how said unit would be acquired. Through a merit vendor makes sense, but for all I know, they could have it be some kind of super-rare drop for dropping a contaminated that spawns in RV. As for me, my current character, a fire/natty corruptor has about 1/2 and 1/2 boosted and attuned. I have a supply of unslotters that I use before exemplaring. I've opened so many packs that I have well over 3000 of them because to click that many times to sell the surplus just takes too much time. So, I just burn a bit of opportunity cost inf when I exemplar and then replace the attuned with the boosted when I go back to the 50 stuff. And, sometimes, I even forget, I barely notice. But If I forget to slap the attuned back in, I notice that, particularly with end recovery.

I have no doubt your heart is in the right place, but I have to disagree. Here's why: The dilemma presented by the OP as I understand it is, the sets are now attuned. They would like to boost them. Clearly, we know we cannot boost attuned IOs. Nor can we remove the catalysts. (I'm sure folks that mistakenly catalyzed a purple would love to have one of these "detuners"! ) As mentioned previously, if you're going to have non-sets in your build, then using common IOs leaves you without set bonuses. Depending on content, the AT/powersets, sure, you can make a viable character with common IOs. But they're not likely to be that super, at least, not compared to a build with set bonuses. All those marginal gains add up. Since the OP's sets are attuned, I would imagine they began to slot them when they could afford them. Some in the 20's, some in the 30's, etc. So, it could be they didn't get used to playing in "god mode" quite so early. But not having any set bonuses? At all? I would surely die a lot more if it were me. And that is not a good time. Far better to market a bit, pony up the inf and go with sets. A "Detuner" could be a viable solution to the OP's dilemma. Certainly easier than unslotting and replacing with a level 50, and then finally boosting it. I could never in good conscious affirm or recommend generic IOs to anyone. It's too easy to market and make 100's of millions overnight. The sad part is probably the potential merit cost per detuner. No idea what a "fair" price would be. Somewhere between a catalyst and 5 boosters, I guess. My main concern - how would the system prevent an accidental "detuning"? I look at where the boosters are next to the catalysts in the enhancement management screen, and I'm always making darn sure I use the one I want to use and don't mis-click. I get so nervous about this, I sometimes will stash my unused boosters or catalysts (depending on which I want to use) in the AH to prevent their accidental misuse.

Because you would then have a sub-par build. You already know the stats from the set bonuses add up. Common IOs are fine for something like hasten, but I'm NEVER using a common IO in an attack or an armor at ANY level. It's a waste of influence. Below level 30, the IOs don't have the value of SOs. Above level 30, you might as well use an attuned set and let it level up with you.

I do like some of the idea. Instead of seeing "The Winter Lord is causing havoc" messages, it could be akin the the rikti or nem invasions. The GM could be the same Winter Lord that spawns, only instead of spawning alone, he'll send the minions ahead. The only problem I have is the trigger. Right now, I have the liberty of killing a Winter Lord in the wild if I choose. But if we have a trigger, I do not, unless I want to do one of these events. And well...I'd rather not have the Winter Lord limited in that fashion. I don't want to be forced to do the Lord Winter's trial just to get a GM.

That clears that up, thanks!

Yes, I'm not clear why a Crey PP, (or at least dressed like one) defeated other Crey in this room.

It's a fair tip, at least for the Tuatha. Anecdotally, if I am pursuing the Geas accolade, Tuatha are ones I'll need to hunt a bit, because my ranged characters don't usually ramp up the spawn size, although my melee characters might. Red Caps, anecdotally, I generally get in Katie Hannon in combination with the red cap missions in the story arcs. Still, anytime you get a tip like this from Voltor - take note. He's done this at least once, lol. He might know something!

So, I gave some feedback on this arc when it was in Beta. I seem to have caught the badge bug, so this has a badge, and I'm doing it on my latest fire/natty corr, Naughty Zoot. In the 2nd mission, "Investigate Bein Lab 4", I get to the room with the lab manager - one of the objectives to "defeat". I see this, and I apologize for the clutter; it took me a second to bring up the Snip & Sketch. What you're seeing is just prior to this: I am not one who reads or even skims when I'm just trying to through something, particularly an arc I've done before. But I don't recall seeing this when it was on Beta. I would have mentioned it, because the purpose of my post now is to ask, is this WAI? If this should be moved to General or something, feel free. Wasn't real sure where to ask.

I can understand an event not meeting expectations. I can understand real life getting in the way and preventing enjoyment of the game. (or even just getting to log in) And, I can kind of understand the frustration of being bored with the same old thing. We got a new badge, but other than that, there's nothing new to the event if you've been here for a year or more. I've stated in these forums somewhere, 2 things lead to disappointment: unrealized expectations and unrealistic expectations. I'm not very clear on what the OP was expecting. There's never been any kind of promise, nor even a responsibility of the HC devs to provide new content. At least, not to my knowledge. I have never expected new content. It's awesome when it happens, even if that new content isn't something I'd choose to do frequently. (Cobalt has done amazing stuff with the Labyrinth, by the way. By far my current favorite thing to do in game) Should I be expecting more? I don't think so. Nobody's getting paid. And, in my experience, money isn't a motivator. It's only the lack of it that gets people moving. Kitsch is close enough, but the reference that everyone else is an idiot for participating is a bit too much to be taken seriously. Although, having just clicked on 200 glowies for a silly badge...maybe the OP isn't too far off the mark, lol.

So, I've apparently relapsed and gotten the badge bug again. These /locs were super helpful. But, while the boss names vary, it would seem that most of these boss prisoners have henchmen. So I've taken to using a target macro for henchman, and I've been seeing 2-3 more that I wasn't seeing before. As many of you have already experienced, they may or may not re-spawn every circuit.

Unlike the OP, I got them all in a couple of hours. And the toy collector...those presents. It really is tedious. The other post about Kitsch and cuteness and stupidity...well, it's not a pleasant post, but he's not entirely wrong - clicking on 200 glowies isn't very fun. I'm trying to consider how Voltor must feel with ...25? that have all the badges. Multi-boxing or teaming doesn't help with this one. 25 hours, give or take a bit to get those on all those characters. I'm sure they weren't all in the same year, but I have 4 more characters (well, really 6) that I'd like to get these badges on, but there's just no way I'm gonna willingly suffer through that for 4-6 more characters. The Winter Lord, Lady Winter and Baby New Year - at least there's some level of combat to distract you. The presents, click, fireball, next present.

Agreed - but let's go a bit further. Make these holiday badges (like Hypothermia, this years badge) a global badge. One character logs in, they all have it. I've deleted about 20 of my level 50 characters that I haven't played this year. I still have over a hundred to determine if they make the cut. Even if I only had 10 characters I wanted to keep, it's a bit tedious to have to log them all in. And yes, I heard you! I know full well there's no law that says each character must get that badge. There's no law that says you needed to state the obvious, either.

So, the biggest problem with these rascals is they all have different names, so using a target macro isn't helpful. But, if you pay attention to the npc chatter, the bosses will expose themselves if you pass by their area. Might not see them, but you can "hear" them and take a closer look. Oh, if you have an alt account or a friend to join you, they seem to have more spawn; like you might get 3-4 per pass solo, and maybe 5-7 if you have someone on your team. (or if there's some other team doing tips or whatever in the zone) So, anytime manticore is the weekly, anecdotally - that'd be the time to look. No concrete evidence, just anecdotal.

I did this very thing. The only hitch was waiting the 9 minutes for it to recharge. But, since I was tabbing in and out for work, a simple thing. This mark & recall accolade has been worth the effort 10x over - especially as I'm working my way through Praetoria which has more than few escorts and "find mission exit" maps.

I came in the middle of issue 3. I started out as probably the single worst player you could ever have on your team, mainly due to my ignorance about slotting. People would complain about endurance issues, but I never had any because I had always placed an end reduction in each power - because the details below the power listed what they could take - I thought it was required. I remember the anger from the ED change. I remember a lot of confusion about how things would work, as I had just figured out I was supposed to be slotting 1 acc, 3 dam and 1-2 recharge! I might get nostalgic on occasion, but I'll pass on going back to those days.

This is not a big deal - at all. I am not complaining. I am a bit pleased, actually, because getting to do these at a higher level makes them easier. EDIT: Still capped at level 15, at least for the next on the list. I don't recall these being in this level range the last time I did them through ouro, but it's possible. But why are mission contacts that are typically done from 16-20 (or 15-19, however that works) in the 20-24 range in ouro? As you can see, I've a long way to go. I think I came here just for a quick intermission. I was saying to myself in the 15-19 range.."Where are my badges? I've done all the praetorian stuff..." But no. It's in the next tier. Why? Do we know? Just curious.

I can't even get "hover" right from what I hear on the Discord. Nor Striga, Cimerora, Croatoa or Eochai. And never ask Snarky how he pronounces "melee". You can't unhear it.

Why? It's long been established that pre-ED characters would drop in a puddle if they had to contend with our current stable of characters. You want to be weaker?

So, my best recommendations are Shield/mace. A truly satisfying crunch from mace, and a few built in mules for lotg, and Shield Charge which is a hoot. Now, for leveling...the journey of the fire/MA or fire/ice tank are delightful. Fire isn't as weak as a lot of folks make it out to be. You can build for capped resist in s/l/e/fire. You could even squeeze cold in there, if that was worth it to you. and you'd still have burn. And it's super fun, compared to other sets which are ...well, it's all in the player's perspective, I suppose. Bio/SS can also be quite a thrill if you manage the rage crash well - which isn't that hard to do. I would begin with Shield/Mace. Then try Fire/MA and/or Fire/ice. Then Bio/SS, in that order.

We get 1000 slots, so make them all - and then come back and tell us which is the way to go!

What you folks need is to look at influence like it's real cash. I promise you, you would never be so careless with actual cash. I've sent 1 inf shy of billions to my alts and others...well, hundreds of times. It's never gone to the wrong person. The only time I ever took any particular care was when I was trying to help some noob who, as noobs like to do, created a global name with numbers that look like letters. Foolish people. Not only is "leet" speak silly, it also inhibits the senders of inf to your global. I see names like HO0ver, and in game, I'll have a rough time determining which is the capital o and which is a zero. It's my big strike against folks trying to be creative with their global names. Remember folks - treat inf like it's real cash, and then you can wisely decide if you really need that microfilament, or just use +5 run/end quickfoot.

I will say this for folks who may be unaware of various email glitches. Sometimes, for whatever reason, I'll notice an email I sent an alt didn't arrive. So, I'll send an email from the alt to the initial sending account, and that WILL arrive. So, I'll wonder if I made a mistake. So, I'll be real careful, and I'll send another email to the alt I sent the first one to; and that one doesn't arrive either. And then, 15-20 minutes later, the "lost" emails prove themselves delayed, not lost. This did happen. Only put in an email what you'd be prepared to lose if the gremlins get hungry. Before the snafu about a year ago, (when some folks were missing stuff from their email) for me, email had a perfect record. Never had any issues. I still haven't had any permanent issues. Just some temporary glitches. I can't find it now - because I'm too lazy to look, but way back when HC first opened the servers, I read something to the effect of [ email may or may not be reliable]. I've been taking the risk for at least 4 years and have never lost one (permanently).

Good news, Snarky. I found it. I sent it back to you.