Ukase

That may be happening on Excelsior - but if it is, I've never heard. I've certainly seen more than a couple of characters with panda in their name, but that's always been true. I recently learned the costume creator now has in addition to the kitten on the shoulder, a very small panda as well. No idea why there's no parrot for the pirate folks. If the chance for panda references are scary, Indomitable is certainly a fine choice.

Have you met this player base? So, my only question is this - what happens when whomever is behind City of Data, the HC Wiki stop doing what they do? Sure, there will still be some useful info - just like there is in the Paragon Wiki. But things are gonna change. That's really my only concern. I just want (heck for myself, if not the newer folks) access to current and accurate information. Granted, I can get that now, for the most part - but I'm taking it on faith the information I find is accurate. Not that inaccuracies on this stuff is a big deal - ultimately, it's still a game. It's just my preference to see it in game, so when someone asks "Where do I get X?", I can say, Click H for help, then press the X key to see. I won't have to tab out, look up X on the HC Wiki to be sure I'm giving the correct answer if I'm not certain. Now, I certainly understand your wanting to be able to see the information outside of game, so yeah, I get that, too. But having it in game, that's just something I'd appreciate for myself. Particularly for the long run.

So, you certainly have the advantage of experience in other games. And I get that you'd prefer dev time being on other things besides in-game info. But I think to simply align with other games and not do what they're not doing isn't necessarily a proper path to take. Are those games successful because of that, or in spite of it? There's no question that the forums, City of Data, HC wiki have a ton of useful information. But it's my position that relying on external sources for this information is a short-term cure to a long term problem. Yes, the game could use more content, more powersets, more powerset tweaks, all kinds of things! And yes, there should be a priority. But I think this kind of information should be on that list somewhere. Not saying number 1 or even in the top 10. But it belongs in game. Why? So the player doesn't have to leave the game to learn the answer. People tend to have short attention spans, so I really thought about stopping right there to illustrate the point about short attention spans. A cool song came on as I was typing. Anyway, when a player leaves the game to figure something out, there's no telling how deep that rabbit hole goes. If the help channel didn't exist, I suspect we'd have 1/5 of the players that we do now. People do not play a game to be frustrated, nor to be reminded "literacy is a pre-requisite". They certainly don't play a game to tab out and read for 30 minutes on the rule of 5.

Candidly speaking, when I was a new player, I was level 23, or maybe 24, on my elec/elec blaster. There was a respec tf, and it was over - somehow we'd succeeded. Afterwards, since I'd leveled up, I went to train and was quite puzzled. I had already chosen a 6th slot for one blast attack or another. (Please note that elsewhere in these forums I talk about literacy being a prerequisite). See, I saw this list of "allowed enhancement types", and presumed it meant I was supposed to slot one of each kind. And because the power in question could accept more than 6 kinds, I was at a loss as to how I was supposed to accomplish this since there were only six slots. Can you imagine? A blaster defying convention and even the t-1 attacks had 1 accuracy 1 damage 1 recharge 1 end reduction 1 end modification (if they'd take 'em) If a power could only accept one kind of enhancement - that power only got one slot. As I type this, it sounds like an interesting challenge character in the making. So, puzzled as I was, I reached out to this friendly teammate, whom I remember only as "Mr. Sticky", who strongly suggested I read the forums. I didn't even recall knowing about any forums until he suggested I look. It was then I began my education. And I still learn stuff every day. Well, most days. The new player today doesn't really have that excuse. But maybe they do. Nobody reads much anymore. Half of you have already skipped this reply because it was more than 5 lines. And while it's true I am not responsible for anyone's entertainment, I do think it's in our collective best interest to try and be helpful to other players. It's just really hard to do that sometimes in the context of the help channel.

So, as you mentioned, this is a bit of a mixed bag, as slotting advice would hopefully lean into a player's preferences or desired outcome from a build. But, in broad strokes, I'll do my best. There are a ton of useful guide on this stuff in the Guides section, but since so many people are so helpful, it can be difficult to find what you're looking for. So, nowadays, we can get SOs at level 2 (the SOs would be level 5) But before you start trying to buy those at level 2, you'll likely notice without assistance from a higher level alt of yours, or a gift of influence of some size, you probably can't afford these. But, I felt I should point out the option. As you may have noticed, there's an upgrade button at the lower left of your enhancement management screen. I suggest you only do this after you've made enough influence to afford blowing through a relatively large amount of inf, given the level you're at, especially if you choose to play with 2xp, no inf, an XP buff from the START vendor. For most folks that don't have a sugar daddy alt to help them, they take two approaches: they use the market to get what they want - and there are many, many ways to do this - again, see the guide section. Or, they simply do without. There's a mechanic in play you may recall, called "Beginner's luck". In a nutshell, it means lower level characters get a toHit buff that declines 1% each level. Read about that on the HC Wiki here. So, slotting for accuracy at levels 2-10 or so isn't THAT important. It certainly won't hurt - except it can, in a fashion. You just don't have that many slots! It's a player's choice between the usual enhancements - damage, accuracy, recharge, end reduction are the big 4, but there may be cases for other choices. Just depends on you. I usually just slot damage until level 7 when applicable, since it's going to take me a couple of levels to get two more slots to put into my attacks. But that's my way, and I dare not suggest it's optimal or anything close. Just my habit. I see a lot of folks share builds in these forums. A lot of people think something is good, they share. It's nice of them. But, just because these players share a build doesn't mean it's a good build for me, or anyone else. There was one player who would share his builds on a discord channel I belong to. He would play sub-50 content, but always on a 50. He would PL every character to vet level 9. And then he'd start to do anything he liked. And I did try some of his builds, but the powers were always out of order on his mids file because he picked 'em at 50. Never played them as a level 12. or a 22. (most were not that good, until I reached 50) When I reached 50, they turned out to be quite nice! Every one of his ranged characters would follow a formula of sorts: 1 Panacea +Hitpoints/Endurance 1 Miracle: +recovery 1 or more Performance Shifter + Endurance 1 Kismet ToHit 1 Blessing of the Zephyr 4pts kb protection (if no other armor provided it) 1 Shield Wall 5% res (all) 1 Glad Armor 3% def(all) 1 Steadfast Protection 3% def(all)/Resistance As many Luck of the Gambler 7.5% global recharge as he could fit. He never had any characters at the soft-cap 45% defense you hear about. Rarely died. He would use chance for damage procs, and chance for resist debuff procs if he could. Most of the time, he never did the math from what I could tell (because I would and see lower than 50% chances of firing in single target attacks) I would ask him about the lower defenses, he would remind me of the utility of Defenders, Corrs, Controllers and MMs. I think universally, at least half of the folks that can afford them use these specific IOs as soon as they can. Some folks might wait until 50. I know at least two folks that refuse to use any IO and just use SOs. Mind you, they don't do much besides level up to 30-40 and make a new character. But there are folks who play to 50 that way and have a lot of fun doing it. One guy tells me he doesn't have time to pore over mids and develop a build strategy. He just "listens" to his character and slots whatever SO he thinks he'll need and he just vendors all the invention stuff he gets, unless it's purple. Then he just sells it on the AH. So, there may be some "universal" paths some folks take, but none of them are mandatory, and none of them are going to make THAT much difference, until you get to the end game, where some content is pretty challenging for SO only builds. But by and large, of the folks that do use set bonus invention enhancements, most of them will have at least a few of the ones on that list.

I completely agree with this. As I see it, we have to be able to relay accurate information, quickly and easily. The problem is - most folks, both those who ask the questions and those who answer - have little patience for going to City of Data and/or HC Wiki. It is a free game, so we have that going for us. But the lack of accurate information in game in some situations is pretty striking if you don't know where to look. (either in game with the detailed info tab, for example, or out of game with the previous mentioned sites) Just last week, I've read how a player was pointed out this: And they confess to being quite oblivious to it until it was pointed out. Heck, I know about it and have forgotten it was there more than once and gone to City of Data to investigate. In one sense, the help channel is truly fantastic when you have knowledgeable folks like Flea guiding folks in the right direction, with options and caveats. Those kinds of interactions strengthen the community, I'd say. But until we can agree to disagree on some things, and recognize that my way may not be best for you, (and vice-versa) whether it's content choices, power choices, or slotting choices, or anything, it's going to be quite the challenge to not fail everyone involved.

The truth is - "we", nor you, have failed anyone in this game. At least, not how you think. I'm pretty much a jerk unless I deliberately try to be polite. And I do try to be polite more often than not. On the help channel, I will see questions asked just as many of you do. And the failing I see is when someone uses their own experiences with the RNG to dictate a "best" or "Optimal" path for the one asking the question. I know it's just a help chat channel, and typing large walls of text is time consuming and not necessarily for anyone's best interest. But sometimes, the answers given are not the best answer. They're not even the right answer sometimes! And I'm guilty of this as much as anyone else. I'll see the question flow by, and I'll think I read it properly, but I answer a quick reply without scrolling up to be sure I'm answering the question properly. Most of the time, I'm in a mission, I'll see the question, and as I'm typing, I start taking damage, and I'll pay more attention to whichever is the more interesting thing. Sometimes the question, sometimes the combat. Every now and then, I have to apologize when I get it wrong, and thank Flea for being able to read and comprehend better than I do. As an example, let's take the good ol' shard vs. thread debate. One player does MSRs and Hami Raids in the hive. (shard drop rates against mitos are 1 to 13.xxx) They get plenty of shards. Another player finds MSRs and clearing mitos to be a snoozefest. If they do a hami at all, it's the zerg strat in the abyss. And they do speedy tinpex and itf. If they see shards, they don't even pay them any attention. They use threads, because they see those drop all the time. Another player uses t-merits to just unlock everything but hybrid and gets to +3 five minutes after they ding 50. They laugh at these people arguing. The entire channel devolves into what's "optimal" or "most efficient". They no longer care about answering any questions. They just want to be right. And they want their right way to be the right way for everyone - when it will rarely be right for everyone. To me, this is the biggest way where we fail our new players. Meanwhile, the new player is "what are these guys even talking about with all this alphabet soup acronyms?" We're so busy thinking about how right we are, we've lost sight of the player actually looking for information, not e-peen size.

So - a power that provides low odds of firing, the formula spits out a value of 38% chance of firing. But with 5 procs, the odds are good more than one is going to fire. The question is - is the damage going to be higher than conventional (or franken-slot) slotting? I guess the proc damage total would vary and be inconsistent. Not that I'd probably notice in chaos, but when I'm fighting a single hard target like an AV, I'd notice. I think this is accurate: The damage procs aren't limited by ED. If that's accurate, in some cases, it might be wise to slot to the ED threshold, and if you have slots, slap some procs in to exceed it. But - with procs and single targets, I have to plug each one into the formula to make sure I'm getting the most out of it.

Seriously? Damn right! This is why I start kitting out my characters for normal, bland, every day content at level 7. I struggle to decide if the set bonuses carry more weight at level 25, or if this particular character will benefit more from using SOs until level 40. I completely get it. I just wish I had faster reflexes and was as good at jousting as I'd like to be. I've been carried through the lgtf 1* knowing nothing, then got carried a little less the next. My last run, I felt like I did just fine with my character that was built specifically for the 4*. But it was just a 1*. Riddle: What did the tank say when the kin executed transfusion after the suit drained their endurance, lost toggles and almost died? Punchline: Nice recovery! Finnkill actually said that after a near team wipe and everyone lost their endurance. And he had no idea he made a pun because he was too focused on the moment. I was only watching the stream of it when he said it, so I picked the pun out and called the night a win for me. You think 4* is hard? Try doing it with me chastising you for not realizing you made a joke when you're trying to call for a clarion.

How about we nerf the nerfing? Any proposed nerf shall be reduced in nerfage by 50%. Example: Blizzard's range is too long. We're going to make it PBAoE. Nerfing of the nerf: Instead of 60 foot range, we're going to reduce it to 30 feet.

Do you folks see how well I know my audience? I knew this was gonna happen.

Wait...I am super obtuse sometimes - and clearly, reading comprehension isn't my strong suit. So, the % chance is calculated for each specific npc in the radius? No wonder people complain about lag. That's a lot of math.

I am not going to use a slot for a kd-kb if it's not going to fire more often than not. That'd just be a waste. I hate doing the math, but the spreadsheet takes away my excuse.

Well..I won't be slotting any procs in it - because the odds of any of the 3.5PPM firing are less than 50% - unless you're suggesting the inherent 20% somehow impacts/improves the odds of the proc firing. If that's what you're saying, it went over my head.

Interesting conclusion. And it does sound about right. I'm on record somewhere suggesting that these will be selling for under 1M before it's all over. The only question is when. I do not foresee any new things to be acquired with the prismatic, but I'm not active on the closed beta server either - (whatever it's called - before it hits brainstorm) I do recall seeing someone in the forums out of sorts because they felt the cost on the AH for the prismatic was too high and they needed to cost less. So, perhaps downward prices are a good thing for everyone - except the folks who sell them. (which ain't me - I hoard those things like everything else)

Nah. The comment about the extra % was just another silly thing to point out. I keep wondering how I might react if I were spending $15 a month to play this game. But I ain't, so I'll come here and be silly from time to time.

So, you are somewhat accurate here - and, like it or not, this is by design. Good ol' Jack Emmert who used to run the show was quoted as saying (paraphrased): The only reason to play is to team up. We hear/read how folks who play blasters are sometimes stymied by a lack of status protection. Scrappers are sometimes stymied by lower resist caps/HP and kb from errant blasters and pets. Tankers are sometimes stymied by a lack of dps on hard targets. The list goes on. Consider an ill/rad controller. A bit awkward leveling. But, as fantastic as perma-pa is, if you get held/stunned without a breakfree at the wrong time, your PA won't be perma because you can't execute the power. Everything in game is sort of like rock-paper-scissors. This is better than that. That is better than those. Those are better than this. So - what do you do? You have to change your mindset, or you're just not going to be happy. Or, you can roll a fire tank. A fire tank has plasma shield, which provides status protection. (combined with a blessing of the zephyr kb protection in your travel power) A fire tank has consume - which refills the endurance bar. A fire tank has burn. A fire tank isn't a mastermind. A fire tank, built properly (and not for a farm) can be durable. But, even a fire tank isn't going to allow you to just stroll into a mob of 0/4 malta if you don't do something with the sappers first. Leveling, you'll have a rough time satisfying all 5 criteria on your list. But, once you get your epic/patron powers, you can get access to a hold (or stone secondary with seismic smash) to dispatch sappers before they zap you. Sappers require proactive solutions. You can't just be oblivious to what they do. The only powerset that might be able to handle it are those with defenses high enough that the sapper will miss, or the attack is mitigated through debuff resistances, like Super Reflexes. But that's a resistance; not a protection. Sadly, if there are multiple sappers, and you're solo - you're in a tough spot. You can smash one, char the other, maybe. Or you can use tp foe and just grab one sapper. There's a number of ways to solve the problem - but most of these methods are not seamless or eloquent. And some aren't perfect. But, you can practice them. There's always going to be a solution - and sometimes that solution is a different AT/powerset combo, and sometimes, that solution is as simple as a large luck inspiration, or a 2nd wind insp. Or - you can do what so many have done - avoid Malta. It's very easy to do.

I participated yesterday. It was a good bit of fun. These guys are not into sprinting, be warned! They are more long-distance runners with a lot of stamina. I had to beg off at just a smidge over 2 hours. I just can't sit still that long. I had to break and do something physical for a while. They have an SG base you can join, and it's small, ergo efficient and doesn't give you lag when you enter. (Cosmic Council's base, while very detailed and huge tends to make my characters pause for about 2 seconds before I can even move)

So, a bit of this post is silly, and self-deprecating. Like many people, the idea of reading everything when playing a game just isn't always convenient. Some times, I'm teaming, and even though nobody has barked an order to hurry up, I feel badly not being present for the action. It's probably some distorted sense of self-importance that feels like my team would miss my knowledge, skills and abilities if I'm gone more than a minute trying to level up. Lately, I've been choosing powersets that I either have zero experience with, or dated/very little experience with. Mental manipulation secondary is one of these sets. While I love the idea of zipping into melee and using Drain Psyche and seeing recovery and regen numbers spike, there's always been a slight nagging in my brain about having to take the risk of going into melee just to get some sustenance, compared to other powersets who don't necessarily need to take that risk. Still, risk vs. reward, right? If the slotting is right, and the mob count is right, you can mitigate a fair amount of that risk. Wouldn't it be great if, when I'm solo, there were a way to further mitigate that risk? Glad you asked! There is. Probably a number of different ways! But, for the purpose of this post, I bring up the topic of Psychic Shockwave. A convenient, easy to use AoE. What? AoE, you say? A radius of 15 feet, 50% larger than Drain Psyche's 10 foot radius. (I hate English sometimes. 10 feet radius? 10 foot radius? It's more than one foot..nvm. Someone will take this too seriously and try to teach me grammar. ) So, At level 41, having had this power since level 28, NOW I decide to try and determine just why these mobs aren't getting stunned as they should be. Clearly, the power description, the slotting - all make it pretty clear this power is supposed to stun all but the stronger foes, right? Wrong! Apparently this power only gives a chance to stun. Here it is, for our convenience, the exalted detailed info tab: See at the top? "Foe Disorient" See the fine print below? 25% chance for a 2 mag stun. Apparently, I have wasted my 400k inf in slotting stuns in this power. May as well slot for dps. I am on a blaster. Not sure what +4.00%% means. I mean, 4.00%, that I can grasp. But what is 4.00%%? An extra symbol by mistake? Part of that new math that came in after I got out of school? No idea. Probably an error. So, I give you all this wall of text (with a picture!) just to say - don't be like me. READ. READ EVERYTHING!

Another thing you might try - which does work - monitor your damage bonus via combat attributes. You'll see the 100% spike in damage displayed (added to whatever your damage bonus is without it)

I just helped a lazy tanker today who had my favorite map. (didn't know it when I helped them) They had a timed mission, and they had 5 hostages to rescue. It is the same city map where Dr. Calvin is always being held hostage and needs to be rescued, in the Tina MacIntyre arc. They were given 90 minutes, and they were asking for help after 15 minutes, thus the lazy label, lol. The reason this is my favorite is even though I know the map, there's usually a point where I have to open my map and think of where I haven't looked yet. And for certain characters, I can up the difficulty and gain a lot of xp if that's the mood I'm in.

Just anecdotally - to me, it's a strange thing to do a respec before 50. I don't understand why it's immediately required. But, they had their reasons.

I actually took infiltration on a new character. I was enjoying it - until I realized the Kismet 6% bonus wouldn't work if the power wasn't on. I was going to keep it - but I had to dedicate two slots just for end reduction in it to keep it running during combat, so I respec'd out of it. Glad it works for some of you. I'll stick with my CJ & SS combo for now.

So, I really don't have much of a clue as to what kind of cards you're referring to - so I'm not likely to be of any use. The only thing I have is Manticore figurine and a Statesman card. Is the Statesman card the kind of thing you're looking for? If not, I'm useless to you.

You don't seriously expect me to give Snarky material for the forums, do you? In all seriousness, Snarky is a great teammate when you're on discord. He doesn't enjoy my jokes, which is why he's invaluable. I thrive on his suffering.