Ukase

I'm missing something...you say that the different maps that give different XP for the kill of the same level mob isn't a factor when dual boxing? Why not? The xp is still less for each defeat, isn't it? Or have I totally misunderstood what you're written? (Certainly wouldn't be the first time that's happened!)

I think with the team search status, and the options under /ghide, we pretty much have that already. It's kind of the opposite of what you're asking for, tho. You want to signal you're free for a message as opposed to choosing to appear offline. If I want to team, I can select what I'm looking for. If I have no desire to team with unknown pugs, I can select Hide from searches, global chat channels. If I only want to team with the SG, I can select the appropriate options. If I don't want to team with anyone, I can select the top one, or all of them. It's not exactly what you're talking about, but it's pretty close.

So a few things: Not all AE maps are the same. At least, anecdotally, I've noticed some maps give more XP for a +4 boss than other maps. More XP for +4 minions than other maps, too. Another point of information: The goal (for me) is to get the emp merits. So, if I were to proceed beyond vet level 48 to vet level 51, I only get 10 emp merits. I have to proceed further to vet level 54 to get 20 emp merits. So, technically, I need to PL a character from 1 to 50 vet level 3 sooner than it takes to get 6 vet levels. Or, alternatively, go from 1 to 50 vet level 3 faster than 2/3 the time it takes to get from vet level 24 to vet level 30. (which would give 30 merits) But, as I should have mentioned, I'm an afk farmer. So, not really sweating the time. It's more a question of the number of maps. And, I think the optimal solution or process to do this is likely going to be different for many of us.

Well, that's certainly interesting reading. So much so, I turned off the NFL commentary in the background to better remember it. Thanks for writing it out.

In my case, it wouldn't - except the farmer that can no longer earn emp merits, and doesn't have any IOs slotted, as those were given to the new alt...there's no reason to log in this character any more, once all the threads have been used to purchase super insps. I can't see continuing to log it in and market when the new farmer can do anything this one can do.

Not quite. This is just anecdotal and my perception bias at work, but I notice it takes roughly the same amount of time to get from 1-50 as it takes to get 3 vet levels. Given that perception of mine, it doesn't make sense to me to keep working a farmer from vet level 48 to 51 when the emps drop from 15 to 10. So, I reroll at that point. A case can be made to reroll at 24, before the emp drops go from 20 to 15, but it can be a bit tedious to re-roll. You have to respec twice to get all the IOs out. Then you have to transfer all the merits, salvage, catalysts, etc to another character and then to the new farmer.

This is still my favorite spot.

One thing I really like about soloing posi 1 is no matter what character I'm on, my simulacron (whatever the copy/clone is called) is a real push over for the Nemesis Staff. Zap with that, they go flying, and give a nice advantage. And for Posi 2...those bombs on the outside, since the mobs are fewer for 1 person than for a team - you can often use the jet pack and click the bombs from underneath the bridge without aggroing anything. And for inside - without exception, every time I've solo'd this - the mobs "guarding" the bombs to click are facing away from the bombs. I just click 'em, and watch my combat stats to see when my 65 feet of stealth comes back and go onto the next. And every time I've teamed to do this - someone ends up dying on this part, mainly because a lot of folks are still using DOs instead of SOs, if they're using anything at all. Or it could just be a lack of heals and a lack of slots altogether, or a combo of many factors. Just easier to solo in my view. My poor tanks and other non-dps ATs require a lot of reds & the envenomed dagger to tackle Dr. Vahz. My poor tank couldn't actually do it without a summon pet to help out with the dps. Probably should have waiting until it had more slots.

I am pretty sure I mentioned that for dual boxing, it makes sense (and inf) to do so. So, you and your husband are on the right path assuming what's his is yours and vice-versa.

Sadly (or not) this is my first farmer. De-slotted, retired once I realized I could just re-roll them for the emp merits. Vet level 2525. So, most of my farmer/marketers never get more than 1000 enhancement sales before they're put out to pasture. This one is just pvp IO sales since April 2020 when I stumbled on to the idea that I could focus on one niche with one character. But, I play the game, too - and usually characters don't JUST do marketing, so there's no telling what the actual stats are without a lot of logging in/out and tallying.

My opinion is that any player that is looking for help from a specific AT /powerset for a "farm" is a player whose build is insufficient for the task at hand. Some might say they are in a rush and want to get it done (get what done? you're farming. You go over and over again, or it's not really farming, is it?) or they just want some company. A few things you may not know - and I have experienced this myself when trying to help my alt account's farmer before I could afford the IOs that let me do it afk. With a kin, when you use Fulcrum Shift or Siphon Speed, Siphon Power (damage), while you can target through the brute/tank/teammate, you still get the overflow of aggro. And you're just not going to survive it at +4, unless you have a large number of inspirations at the ready and the teammate is able to get some of that aggro off you before the insps you took fade away. But...for that kind of risk & reward, given that inf & xp are nerfed in AE, you might as well just be on a team in normal content - unless you're helping out a friend or something. Any farmer can tell you - sharing a map is not advantageous. You get less inf, less xp, fewer drops. Less of everything. Anecdotally, when my PL'd alts are in my fire map - they get purples!! at level 4! or even 2! And the farmer gets the Stink of the Manticore. It ain't right. Now, intellectually, I'm aware that the rng will do what it does - but the idea that an idle character gets anything (even xp) is still a bit sketchy. But, I'll take advantage of it. While the farmer does get less of everything, the totality of what the alt gets and what the farmer gets is more than what the farmer would get by itself. So, for dual boxing, it makes sense. But to bring in an outsider, unless it's a friend who's going to return the favor, or you're just trying to be helpful, there's no compelling reason to do it. If you're a farmer and you want some help with endurance...consider a lore pet that's untouchable that can buff you. It's only every 15 minutes when you can respawn them, but maybe that's enough. Or you can use the p2w recovery serum, or ageless. Or both.

See...I would work on the market code...but I am too shady. I'd try to rig some back door to get all the AH fees filtered to my offshore email account.

What's more - is power picks and slotting choices within the same powerset/AT can still be like night and day. Fire/Earth blaster with teleport pool is played much differently than Fire/Earth without it. (at least it is for me) We might think we've done it all, but that's practically impossible. My default used to be flight/speed/fighting ... without a 4th pool pick. Then I leaned towards Speed/Leaping/Fighting/Leadership. Now, if I can make sense of a good way to take advantage of it, I use speed/leaping/fighting/Teleport. When you change something as easy as a power pool, the entire experience with the same content is fairly different. So...here's another option - pick power pools you don't normally choose, and make them work for you. That should be interesting for a few different ATs.

It absolutely is. I use it in Wal-mart when I'm forced to go there on a Saturday morning. If people are in the aisle, I go find another thing I needed until I can zip in and out without getting within 10 feet of them. I think the kids are calling it social distancing now. I've been doing it for years.

That's your view - and you're entitled to it - but I'd disagree. My dad told me the same thing. So, at 16, thinking my weekend job would be enough to carry me through life, I left. Slept with a cardboard blanket under a bridge. Who knew there were literal bats there? Not me, lol. As the morning sun came up, I went to my place of employment and ate some of the day old donuts, for free, cuz they were just going to go the pig-farmer. Kept a couple of fritters for lunch. Went to school. But, donuts got old in more ways than one, and my friends finally talked me into going back home. College would have been a tough road without the support of my parents - even if it was just a roof over my head. And yeah, a hurricane coming was part of the reality check, lol. My point is - if the old man hadn't said that to me, I might not have left. I might not have learned that I was taking a lot of things for granted. Some kids have a hard head, and what may be godawful parenting for one kid may be great parenting for another. Kids are people, too and are all different.

Ah..jousting. I remember back on Liberty when @Nemu taught me about jousting. I practiced on skulls in Perez Park with Fire Sword Circle until I figured it out. It was awesome. I recommend everyone learn this tactic just for kicks and grins if nothing else.

You're not alone. This is when you just have to think outside the box. Most folks who know me only a little consider me some kind of anti-social curmudgeon. And, to a point, it's true. I have no desire to get on discord and listen to teammates' tales of woe or wonder. I certainly don't want to hear about your cancer, or your kid's success or lack of it. I don't want to get to know anyone in game. There are people in real life that I can pursue that with if the mood strikes me. People whose smiles I can see. That said, about 18 months ago, I was feeling much the same way - "what to do, what to do". So, I got out of my comfort zone and joined an SG for kicks. Figured people might be what was missing, or at least add something to the experience. Thus far, it's been a mix. Some good, some bad. But interesting, at least. In your case, you're already in one sg, but perhaps another may be the way to go - in addition to, not in place of your current one. As for Praetoria, the majority is very often wrong. Half the folks on these forums, despite their well-meaning intentions make statements that are true for them - but not necessarily true for you. I think you already know this, but haven't considered it. To avoid the mastermind simply because some folks don't like teaming with them...that's a bit silly. If people made characters based on what other people said, they'd be stuck in the costume creator, afraid to come out. "Dominators suck until you get perma-dom" "Controllers suck until you get pets" "Sentinels are weak in damage" "Blasters are too squishy and get mezzed all the time" "Defenders are weak damage, and nobody plays them right" "Masterminds got too many pets and they never control them. And they get in the way and make too much noise" "Damn tanks are always jumping ahead, leaving scraps for the rest to deal with. And they can't punch their way out of a wet paper bag" "Stupid Broots. They act like single target damage is weak, and they think fury is an excuse to run off any way they choose. They don't even have the HP of tanks and they won't take taunt. Useless." "Scrappers? Pfff...weak hp, mobs always running away, and they never read chat. Useless. And their damage ain't that great. Damn crits always happen when the mob is 90% dead. Useless." "Corruptors? Ugh! No mez protection, and half of them forget they have a secondary. And the other have forget they have a primary. And they always make me type "scourge" when the npc is at less than half health. Arrogant bastards." "Kheldians? zomg! Nice effects, but they can't do anything very well. And if you go tri-form, you need 40 more slots, at least to make them good. And ya gotta be a damned bind & Macro master to play one" "Veats? What a joke. Damn things are end heavy, weak in damage unless you proc 'em. And even then not so good. I'd sooner die than make one of those again. If they didn't have such good team buffs, nobody would let them on their team." Small wonder so many folks solo and stay in AE with all the silly judgements many folks make. So, what might be another solution? 1. Take a break from the game. Put in some seriously low ball bids for certain items, just to see how that plays out. Log off, and find some amusement elsewhere. Check back in a few months. I don't recommend it - but it's an option. 2. Investigate other types of in game activity. AE mission making -- not a farm, but an actual story arc, perhaps about your character. 3. Base building. I've always been function over fashion, but mastering the base editor can take some time. And getting there may be of interest. 4. Theme teams - a literal plethora of options: Drop theme team: a group vows to only team together. Vary the origins so you can trade off enhancement drops. No p2w until your character can afford what you want. No using the AH except to sell. It's as tedious as you're thinking. But it's a credible challenge. I think some folks call it Iron Man - you get defeated, you get deleted. You can team with like-minded folks, or solo. But, you have to challenge yourself to escalate the difficulty as you level. Like levels 1-10, go 0/1 11-20, go +1/2 21-30, go +2/3 you can set up your parameters before hand to something you find possible, but not boring. Gold side - the biggest problems with gold side are there are no accolade powers to work towards, and there are no task forces. In my opinion, the best AT for gold side is a stalker. You can stealth a lot of stuff, zip through the maps as you see fit. Or kill as you see fit. You eventually get status protection. High damage. Is it "Zomg Great" at level 50? Nah. But a lot of that depends on slotting and playstyle. You could go scrapper, too, but you lose the stealth. Practically a coin toss. You'd want an armor that has some defense debuff resistance. I'd go Mace/shield, but that's me. And that's if you're soloing. Again, just my opinion and there's reasons to do it, and reasons not to.

Why do you think I kill them at every opportunity?

It's worth noting that the AVs in RV are more challenging than their equivalents found in missions due to the changes to powers from pve to pvp zones. You spend 50 levels with your powers working a certain way, with certain resists and defenses, then that big ticket build that gave you soft-cap defense and capped resists - it's not like that anymore in RV. No incarnate powers either. So, a much bigger challenge. Nothing wrong with a bigger challenge, but it's more of an FYI for those that may not be aware.

Personally, I much prefer it when folks type actual words. Numbers don't belong in the middle of words. They just don't. They never have.

Just my two inf: CoH, regardless of server it's played on - Rebirth, HC, or whatever flavors are out there - has a lot of things to enjoy and well, not enjoy so much. Here on HC, we have converters going 10 for every 3 reward merits. (I think that's correct). And on Rebirth, it's 250k plus 5 reward merits for 1 converter. Here on HC - the AH is pretty much alive and well. On Rebirth, folks there are more likely to set up a trade than use the AH, at least for bigger ticket items because of the AH fees. (The prices of purples used to be like live - 275M for a purple, but now they give purples away in the packs, which are accessible 2 at a time, for each account, each week, if you've logged your character in for the requisite number of weeks to gain the tier levels the packs are on. And you can have 8 accounts if you want. So, you can rack up the goodies pretty high if you're patient enough to stick around. But, I don't play on Rebirth routinely like I do here. They've made a lot of changes there - a new AT called a Guardian, whatever that is. No idea what it's like, and couldn't really be bothered to find out. And I'm sure there are others - I'm just not there enough to realize what those changes might be. I suspect at least some of these complaints - which aren't really complaints from what I've heard, more ....points of information - are given simply to explain where they're coming from. As for those who are genuinely whining about a lack of this or such and such place has that - so what? I would wager a billion influence that these folks are in the minority. And, as far as I can tell, this isn't a democracy here. It's a benevolent dictatorship. What folks think really doesn't matter. And as I've been told, to a degree, it really CAN'T matter. Because there's no way to please all the people all the time. Hard enough to please some of the people some of the time. In this day and age, with the pandemic woes, it's really quite a wonder we're not in a state of anarchy. People wearing masks when out and about, nobody's seeing anyone's smiling face except on tv. It's quite depressing for many people. You kind of have to take things with a grain of salt.

I don't really play for fun - I play for interest. What's interesting to me is figuring out strange things that most could not care less about. Can I make a character (non-inherent armor ATs - corruptor, blaster, Defender, Dominator, controller) just relying on drops, or just SOs. I don't think I've ever had fun - at least the fun I've had in a bar with friends, or with the guys on the football field. (though the latter is closer) For me, it's about seeing if I can make the character "super", or at least, more super than the last AT of the same type that I made. Getting defeated is just the games way of telling me I suck and need to do better.

Our SG does these on Thursday. Literally, every damn Thursday, it's something vs. something in yet another ITF. Corrs vs Defenders. Melee vs Ranged, Fire vs ice, rad vs dark, etc. It's happened so often I've stopped attending. Never was a fan of itf. That said, a themed group can be more fun, if folks stick together and let the buffs stack. There's no point in a team of 8 fire/ rad corruptors if half of them are split in 4 different paths and you can't stack AM. Finding that, even in the same SG can be a bit of a challenge.

It's not that they're easy. It's that they're well organized. Put an idiot in charge, or have half the league be afk and not heed instructions...it can get messy.

Just like in real life, on those occasions when a fist strikes my nose, it's a message. Didn't duck, telegraphed my blow - something went wrong. The brains sends a message to the face - "Ouch. Plan failed. More adrenaline en route. Breathe. Focus." When I'm defeated, first - I ask myself about context. Am I level 5 helping someone with Among Friends in a level 50 mission? In that context, I think nothing of it. I wouldn't expect to have 2 attacks with 2 slots each in a level 50 mission and live. (unless I'm hiding somehow) If I'm within a few levels of the mobs, there's a message. And the message is, I executed bad judgement. Poor decisions. Why did I fail? Stunned? Mezzed? What slots can help mitigate that? Blaster? Need more defense and more dps. What's the best way to do that? Procs? Leadership pool in lieu of teleport pool? If necessary. Fold Space is nifty, but it's not worth having to re-toggle. It's all a message, but you have to know the context. Obviously, it's just a game, and it's not going to cost me another quarter for 3 more lives. (hope some of you are old enough to understand that) But, it's still a message from the game telling you that you've zigged when you should have zagged. You under-estimated the npcs, or you've over-estimated your ability, or some combination of the two. Adjust the plan for your character, if you had one, and try again. There's no reason at all for a character to have the first debt badge by 50, unless they're in pursuit of a badge. Play smarter. Don't be THAT guy that thinks it's okay for a blaster to die. Over and over and over again. Don't be the guy that runs into the mobs just to inferno/nuke and make Rise of the Phoenix part of your attack chain, no matter how fun it is. It makes you look bad, and gives the undeserved reputation of "glass cannon" to blasters everywhere. Be a loose cannon, yes. But not a glass cannon. Those are the things that run through my head when I get defeated.