Ukase

Oh, Snarky. So many opinions of Mystic Flight, and the Sorcery pool. Have you not forgotten the changes they made to sorcery pool about 4 years ago? Nobody should ever take sorcery pool as a travel power as a matter of solidarity. The people must let the tyrants that let us play for donations know that making it necessary for me to respec dozens of characters because of the change of Rune of Protection to Prune of Protection...wait...you didn't ask about that did you? Sorry. Got carried away. But let me try to be helpful, even though I consider fly to be woefully slow and cumbersome having to make a key bind to use the afterburner, (with standard fly, not Mystic Flight) and even that is too short of duration to be very useful in the shard. Flight Speed Cap since issue 18 is 58.63 mph. I know from discord that you would likely be familiar with a rev limiter - something in IC engines to limit rpms. Essentially, Afterburner is like taking the rev limiter out. With Afterburner, the misnomer speed cap of 58.63 is tossed out, and you have a new flight speed cap of 73mph. Now, technically, per the HC Wiki - it's very interesting. So, with Afterburner, technically, there is no cap. But - there is a limit, in that with diminishing returns, movement set bonuses, etc (all described above in the copied snip) that's essentially the cap with Afterburner. At least, that's my takeaway after reading it. Please read it yourself, because I'm obtuse and could have missed something. So, here's the link: Click here. After reading it, it further justifies my choice of SS and TP (if I can fit the pool in) as a better choice. But, I hold a grudge and cannot ever take Sorcery pool, just as a matter of rebellion against "the man" who changed Rune to be unable to be recharged faster than the new default hour and a half recharge time (yeah, it's not 90 minutes, I know, lol) So take what I say with a very large grain of salt.

I could never do that. I slot SS at 4 and CJ at 6 on probably 90% of my characters - mainly because with DFB or a posi, or heck, even soloing the hollows, I'm way past those levels to be concerned about my attack chain needing a filler. And, if I exemp with the character to 20, I'll still have CJ and all the nifty stuff I slot in it - like the reactive defenses and lotg. The kismet and Shield wall are level 10, so those would work anyway, but the other two, I want them in a power that's available when I exemp. Of course, below 20, they're not, but other than the positrons, they are. But yeah, I see what you're saying about the "good" powers being available earlier, and if it's a case of taking something like Rage or CJ, I'd take Rage, too.

How fast ya gonna be with no travel power? I guess you're relying on Lightning Reflexes to get you around? We all have our play styles, and I've yet to figure out how to get TW to work to suit mine, so glad you found something to work. The way I play, using 6 slots to squeeze out the extra defense (in brawl and boxing) is interesting, but I couldn't leave it on the table. Maybe if you took cross punch, leave brawl empty, and put the slots in kick...but then there's another power that's got to go. And since I'd insist on SS, that's two powers I'd have to sacrifice. Yeah, an interesting build, but by the time I put in what I'd insist on having, it'd be fairly different. Still, I think I'm going to make one, and try to make it work. I thought about TW/Bio scrapper, but all that silly math to play a scrapper well, eh, I'm just a button masher at heart, I guess.

Yeah, made a new character and poof, just like that, a tray full of macros for the gms I hunt, and my combat attributes on display.

For those that do know that they do not know what the Dunning-Kruger effect is, (and would like to know without looking it up) it's essentially someone having with limited competence in an area without being aware that they're lacking competence in the area. When HC first opened up, my first character was a fire/rad Sentinel. It could be argued I was suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect because I had no idea at the time Sentinels were doing sub-par DPS. (I was having fun with it, and just really never noticed. Probably because I was teaming a lot back then and things were getting dropped pretty quickly - just not by me, I guess. I dunno.) And really, the only reason I know about this at all is because of John Cleese.

The disappointing reality for those who level organically is that some of the more interesting builds seen posted are by players who farm to 50, and then began to play the character all kitted out. It always tickles me when I see Hasten or Combat Jumping taken at level 49 in Mids. Like, seriously? No, lol. They're just slapping the powers and the slots in the build. When you'd take those powers is entirely up to whomever is going to try that build.

The good news is except in the case of Advanced mode taskforces, almost nobody is going to care what you have slotted. I think the folks that just use common IOs (and maybe reuse them for alts) have about the same amount of fun as those folks who use invention IOs. (and maybe reuse them) It really doesn't matter that much. Now, there are some IOs that I would suggest are worth focusing on, but they can be AT and powerset dependent to a degree. I personally think the Panacea +hitpoints/endurance,(PvP heal category) the Shield Wall Res (all) - which is a defense pvp category and the Glad armor 3% defense (all) and chance of teleportation protection (PvP resist category) are worth squeezing into your build if you can. The Performance Shifter +endurance is roughly equal to an end mod IO. But, that infusion of endurance can work when your end recovery is debuffed, so that makes it an interesting thing to have, and in most cases, worth having. (Opinions may vary) The Kismet 6% ToHit is a really nice one. The Miracle +recovery is also nice to have. I'm not the greatest fan of Numina +hitpoints/endurance, but if you have the slot to spare, it can be useful. There are a few others, like the Blessing of the Zephyr 4pts of KB protection that I slap into Super speed, and the Celerity Stealth that I put into sprint, but you might be playing a stalker - you wouldn't need either of those in most cases.

Snarky is currently doing all contacts, not just story arcs from 1-50, and he's at level 44 now. So, yeah. Most every badger with all the badges has been on the edge of this kind of silliness.

Why would you allow anyone the opportunity to get an item substantially cheaper than what YOU would have to pay for it if you needed it? Is it really just laziness? Or is it boredom? Something else maybe. Back to the topic of flippers. I like flippers. They see these low listers and swoop in and return the price to the reasonable price point. Someone - please start flipping the Preventative Medicine Absorb Proc. I have no idea what possesses someone to list these for less than 500k. The salvage and the crafting cost at 20 was more than that. And yet, dozens, if not more were recently listed at a ridiculously low price. I thought about buying them all and re-listing them. But - that's not my role. I try to add value. If things remain very cheap, my big stack looks even bigger. And it is nice when I need a PM absorb proc to be able to get one at 488K instead of 3M. So yeah, keep it up low-lister.

Hey, so Mr. Obtuse here had a few questions, but instead of asking them..I looked at the info, then looked again. And then it dawned on me, and I figured it out. And then I had another question, and figured that out, too. And I'm ashamed to say it was just there, out in the open, not hiding, and I could have been using this for years, if I'd just taken the time to look and think. Now, I do have a headache now, and I do think I developed an aneurism from thinking, but I got it sorted out. So thanks to all of you!

So, I'm sure I'm in the minority, but before they even consider new incarnate powers, or adding options to the ones we have - what about bridging the gap between the math wizards and the the rest of us? I was playing an EM/EA scrapper. And I learned there was math and timing involved in playing it well. To me - that divide between just button mashing and playing a character at a high level is just too great of a divide. Something should be done to close the gap at least a little bit. I'm already slightly better than mediocre when playing a blaster. I don't want to play a scrapper and do math to be better than mediocre. Now, that is a "me" problem, but that's not just me that has it. There's a lot of intangible little things that HC could and should pay attention to before they look at the incarnate evolution. But, hey, that's just my opinion.

For brevity's sake, if I just wanted to monitor Influence, I would create a new text file? or am I sifting through the CoH game files and editing the file from there and not making a new file? I add $$monitorattribute Influence in the text file. I save the text file as keybinds.txt in the same spot it was. And if it's a new file, instead of an pre-existing one, where do I save this new file? And if I accurately figure out the file questions, Then every character I create will have the influence stat already monitored once I load the file through menu-options? Sorry, but to this user, it seems like there's some things missing in my brain to properly use your good idea.

This is probably hitting the nail on the head. I was talking about it with the Justice Superteamers last night. A character literally created out of a stale dad joke. A secondary benefit is just playing something different where I can learn a bit more.

I think the reason it seems underwhelming is the damage isn't (at least not that I can tell) on the same level as my controller was. Locking down a boss is fine and all, but I'm not really scared of bosses. They still attack slowly, and are fairly predictable. I should probably get my accuracy and to-hit up, and bump the difficulty so they pay off more. But right now, I'm more pro-controller than pro-dom. I'll give it time. I do appreciate the concise reply though. It was and is helpful. I thank you for taking the time.

It's a fair question. I don't know the answer. I suppose it's to cater a bit to both playstyles, ranged and melee.

One cannot be angry at a snake for being a snake, anymore than I can take issue with Snarky for being snarky. 🤣

I wasn't sure where to post this. I thought about the controller section and the dom section. Thought about posting it in each. Finally, I figured I'd just post it here. The short version: is there some distinction between domination and containment in a nutshell? I know containment does double damage. I know I liked that a lot. Domination, candidly, is underwhelming so far. I remember it being more useful on my earth dominator (which I haven't played in quite some time). I know it gives a full bar of end and status protection, and increases mags on mez for 90 seconds. Where's the beef on this figurative burger? Under the pickle? The long version:

Fair enough, guys. It was just an idea in my head. I see the points you make.

So, if I lose the 6th slot in the Cupid set for this particular IO - it does address the deficiency of the buffs the set gives - but it loses the 6th set bonus. I just don't like to forced into trade-offs like that. Maybe that's just me, and if I didn't have to choose, the game would even be easier than it is now. (to hear some of these newer players, wow. It's so hard! I have to remind myself it was tough for me when I first started and had no idea what I didn't know.) I tend to consider IO sets for their set bonuses before the attributes are considered. If they don't add value for the character with the set bonus, seems like it makes more sense to just slot an HO. Granted, I suppose it's better to have some kind of movement buff (I never chase that, I have SS...why would I need more?) than nothing. It just depends on your goals. I just want the invention sets to buff each attribute to the diminishing return edge. Or at least be balanced across all attributes, rather than 90% in damage and 60% in accuracy. Why not 75 and 75? I suppose it does make builds more interesting in trying to navigate how to boost various attributes with set bonuses from other sets, to offset the weaknesses from a different set.

For me, Frankenslotting is in pursuit of specific set bonuses. Take recovery, for example. My poor scrapper, being controlled by an idiot was constantly running out of endurance despite having the Perf shifter +end, panacea and miracle uniques. So, I looked for sets that would boost the attributes I needed, as well as provide a set bonus that would boost recover, or give an end discount, or increase max end. Anything to help. So, with armor, I generally don't need more than 4 slots to get those diminishing returns start to creep in, depending on what level my character is. So, I might look at my attacks, and in lieu of slapping an end reduction in there, I might slot 2 bruising blows, and 2 glad strikes. And that's all fine and good. There are some sets where the slotting of the 6 is not that bitter of a pill, because all the sets bonuses are desirable. I like this new set for it's bonuses. But the accuracy and endurance are not as good as they should be or could be. What if there were a 7th or 8th piece we could use instead of the damage/recharge? Like an Acc/end/recharge? Then the damage numbers go down from 99 to 95.5 if we take out the dam/recharge. Recharge goes down, too. But by using this fantasized 7th piece, the numbers would be closer to the diminishing return values and be a more effective set. And you'd still get all the set bonuses you desired. (And by no means would I suggest slotting this particular set in that particular power, it's just something I slapped together for demonstration) While I agree in general varied builds are a good thing, I also think it would be good to have a few sets that are just no brainers. Either design them so they come to the edge of Diminishing Returns, or don't design them at all. The fact that a purple set doesn't do this strikes me as odd. I get that they have recovery and accuracy in the bonuses (at least most of them do...the pet and confuse very rares are a little different, I think) so, the designers of those sets may have had that in mind. But it still strikes me as odd that sets aren't designed to be slotted in their entirety; that is why they're a set. At least, that's the way my brain thinks. Anyway, just a thought exercise. Not a suggestion, yet.

First, Congrats. You don't specifically come out and say it, but now that you're 50, I think you'll find once you get your dom the enhancements you want for it - you'll do content, and you'll get this influence...and where will it go? For most of us, it goes towards the next alt. But still, you'll realize that 10M is trivial. It is only a lot when you're new and just starting out. For everyone else, they can earn this 10M easily, once they vendor the common recipes they've no use for. If you can stomach marketing, 1 Billion becomes trivial, once you devote enough time to it. If you can't, then you just play your 50 a bit longer, maybe long enough to craft a different lore pet or destiny power, and you can generate quite a lot of influence for your next alt, to include those summons.

I had a thought, and it keeps coming back to me every time I use mids and slot a purple set. We see the damage number go red, and often times the endurance or accuracy remain white, which tells us there's room for more buff in those categories before the diminishing returns gets involved. (or maybe it means something else? That's what I've always taken it to mean) So, what about this idea? Figured I'd ask here before I suggest it properly. What if we got some new enhancement set with 7 or 8 enhancements in it, but since we can't slot more than 6, that would leave players with a little more choice in what to slot in the power? The impact on marketing, in particular the converting of IOs within the set, if you were looking for that proc, you'd certainly, over time, burn more converters to get that proc you wanted, assuming the set had a proc in it. Burning more converters is a good idea, because converters are super cheap now. Most of the converters on the AH now are what I would call old converters. I think there's about 60K worth that are listed for something crazy for the price now, like at 75 or 80k each. Maybe more. So, even though the supply is healthy with a total of around 100K, it's really (at least, that's my thinking) only 40k that are priced at or below 70K.) When converters are burned, that leaves marketers and players with a choice - earn more, or burn through the stashes of hero merits/reward merits they have. Either way - it means more opportunities for teammates when you might not find them otherwise. I was just converting a few IOs a character had after crafting this morning, and I was thinking, this oblit proc refuses to come up. Guess I should be glad there's only 5 that aren't the proc instead of 8 or more. It's probably a stupid idea for reasons I haven't considered, but the most obvious ones are Dev time and art time. Someone has to come up with what bonuses the set would have, and find a design for it. And then install it into the game without breaking anything else. And add it to the merit vendor in whatever category it belongs, as well as the AH. I suppose if it were a standard invention set, as opposed to universal damage, it would also need to be added to the various drop pools for mission/tf completion. At least, I would think so. Alternatively - consider a set like Steadfast Protection. There's only 3 in it. It kind of makes sense, because it tops at level 30, and in the lower levels, you usually don't have slots to burn. (at any level, really) But what if it had 6 enhancement in it, but the set bonuses remained at 3? Odds are you'd still just use the unique and maybe the kb with it, or the other one. But maybe, if the 4th were a resist/recharge, or a straight endurance, you might use another piece. Which means that slot for that piece has to come from somewhere else. It means more variety in builds, so that's a good thing too. Anyways, just a thought.

Anecdotally, the only time I've ever been on a team in Praetoria (discounting First and Night Wards) has been through an SG organized event. The stinker of the zone is this: You have to set firm parameters about what players can and can't do with their characters - which seems to be a bit of a buzz killer for some players. Example: Just like when making a character for CoH - you have to choose hero or villain, in Praetoria, you have to choose Loyalist or Resistance. When half the group chooses something different, that limits what the whole group can do. When one player doesn't use 2xp, and the others do, that limits what the group can do. Some will get a contact that opens up at a given level, the other player won't. Some will be ready to leave praetoria, the others won't. And, if you're doing the arcs, there are 4 main "lines" or "paths" of arcs to choose. And there's a fair amount of solo only missions, because they involve confirming or changing your stance of loyalist or resistance. In short - teaming there is annoying and a bit of a cluster, unless your group leaders are fairly chill and know the content and what to expect.

Each server has it's people that are passionate about the game and have mastered the game's mechanics to a science. Some servers have more people, so have more good and bad things about it. That's pretty much it.

The easiest reason to think poorly of AFK farming is, if it's influence you're after, AFK farming isn't the way. But, if you want emp merits/vet levels on your alts, and you're weary of iTrials...seems like the path of least resistance to me.