Jacke

I see @Maelwys has pointed out in their big post above how to use the MRB Enemy Relative Level setting. Put that on +3 (the usual relative value in +4 Content when the Toon has a Tier 3 or Tier 4 Alpha Boost) and that's most content handled. The major exception is Pets and Pseudopets, the vast majority of who do not benefit from the Caster's Global Buffs. They see +4 in +4 Content. For them I have 2 rules to simplify things: Slot Pet Powers with ED-capped Accuracy. If the Pet has Powers with less than 1.2 Base Accuracy, needs either Tactics or a source of -Def. For most Pets that don't benefit from Tactics (Trip Mine is one), they usually have 1.2 Base Accuracy. Illusion Control's Phantom Army does need -Def and other debuffs.

Like the S.T.A.R.T. vendors outside of Pocket D, they have a dialogue, one option of which opens their listing. They do most things via the dialogue. The vendor listing can only contain items for sale that can be stored on a Toon. The fancy functions of Null the Gull are all in the dialogue. Also, the devs had said there isn't going to be more Nulls placed into the game, Pocket D is it. Null was introduced to give a way to adjust some things and determine others that would have been very difficult or impossible to put into the game in another form. Also, considering what Null does, having that in a completely non-combat neutral Zone like Pocket D likely deals with many issues by pre-establishing limits before there can be problems. Thus to give functions like Null the Gull elsewhere in the game is either: A duplicate of Null, which the devs have said they don't want to do (having more than one very special contact likely has issues all its own). A whole new UI feature, which would need engine changes, which do happen, but only for the things most vital to support other stuff in the game. Short of hearing directly from the devs with an update, there isn't going to be functions like Null the Gull has added to S.T.A.R.T. And as my post on the first page has brought up, there are better ways to deal with Group Fly's issues, now that the game is filled with temp Fly Powers. That is to redefine what Group Fly affects to remove its effects on Teammates.

I'm not a dev, but I base this on what the Devs had said in the past. A dialogue in City can invoke any command, common or special, so it can do virtually anything. A vendor listing can only provide items that can be stored on Toons.

Being able to purchase Recipes and some Enhancements via Reward Merits puts an upper price on them. I think most would consider that price to be rather high, much higher than using the Merits in other ways to get Inf to buy stuff on the Auction House.

I think the options that Null the Gull provides can't be put into a S.T.A.R.T. vendor, because they have to apply effects or hidden Powers that can only be put in a dialogue, not a vendor listing. And only the S.T.A.R.T. vendor listing can be used in Task-Force-Mode (which as @macskull points out above is vital). That's why the Pocket-D S.T.A.R.T. vendor doesn't have a dialogue before the vendor listing, so it can be used in Task-Force-Mode. And to change that means changing the game engine, which is hard and the most demanding thing to get absolutely right the first time. It's why the very skilled and focused people like @Faultline and @Number Six are the ones who do that. And I imagine there's a whole queue of work for that already suggested.

Happy New Year to you, @Snarky! How are you at jogging? 😺

I think the key problem here is that there may not be enough attacking for the Brute to push Fury high enough.

As @Snarky knows, the Dead can often draw on great self-control. 😺

I only have one build on the vast majority of my Toons. (Worst thing I ever tried was maintaining 2 builds while Levelling. Had to reroll that Toon.) The one exception is on my main, AR/Devices Blaster who has 3 with different Epic Pools, with the rest of the builds exactly the same. Multiple builds are a maintenance pain. So the same build needs to both solo and team. Putting in a great slotting of Fearsome Stare benefits the rest of build too. Don't need that deep of a softcap Defense. Which frees resources for other features of the build. On my Dark Miasma/Radiation Blast Defender, Fearsome Stare is the only cone attack in the build. I crack a spawn with it. Or if the Team is running well, don't and move into close range and use the other tools. It's similar to Cold Snap in my Ice Control/Cold Domination build, a cone to crack a spawn I only need when things are tough (Arctic Air is the big survival tool). But welcome when I do need it.

Fearsome Stare is a must-pick from Dark Miasma or Darkness Control, it's just that good.

I think Teleport Target should be Green tier. It's one Power I'd like to fit into more builds. Most often I can't fit it in not because I can't free 1 of the 24 Power Picks, but because I can't free 1 of the 4 Pool Picks. It allows someone at a door to teleport in other Team members when they're on the door's map but no where near it. It also allows pulling a Teammate forward on an instanced map when they've just zoned in. Teammate defeated and surrounded by mobs? Get them out of there so they can be rezzed. No access to Temp Powers so no Assemble-the-Team ? Stealth to the end, find a quiet nearby spot, and pull in the whole Team.

Hey @Bionic_Flea, tell @Jimmy that @Snarky is willing to pay for more forum storage! 😺

I do feel similarly to @Luminara. (Sure that's enough for this repeat topic?) And @Lunar Ronin is quite correct, this topic keeps coming back again and again. Because it's a pain that hasn't been dealt with. The Null the Gull solution isn't adequate. And I say that as someone who's not disabled others' Group Fly effects. Yet I have a Toon spreadsheet and could carefully add it in to set on old Toons as well as add it to my new Toon sequence. Just because I can fix this, doesn't mean it's easy for the entire playerbase. Especially those who don't follow the forums and never have seen any of the many posts on this. And haven't heard of Null the Gull nor his powers to disable Group Fly effects. And it is a problem. I was recently on a MSR on Everlasting and there was Group Fly going on in the Mothership Bowl. Players with Toons that absolutely need to be on the ground must have been irritated. There is a simple solution: Make the Group Fly effects apply only to the Caster and their Pets. https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=pool.flight.group_fly It's at the lower left: Entities Affected Player Teammate (Alive), Self Entities Autohit Player Teammate (Alive), Self Drop that "Player Teammate (Alive)" and do whatever needs to be done to the Power to make it affect the Caster's Pets (which may be including in Self, not sure). That's the obvious fix in a game now overflowing with Fly temp powers that are NEVER disabled in any game content. Which new Toons now get one automatically at low Level.

That explains so much about @Snarky.

It's like Fight Club. Everyone fights. Anything else is just wrong.

That screams you have had cruft in your install, especially not having the changes to Siren's Call and Cimerora. If you've installed no other mod manually besides older VidiotMaps: Clear out <City Install Root>/data/ If you're not sure, replay with what you've found and I'll let you know. Legitimate stuff in data/ are manual installed mods including: customwindows/ The custom.window files for that slightly buggy way to handle Macros. fonts/ Replacement font files. sound/ogg/ Replacement sound files in a tree structure. texts/<Client language>/menus/ Manually installed Popmenu files. texture_library/GUI/Cursors/ Replacement cursor files. Check that <City Install Root>/assets/mods/ contains only mod files you've install via City Modder. I've been very careful and have a number of manual mods in data/, along with a manual install of VidiotMaps in assets/mods/, but don't have any issues.

Why not both? I have a Fire/Dark Corruptor on CB, eventually on HC. I plan to make a Dark/Dark Toon for every AT.

You'll still have 3 Exploration Tips once you're done on Zones you've explored. You may want to clear those Tips.

Before Issue 21 when Galaxy City wasn't trashed, the Warshade Contact Shadowstar was there. Pre-Shutdown, I started my Warshade there.

I usually have a Toon talk to all 5 Initial Classic Contacts just to have them available for Inspirations and when I'm working a Completist or someone else who will get all 5 Classic Contacts every 5 levels. You have to watch out, as those 5 Initial Classic Contacts won't always offer missions after L4 or L5.

Considering the effort that @Cobalt Arachne did putting in the Exploration Badge Tips, I'd say that VidiotMaps won't ever be a default part of the Game. However, the modding environment could be added in as default, beyond just the data/ directory tree, but making assets/mods/ default for loading .pigg mods. That would make things a bit easier.

I know that Brutes were designed to be the Redside Scrappers. While Masterminds were supposed to be the Redside Tankers. But.... Brutes were the only Redside AT given Taunt. If Masterminds were supposed to Tank, why didn't they get Taunt? Even just a ST Taunt? MMs can only taunt by flinging their Henchmen at mobs. And worse looking like easy meat. Guess if a MM wants to taunt, there's always the Presence Pool (a Pool in a bad shape). I think that was flawed from the start. It's also a long time ago. We have to look at the game as it is played now, changing it from that perspective. I like all the ATs, though I'm very weak on some I've not played that much. Brutes need some love. For one, I'd give them higher Base Protection Values, Resists and Defenses, than Scrappers. Beyond that, not sure.

Although I earlier mentioned using 4 DFBs and 2XP to get from L1 to L20, that's not the way I play Toons. I usually have new Toons go Blueside and do Outbreak to get the Isolator Badge. Then I play the Atlas Park arcs: Matthew Habashy Sondra Castel Aaron Thiery Done this so many times, it's like an extra to running around getting Atlas Park's Badges and Plaques. Usually leaves my Toons somewhere L6 to L8. Some Toons I do start Redside (taking Breakout), a rare few Goldside. Back to Blueside scheme. Then I go to Kings Row for Police Band Missions and the Atlas Park Safeguard. I've run Completists Toons, so I know the cutoff Levels and will stop XP to do more on a Toon, like more in Kings Row or head to the Hollows, maybe flip Redside. I also rotate all my Toons through the various Day Job locations, as well as getting some more Badges in Pocket D via various actions. Often a Toon has earned all the Day Job Badges before hitting L10. It's not that hard to push through the early Levels. There's many different ways.

Yes, that's the old VidiotMaps. Need to remove them. Not sure what this is. Is it @Michiyo City Modder? I don't use it as I have few mods. So did I. I have a deck of punchcards some place in my stuff. The keypunch machine printed the text on the top of the cards. I want to find it and copy the program. 😺

This is very simple stuff, @Snarky. I coded over 40 years ago, haven't done any in the last 10, but this isn't that complex. @AboveTheChemist worked to get it to be as simple as possible. You just have to know where your City install is. I wrote an article for that. It's the 3rd link in my signature. I think you'll find it's "games/CoH". Then you just have to follow ATC's instructions as they've put it in their post I linked above. Remove all old VidiotMaps files from <City Installer Root>/data/ Add the command line option in the launcher to find new mods: " -assetpath assets/mods" Put the new VidiotMaps .pigg file into "assets/mods/" "assets/" should exist as it's a standard City directory. If there's no "mods/" inside it, create that directory. Launch the City client program via the launcher And upon launch, it all should work.