Maelwys

None that I've noticed. At a basic level, I just plug the pad into a PS Controller Port --> USB convertor (£5 off Amazon; looks like this) Windows picks it up as a regular USB HID-Compliant Game Controller. So far that's worked in everything from WinXP-Win11. The only extra tweak I've used in recent years is a Padix/Rockfire driver that enables Force Feedback (there is a decent test utility for this "ForceTest.exe" which successfully triggers the Feedback motors and happens to pick the pad up as "USB,4-Axis,12-Button with POV") Within CoH, it just needs the regular USB Joypad setting enabled. I don't use the additional Controller Modifier/Virtual mouse commands. Regular Buttons appear as JOY1 through JOY12; and the regular D-Pad shows up as JOYPAD_DOWN, JOYPAD_LEFT, JOYPAD_RIGHT and JOYPAD_UP. Left Analogue Stick is JOYSTICK1_DOWN, JOYSTICK1_LEFT, JOYSTICK1_RIGHT and JOYSTICK1_UP. Right Analogue stick is JOYSTICK2_DOWN, JOYSTICK2_LEFT, JOYSTICK2_RIGHT and JOYSTICK2_UP. on an older model of the convertor, one of the analogue sticks was JOYSTICK3_DOWN, JOYSTICK3_LEFT, JOYSTICK3_RIGHT and JOYSTICK3_UP. The actual Joypad/Joystick/Button responsiveness has always been flawless - and in my experience much more reliable than mucking about with Keyboard emulation. (I have tried various implementations of the latter; but they all occasionally get their wires crossed if/when I'm trying to hammer multiple "keys" simultaneously) All that said... for playing CoH with this gamepad; I use keybind files very extensively. One of my more "tame" binds for JOY7 (my "toggle travel power and enable modifier keys" L2 shoulder button) looks like this: [blackava_ctp.txt] JOYPAD_UP "+down$$-down$$powexec_unqueue$$bindloadfilesilent c:\Games\coh\binds\hc\blackava_off.txt" [blackava_on.txt] JOY7 "+down$$camdist 40$$powexec_toggleon weave$$powexec_toggleon crystal armor$$powexec_toggleon combat jumping$$window_show chat$$window_show tray$$bindloadfilesilent c:\Games\coh\binds\hc\blackava_off.txt" JOY7+lbutton "-down$$powexec_location cursor combat teleport" JOYPAD_UP "powexeclocation forward:max combat teleport" JOYPAD_DOWN "powexeclocation back:max combat teleport" JOYPAD_LEFT "powexeclocation left:max combat teleport" JOYPAD_RIGHT "powexeclocation right:max combat teleport" F13 "powexec_location target combat teleport" [blackava_off.txt] JOY7 "-down$$camdist 40$$powexec_tray 8 3$$powexec_toggleon minerals$$powexec_toggleon brimstone armor$$powexec_toggleon rooted$$window_hide chat$$window_hide tray$$bindloadfilesilent c:\Games\coh\binds\hc\blackava_on.txt" JOY7+lbutton nop JOYPAD_UP "+down$$-down$$powexec_location forward:max combat teleport$$powexec_location target combat teleport$$bindloadfilesilent c:\Games\coh\binds\hc\blackava_ctp.txt" JOYPAD_DOWN "target_enemy_near$$powexec_name Hasten$$inspexec_slot 5$$insp_delete Bounce Back$$insp_delete Awaken" JOYPAD_LEFT "targetcustomprev alive enemy$$targetcustomprev alive quantum$$targetcustomprev alive void$$targetcustomprev alive cyst$$targetcustomprev alive sapper$$targetcustomprev alive cairn" JOYPAD_RIGHT "targetcustomnext alive enemy$$targetcustomnext alive quantum$$targetcustomnext alive void$$targetcustomnext alive cyst$$targetcustomnext alive sapper$$targetcustomnext alive cairn" F13 "powexec_name void skiff"

Aura of Insanity inflicts (very) minor Psionic damage on anything that it doesn't mez. It also has a decent chance of inflicting Confuse (especially with the "Coercive Persuasion: Contagious Confusion" proc) and it can take at least two 4.5PPM damage procs.

I've used a Playstation controller (regular PS1/PS2 dual shock, not your fancy smancy native USB variants!) on most PC games since the 90s. That said, my default CoX setup is probably not for everyone... I do remember trying keyboard emulation, as well as using Glovepie to enable alternative accelerated mouse input via the analogue sticks. But these days as far as the game's concerned it's all JoyUp/Joy1/etc rather than keyboard commands (except for the thumb buttons which refuse to respond to anything other than F13/F14 for some daft reason...)

Update: @Bopper has drawn my attention to a potential discrepancy. The effects of the Gaussian Proc appears to kick in on an attack regardless of whether or not that attack's ATBE falls within the buff window. Whilst this is contrary to how I understand regular power effects work... there's evidence to indicate that this buff is getting "snapshotted" at the point whenever an attack first activates. Which allows you to fit in a "longer" attack than you might otherwise expect at the very end of your buffed-up attack chain. As a functional example... Picture an initial attack chain like Fast Moonbeam (with Gaussian) -> Total Focus -> Energy Transfer (Fast) -> Bonesmasher Fast Moonbeam has an Arcanatime of 1.584 and an ATBE of 0.933; meaning it should subtract 0.651s from whatever the Gaussian buff window is. The Arcanatime of TF + ET(Fast) + BS subtracts a further 5.342s; for 5.993s total. If we round up the ATBE of Fast Moonbeam this becomes 6.116s; which leaves a mere 6.250-6.116=0.134s for the next attack (assuming that the buff window is 6.250s!) Naturally, there aren't many attacks that have an ATBE of less than 0.134s... but in-game testing shows that a follow up attack with a ATBE of 0.5s still gets the benefit of the buff. Note Brawl is reaching 49.18 damage - meaning it's getting the effect of the buff. It's normally ~31 damage. The same holds true for the chain Fast Moonbeam (with Gaussian) -> Total Focus -> Whirling Hands Fast Moonbeam has an Arcanatime of 1.584 and an ATBE of 0.933; meaning it should subtract 0.651s from the buff window. The Arcanatime of TF + WH subtracts a further 5.412s; for 6.063s total. If we round up the ATBE of Fast Moonbeam this becomes 6.186s; which leaves a mere 6.250-6.116=0.064s for the next attack (assuming that the buff window is 6.250s!) This is where things get funny, because SOMETIMES a follow up attack gains the benefit of the buff, and sometimes it doesn't. Note that Brawl deals ~49 damage in the first screenshot and ~31 damage in the second; despite the fact that I was queueing up each power before the previous power finishes animating. (A margin of error of only 0.064s could easily be gobbled up by lag in animation activations/arcanatime/server ticks/etc...) Brawl has an ATBE of 0.5... however attempting various different "last attacks" with ATBEs ranging from 0.5s-1.167s here showed that it was possible for each of those attacks to actually gain the benefit of the buff; regardless of what its ATBE was; as long as the attack STARTED within the buff window. In fact it seems to take pushing beyond 6.250s to actually always fail to work. Fast Moonbeam (with Gaussian) -> Energy Transfer (Slow) -> Whirling Hands Fast Moonbeam has an Arcanatime of 1.584 and an ATBE of 0.933; meaning it should subtract 0.651s from the buff window. The Arcanatime of TF + ET(Fast) + BS subtracts a further 5.544s; for 6.195s total. If we round up the ATBE of Fast Moonbeam this becomes 6.318s; which is over the 6.250 buff window threshold. This time I can't get Brawl to get the buff despite multiple attempts. So it looks like it's always falling outside the buff window; so this third attack chain is simply too long to let any subsequent attacks gain the buff. TL;DR: All this seems to indicate the following: + The Gaussian buff window starts kicking in on [the ATBE of the attack that the proc is slotted in, rounded up for Arcanatime] and it lasts for 6.25s + The ATBE of the last attack doesn't seem to actually matter; what matters is starting that last attack within the remaining buff window. + The buff actually kicking in on an attack seems to become less reliable in/around the ~6.20s mark. This is likely due to lag/rounding. e.g. 6.116s elapsed = OK. 6.186s elapsed = OK (although sometimes fails to work) 6.318s elapsed = NOPE; can't get it to work. So if you are always starting that last attack within about 6.1s; then you should be good. And given the mechanical similarities... I imagine this all translates to the Scrapper ATO2 proc; just with a buff window of 4.25s instead of 6.25s. (So if you are always starting that last attack within about ~4.1s then you should be good). In practice this means there is likely even more wiggle room than we previously thought in the buff window(s).

You mean this? (Normal) (With "Critical Hit" toggled on) Looks like a Mids bug It shouldn't be going from 182.7 --> 508 Base damage. In reality Rend Crits add 142.6 base damage (Fast) or 182.7 base damage (slow). But Mids is applying BOTH the 182.7 AND the 142.6 regardless of whether the attack is "fast" or "slow". See those last four effect entries? Those are what Mids is using when it calculates Critical hit damage for this attack. The two that mention "BossCrit" are both being added simultaneously because they lack conditional modifiers to tell Mids that they should just be used in Fast/Slow mode. If you're in Fast mode, subtract about 182.7*(whatever your attack's damage buff is) from the stated Crit numbers and you'll get a more accurate picture. (in my build that's 100%+119.11%+9%=228.11%... which results in 1363.2-416.75697=946.44 expected crit damage; when procbombed. Which seems much more like it!)

It's the other way around. Humans are Mutants. How'd you think they we got eyes, legs and the ability to talk?

In case it helps, this is what the TW variant of my /Regen scrapper is looking like: Scrapper - TW_Regen IOed.mbd (CP and CB aren't procbombed in order to eek out just enough +Def to reach the Melee Softcap with one stack of Defensive Sweep; but the rest are. ATO2 is in FT)

https://cod.uberguy.net./html/powerset.html?pset=pets.titan_weapons&at=scrapper TW has two copies of many of its powers. The "Fast" version is used during Momentum; and the other is used normally. The Fast ones have a faster cast time and recharge time; which means they have better raw DPA and cycle faster; but their proc rate is lower. A typical attack chain for TW is CB (trigger momentum) > FT > Arc > Rend > FT (momentum wears off) > Crosspunch/Snipe/Gloom. So only the first CB is "slow" and the rest are "fast" (plus that last filler attack, which is typically a Snipe on Scrappers). The main concern therefore is to get Follow Through recharging quickly enough that it's available every 3.564-4.092s (e.g. 2.244s from 'Slow' CB, plus the arcanatime of your filler attack). Personally I tend to procbomb everything, yes. Although Snipes might still need some local +Rech aspect to make ends meet.

Paging @GM_GooglyMoogly

The setup you're describing (bringing three different ATs onto the same map which act as if they're all playing together in a regular team; attempting to manage aggro and defeat stuff methodically) isn't really a commonplace setup for "farming" - typically these days you'd either bring one self-sufficient toon per map (most efficient) or potentially three self-sufficient toons into a large map where they can buff each other but defeat stuff independently. It's still possible to bring multiple different ATs into the same map, but you need to be very mindful of the aggro cap. The point of a "farm" is generally to defeat stuff as fast as possible; but no matter how good of a Tank the Brute/Tanker is; they will only be capable of holding the attention of 17 foes simultaneously... so if you're waiting for proper aggro control to be established; then the going will be slow. If you're intent on bringing a Blaster and a Corruptor for damage; then my advice would be to either: (i) Bring a Brute/Tanker that has as many AoEs as possible plus the Soul Mastery Patron Pool (for Darkest Night) I'd recommend a BattleAxe/StoneArmor; BattleAxe/FieryAura or BattleAxe/RadArmor. The idea here would be to try to bunch at least SOME foes up whilst defeating stuff as fast as possible via AoE attack spam; but be able to situationally pull aggro very quickly when needed and improve allied survivability a bit (via Darkest Night). BattleAxe is excellent at AoE damage and has a place for FF +Rech and FotG -res procs in Axe Cyclone (which also has a minor reverse repel "get over here!" effect). FWIW; Radiation Armor is still good for AoE; it's just not the automatic runaway winner any longer. The nerfs were to Ground Zero's target cap (which affects Rad's performance in "regular" farming; but won't impact your tri-boxing kids if they're never engaging more than 16 targets simultaneously) and to Radiation Therapy's proc activation rate (which won't overly matter if you're bringing a Fire Blaster and a Fire/Kin Corruptor!). (ii) Bring a something else that can group foes up via Crowd Control whilst buffing itself and the other two toons. My money'd be on a Gravity/Cold or Gravity/Time Controller (the latter could leverage Power Boost and Radial Clarion to bring Farsight's defense numbers up to scratch). I imagine the Blaster and Corruptor are already using an Epic/Patron resistance shield; so between some +Def buffage and multiple Barrier Destiny rotations you should be fine.

In a vacuum, yes. But it depends on your attack chain. A lot of TW toons will use Follow Through twice as much as Rend Armor. e.g. CB (trigger momentum) > FT > Arc > Rend > FT (momentum wears off) > Crosspunch/Snipe

Personally I do it to generate drops and influence. AFK farming in particular requires minimal attention and is easy to spin up on a second screen whilst I'm catching up on a TV show etc. Farming isn't as efficient for generating influence as marketeering, but I prefer generating drops to flipping them. It helps keep the non-buy-it-now AH prices down. Including drops, each Passive ("AFK") Farming toon typically pulls in 40-80m inf per hour (depending on the map and how fast the toon can physically defeat stuff). That's roughly half of what an Active Farming toon can pull in, but since you can have three accounts simultaneously logged in on different AE Farming maps per non-busy shard? If you fancy pushing hard for an hour or two then it can all add up very fast. Sometimes I'll park an alt from a different account on the map to get them easy exp. Typically I'll do that after they hit Lv45 in order to get them up to veteran level 100... but sometimes I'll stick them on temporarily earlier to get them over a hump in the 30s etc. so they get a fresh batch of contacts (I like getting all the contacts up to at least phonable status as I level up each character... but I don't see any point in running the Lv45 contact missions until after they hit Lv50) You do see some requests for power leveling in global chat... but IME those requests are also typically from folk who have played the game for decades and genuinely want to skip part of the regular level up process.

Back on Live I kept a specific defender for whenever anyone was demanding a "Healer". They were an Archery/FF; and they didn't have the medicine pool... but they did have Recall Friend; Power Boost and Vengeance. I also kept a Mastermind whose only job was to hang around by the Train station and perform cliche /petsay + emote skits. Think Anarchic Androids with Boomboxes.

Yes, Regeneration Aura is fantastic. And on a MM it'll help you keep your Henchmen upright without spamming Healing Aura. (Though multiple Power Boosted Fortitudes is still where it's at IMO...) Drop the Rez and carry an Awaken Insp or three if you want (or even email them to yourself)

You need to have the files in the right subfolder under your Homecoming installation IIRC. But the map does look different than usual once done - you should notice little colour-coded [1] symbols on your map, and a key for Exploration badges etc. off to the side. However you DO need the map to be fully revealed (e.g. no fog of war!) to actually see most of it. Use the REVEAL power from the START vendor.

FWIW, this is the sort of low-mid level progression build I'd be recommending to a new player using that powerset combo as a learning experience to see what powers and attacks etc. they like: Note that you can get lots of pool powers; and Travel powers like "Fly" and "Super Jump" can be a lot of fun; but the START vendor gets you Athletic Run and various Flight Powers/Packs that you can play about with for free (or for a very low fee in the case of flight packs). Don't worry about losing out on ~1mill inf. You'll earn that back in no time. (And check your email... your global is "@Ironshade"... right?) 🙂

(i) Rerolling is an option, naturally. But everyone gets a Free "Respec" (short for 'respecification') every 10 levels - just type "/respec". Son't worry too much about getting your build "right" - nobody will overly care what damage you can dish out. This game is extremely easy and forgiving, it's about having fun not mechanical perfection. At the extreme endgame there is a very small amount of team content that requires a certain level of damage output... but it's not required to run it (far from it!) and even then it's far more forgiving than in most MMOs. (ii) Don't sweat the inf shortage. You can earn Merits at all levels (swap them to enhancement convertors/boosters at the vendor; then sell them on the AH) and collect Prismatic Aether (random mission completion rewards) and rare Invention Salvage (random enemy defeat rewards) to sell on the AH too. (iii) Check your global email 😉

Don't bother with anything other than the START or Single Origin enhancements until you reach level 22. At lower levels the typical recommendation is to slot 1-2x accuracy then 2x Damage plus 1x Endurance Reduction and 1-2x Recharge in each attack. However Savage Melee has a mechanic which grants you global endurance reduction, so you can likely skip that one. After you hit level 22, you can slot level 25 Inventions, these never degrade as you level up and are roughly the same performance as Single Origin enhancements. The Common ones are cheap to buy (especially if you buy the recipes and craft them yourself - there are no crafting skill level up mechanics or failures, all it takes is ingredients and standing beside a crafting table/workbench) You may well get killed or even get someone else killed. That's part of MMO gameplay. The difference here is that after being killed folk will just revive (typically buffed up and temporarily indestructible) or explode and then revive. Nobody ever levels down or loses gear from dying in CoH, the most that happens is you gain some experience points debt which nobody cares about (in fact there are accomplishment badges for working off exp debt, and certain damaging or buff abilities that can only be used after dying... so certain people will gleefully kill themselves) There are some accomplishment badges that require Taskforces to be completed successfully without anyone on the team dying. But those taskforce attempts will typically be advertised as "Master of (whatever)" runs. Aside from that though? You won't annoy anyone in the slightest. On the contrary, tell your teammates you're new to the game and they'll likely make dying (AKA "faceplanting") into some kind of hilarious drinking game challenge. It's all light hearted fun. Except for @Snarky . If he joins your team, do NOT let him Tank. Or entertain his requests to donate blood plasma or influence. And for the love of Rularu don't let him eat after midnight... he'll be up all night dancing on tables. Again.

Far from it. Hello, welcome, and be assured that (i) Folk are pretty friendly around here and (ii) The fact your first post uses more than two words and proper punctuation means you're automatically on everyone's Christmas Card list 😛 Since CoH has been around for decades there is a LOT of info to digest. If you have some free time, I'd recommend looking over a few guides like this and this and this and this, and just looking through the wiki. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/S.T.A.R.T. As the others have mentioned, visiting the START (previously known as P2W) vendor will help a lot. They hand out free starter enhancements and temporary powers (the Sands of Mu, Nemesis Staff and Blackwand are attacks that are extremely useful until you get a full attack chain; and the Jump Pack, Void Skiff, Inner Inspiration, Reveal and Return to Battle powers are excellent utility) and whenever you get some cash ("inf") you can return to purchase the various SG base and Mission Transporter teleportation powers. Collect Exploration Badges. You'll get Merit rewards; which can be converted into Enhancement Boosters or Convertors which in turn can then be sold on the Auction House (type "/AH") for good inf. As well as access to the Long Range Travel teleporter. There's a very helpful add-on called Vidiotmaps that replaces the regular in game mini map tiles with versions that include badge locations etc. The Excelsior server should have plenty of people around, and you'll occasionally see them summoning an orange-yellow patch on the floor. That's an Ouroboros portal. It gives you access to the "flashback" system that lets you repeat older mission arcs, but lots of people also use it as another fast travel ability. Go over and click on it and you'll get transported to a floating island (just click the portal behind you to return) and a copy of the summoning power for yourself. Savage Melee is a very Endurance light powersets so you shouldn't have many issues keeping your blue bar looking healthy, but whenever you hit about level 25-30 you might want to start looking into some of the "Invention Origin" enhancements (AKA inventions). That's where the complex builds come in and why almost everyone here uses Mids Reborn to plan their character out... but there are a few choice enhancements that will be very useful in the lower and middle levels. So just ask. Also... don't worry too much about the cost of everything on the AH - just by playing the game you'll collect plenty of Merits, Prismatic Aethers and rare Invention Salvage that can make you self financing, and at high levels the raw influence rewards you get from defeating enemies isn't half bad either. Also, lots of folk will happily hand out enhancements to new players if you ask for specific help rather than a generic inf handout (though even they're not uncommon!).

Because IMO all Wall of Force is good for is a place to stick a FF +Rech proc? (and even then it's got a measly 16.469% base activation chance per enemy poked...) In the unlikely event that I'm prepared to dig that deep into a Power Pool for an AoE attack; I'm taking Corrosive Vial. There's a special place reserved in MMORPG Hell for low-range, low-arc cones... 🔥🔥🔥📐 Granted. But one of the things it actually does pretty well is non-pseudopet damage proc averaging.

FWIW, the vast majority of my builds have attuned "+7.5% Rech" LoTGs and +5'ed "+3% Def" Steadfasts (I've many powers with Res+Res/EndRed IOs + a Lv30+5 Steadfast). But there are some toons where I've intentionally +5'ed one or more of my LoTGs to poke something over the Softcap. In those cases I typically try to leave the lower-level powers with attuned versions and +5 the versions in the powers that I've taken closer to level 50; so that the effect on exemplaring is minimized. And in a few cases I've opted to +5 a LotG in order to improve the return of a slot-starved +Def-Granting attack power (Defensive Sweep, Divine Avalanche, etc) Example: Build has 45.07% with one stack of Defensive Sweep as-is. With an attuned LotG; that'd drop to 44.62%. Barely perceptible in practice? Sure. But I likes my round numbers.

Just open Mids, ya big lazypants 😛 Bonus Points: and with Arcane Power: The clincher is that you need a LOT of global recharge for Weaken to be a viable addition to your attack chain. And Arcane Bolt and Project Will both benefit from Containment/Crits/Scourge/etc; whereas Weaken does not. (IMO Weaken Resolve is more useful for its -res debuff capability... especially with an Achilles Heel in it... than for its raw damage potential...) Also Project Will and/or Arcane Bolt is quite often better slotted like this instead:

GOGO AI IMAGE GENERATORS! (...and this is why we don't trust AI as far as we can get it to fling itself with a medieval trebuchet.)

I'm not a huge fan of the Force of Will pool (I take Mighty Leap on a few toons as a better version of Super Jump; but it doesn't need Weaken Resolve as a prereq)! My Cold Dom toons do procbomb Infrigidate though... 😛 Most of my toons that require a "pool power filler attack" end up taking either Cross Punch (Melee Toons) or Arcane Bolt (Controllers). Arcane Bolt is more attractive to my 'Trollers (even if "Arcane Power" bonus damage doesn't get Containment) and it's a prereq for the very useful Rune of Protection.