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Well-motivated vitriol is one thing, but this is where I think the vitriol is confounding the argument (and the hate!) Anyone who remembers pre-ED should also know that the invention system and the Incarnate system came after ED. "Crafting" was always IMO a weird sort of add-on to CoX, since the nature of the character engine and gameplay was such that "looting" is pretty much one-sided: players can collect loot from defeating enemies, and can only "lose" loot by their own actions. And the original loot was pretty much Enhancement drops (and Inf). "Base Crafting" was IIRC the first attempt at crafting (beyond combining enhancements) and with the brief period of PvP "base combat" this was I think the only way players could actually "lose" something crafted. I mention the "crafting" because despite whatever weirdness was attempted to be bolted onto CoX, landing on craftable enhancements was a pretty good innovation IMO. I'll disclose that I *hated* the craftable enhancement system on Live (but lurv it on HC) because without a fungible approach to ingredients and recipes there was simply too many unique combinations (recipes + ingredients) to be viable for a majority of players. As for Incarnates and grinding... absolutely the Incarnate system was established as a mechanism to keep players 'grinding'. I really did not enjoy the Live days of Incarnates. I remain cold to the Incarnate part of the game even today. Many players love it! Some don't feel "complete" without it... so implementing the Incarnate system clearly was a success (by some measures). The only obvious positive I see from the Incarnate system is that whatever dopamine hits it provides end up have zero affect on the level 1-45 game, as experienced by players. It really should be no mystery that the game's engine can't really provide a scalable challenge to high-HP characters with a ("pre-nerf") Regeneration set... especially if any sort of Resistances are in play, let alone minimizing enemy ToHit chances via "Defense Softcaps" or what not. There would have to be new/updates to enemy groups 35+ to do combinations of -MaxHP, -Regeneration, -Healing in order to provide a challenge... a small amount of this was added in the HC era but not enough (by my judgement) to balance a never-dying-because-always-healing character. Those sorts of targeted debuffs would murder pretty much all ATs!

I feel that it was once CoH 'unlocked' levels 41 through 50 that the pre-ED effects of many-slotting of (Single-Origins, cuz that was the best we had) on game balance became painfully obvious. It was not just four more powers (in an era when the Fitness pool was not inherent and travel powers had to be unlocked) but all those extra slots(*1). I 100% agree with @JJDrakken that there are some serious rose-tinted perspectives on the pre-ED days. I won't deny anyone's good feels they got from ambitious slotting of certain powers, but like a lot of the early game this was IMO one of those elements that wasn't originally well-considered. I know it took a little while for the players to have characters that crept back towards (corner cases of) pre-ED performance, but long before Live's sunset we had that capability... and with HC making it straightforward for everyone to achieve just about whatever they want from the Invention system... there is no IMO reason to feel nostalgic specifically for pre-ED slotting(*2). (*1) I find it hard to describe just how much the extra slots and power picks from Issue 1 meant for *my* characters. I suddenly became less bothered about fitting Hurdle/Swift, Health, Stamina, 2 powers from a travel pool, and Hasten for quality of life... or investing slots in those to improve their performance, since I knew I'd get all those extra slots at higher levels. The Invention system (with globals and set bonuses) and the inherent Fitness pool IMO assuaged at least 95% of whatever grief folks should feel about "Enhancement Diversification". (*2) Unless of course, a player's "Regen" character was affected... but bluntly: I think the pre-ED ability to slot the Regeneration set is almost entirely the reason that set became an eternal target for the nerf bat.

/agreed. Also: Enhancements require a power choice in order to be slotted, whereas Accolade powers have no such requirement. The choice to get a power that can take Resistance uniques isn't trivial for all AT, and for those characters that choose to use one of those globals, it means that they are using a slot to sacrifice the potential for some enhancement value.

This sounds like another suggestion that is a long-ago leftover thought from a completely different era of the game... like from when Fire Tankers could get XP from DE Swarms by just standing around but Inv Tankers could not do the same.

In the Homecoming era, I see the primary advantage of the Fighting pool to be the Boxing/Kick/Cross Punch progression/unlock and not the more classic, Live-era-thinking of "gimme Tough and Weave". Weave isn't nothing (base reduction in enemy Hits by ~1-in-20) but even for my characters that have it I rarely toggle it on. Toughness has IMO fared even worse despite being AFAIK the only non-Epic way to get a pool's Resistance power with as few as two picks. S/L are common damage types, but with the broad changes to Damage type attacks it isn't quite as much of a no-brainer to push S/L resistance as high-as-possible-no-matter-what-the-caps-are. Writing only for myself: I rarely take invest in the Fighting pool if I don't want Cross Punch. Pretty much the only times I plan on the Fighting pool in the HC era for: Non-"armored" characters that won't otherwise have a Resistance power to mule enhancements, and I'm not taking Sorcery "Armor" characters that have primary/secondaries mostly devoid of Resistance powers and can use another mule power (or two) at levels 44+ I guess the second is really a subset of the first! Ultimately what works against the Fighting pool for me is the opportunity cost both in terms of power picks and slot usage... so while I understand where the sentiment of the OP is coming from, I really can't get behind it. Power pools are intended to be extra choices to flavor characters and provide slightly off-brand powers that an AT wouldn't normally have... they aren't supposed to make the game (more) easy mode.

Drive by observation on Force Fields for "Offenders": I like Force Fields because it is easy to delay/skip certain primary powers in order to lean hard(er) into the secondary attacks. I'm not a huge fan of Radiation Blast, but I love my Force Field/Beam Rifle Defender. Even with the HC changes to Force Bomb... I still don't like it. If you are trying to "proc-bomb" I absolutely would include a KB->KD piece in Force Bomb, otherwise the enemies get scattered minimizing the likelihood of another AoE attack's chances for %damage. I see why it gets a lot of love, but my dislike for Force Bomb has subtle motivations: I don't like the animation(s) Even though I opened this post with "skip/delay" FF primary powers, I mostly delay, but this one is a power I skip. If I really want an AoE %damage power that does "knock" for %damage, I'll probably lean into the Force of Will pool to get the cone Wall of Force earlier, even with the tradeoffs.

In terms of graphics, I prefer Energy Aura over Dark Armor; in terms of performance I prefer Dark Armor.... but it is close. The main issue I have with Energy Aura is this: because it is a typed Defense set, I find it takes a lot more effort in the build to get to the levels of survivability I am comfortable with... and even then against +4x8 enemies (without incarnates) my Energy Aura scrapper struggles. I almost never have issues at +0x8, unless the enemies exploit a hole or debuff me (despite the -Debuff protection) Dark Armor is resistance based, and I am personally much more comfortable knowing I will take damage and how I will mitigate that. I find it easier to simply add some positional Defense to (all) my builds. Dark Armor has one HUGE drawback, the lack of an inherent Knockback protection... this is especially problematic because Dark Regeneration (the self heal) is PBAoE and if a Dark Armor character is being flung all-over-the-place then both offense and surviving is compromised. However: I find it very easy to build in 14 points of KB from enhancements on Dark Armor: +3 points from 3xGladiator's Fury (in any PBAoE damage power, like Death Shroud) +3 points from 3xGladiator's Armor (in any Resistance toggle, like Dark Embrace) +4 points from Steadfast Protection (in any Resistance power) +4 points from either Blessing of the Zephyr or Karma (lots of mule power options) 14 points is enough for every common source of KB except the 20 points needed for FREEM! The +4 KB protection pieces are NOT unique, so I find building Dark Armor for +14 makes it easy to also hit/cross the 20 points... but keep in mind that +10 points of KB protection can be crafted at a SG base. If for some reason 14 is seen as overkill, you could go with 12 points, but I think those PVP sets are something of a no-brainer for Dark Armor.

As Homecoming has made it rather straightforward to improve Defenses across the board for all ATs (easy access to enhancements) and Resistances(*1), the places where I see an obvious difference between Blasters and Scrappers depends a LOT on the content being played. For solo: At high difficulty settings (+N), an average Scrapper will probably do better than a Blaster, because of the survival tools common to Scrapper secondaries. At high spawn sizes (x8), an average Blaster will probably do better than a Scrapper, because of the AoE (both ranged and PBAoE) common in both Blaster primaries and secondaries. There are a few niche circumstances where I think an average Scrapper will have better performance than a Blaster. I'm thinking specifically about solo play in content that will include several bosses, elite bosses, and/or AVs, when the Blaster may not have access to everything she needs to survive and fight... so things like lower level TFs where global recharge bonuses may not be available and lower level content where extra power picks needed for a Blaster's survival may not be available because the character hasn't yet picked them, or because they have exemplared down past them. I'm not saying that Blasters (especially full-kit level 50s) will struggle with such content, my sentiment is that it is more straightforward to build a Scrapper that can both survive and defeat lower level content at whatever difficultly level than for a Blaster. (*1) q.v. the lamentations about the "nerf" to Rune of Protection. Rune of Protection, pre-adjustment was effectively giving Blasters reliable and highly available levels of Protection and Resistance similar to multiple power picks from the 'armor' ATs.

Is the intent to circumvent the diminishing rewards of Empyrian Merits?

I'm (still) bitter about the destruction of Galaxy City and the loss of a favorite starting zone, but I don't see a strong reason beyond nostalgia to bring it back as it was. I agree it could have potential as a new 35-50 co-op zone. The loss of Galaxy City was (for me) just one more piece of evidence that the Live devs didn't care about preserving some fundamental "evergreen" aspects of the game (see also "Who Will Die?, Dark Astoria, Praetoria) and would ditch anything in order to tell narrow content about very specific NPC characters' 'development'. I'm mostly neutral on the Live changes to Mercy Island. I have no objection to the Faultline or Hollows Live revamps, as those didn't fundamentally change those zones (as engaged by level-appropriate characters). Similarly the HC changes to Atlas Park and Mercy Island are practically invisible (if not sweating going to another zone for AE). I am cold on the changes Live+HC to the Rikti War zone, but I get why Live revamped it.

Wow, an article about Homecoming that isn't inflammatory click bait! I wouldn't expect negative comments in an article about the only currently licensed version of the game, but I've been disappointed before. The TL; DR of the article: "Hey, this is another time a sunsetted game has been brought back and licensed, is there hope for other games?"

Early this year, Inv/Katana Tanker was on the short-list for a specific character concept I had. Katana is fun (the defense debuffs are not that important IMO) and Invulnerability is straightforward to build. Ultimately I went with a Katana/Radiation Scrapper instead, but the Radiation/Katana Tanker was a close second choice. Radiation Armor (for either set) offers more PBAoE damage options, and in my experience a well-built Scrapper can look very much like a Tanker for a LOT of content(*1). Radiation Armor (for Scrapper) also offered a pretty good power to put the Critical Strikes ATO piece in (Radiation Therapy). Once I decided on Scrapper, I never revisited the potential Rad/Katana Tanker. As for the OP question about which other sets... for Tankers that don't get good "do damage" options from the primary, and/or have relatively few AoE (compared to other Tanker secondaries), I like to use the Force of Will pool with this sort of progression: Mighty Leap (excellent travel power, plus a PBAoE Knockdown) Weaken Resolve (with minimal slotting/no extra slotting it helps teammates defeat enemies faster) Wall of Force (an excellent ranged cone with great %damage options and KB) Unleash Potential (if desired, it works very well for the high-HP classes) Because Resistances/Defenses aren't that important (or very good) at low levels, I try to get Wall of Force at level 14 by delaying one of the low-level primary choices. Unleash Potential isn't usually needed on Tankers, but it is a good power to mule/frankenslot and it provides some buffs that the Tanker may not have (or wants another clicky power for). (*1) going back to Live, and with some fraction of Tankers not taking/using Taunt it is really hard to tell the difference between how well a Tanker and Scrapper 'survives' much PUG content.

What are the "feels" of Titan Weapons? I'm aware of how the performance was scaled back on HC. I've pretty much always avoided the set (from Live!) because: I felt that War Mace was painfully slow while leveling! I've never really had a character concept that called for the extremely large weapon. It is hard for me to understate just how much I disliked leveling up my War Mace Scrapper. Once the build had lots of (global, slotted) Recharge it plays much smoother... but I have been in no hurry to replicate that experience.

Like @Warshades pretty much all my characters end up in melee range, the only ones I make something of an effort to avoid melee is for Blasters with no melee at all (e.g. archery/Arrow), and to a lesser extent Blasters that have excellent long-ranged cones. I treat Sentinels as Scrappers with ranged attacks: They start fights at a distance, enemies close in... or I close in on them... and the fights proceed like melee, but with ranged attacks... so less hustling around for targets on my part. The shorter ranges and smaller AoE just mean that it is more likely for the enemy critters from a large spawn to get within 7'; it shouldn't take an advanced degree to see how this would happen.

I'm "meh" on the idea. For characters I'm playing that much, I don't need an extra enhancement slot. For characters that really want that extra enhancement slot, AE farming would be the easiest way for them to get it, along with all the incarnate goodies.

My general approach has been to pretty much take the powers in the same order as in the final build, occasionally using more slots in earlier powers to be able to mule certain enhancement pieces sooner rather than later. Every so often there is an early power in the 'final' build that ends up there because of the level at which other powers become available, but if it isn't a power I will use often it might get replaced (while leveling) with a different power. As far as "what to slot, and when" for under 50: I typically try to slot the ATOs somewhat ASAP, for bonuses. I typically have 2-slots in both Health and Stamina by level 21 The purple sets will be replaced with attuned PVP sets, or Universal Damage, or "something else" I don't often put a lot of slots into %damage until I can have accuracy and endurance reduction Hami-O usually just get replaced with a single-IO or in some cases an attuned piece that offers similar enhancements. The pieces that will be attuned in the final build just get slotted when possible. I usually slot lvl 25/30 IOs, and then replace with level 45/50s.

After a short duration attempt to "get moar damage" across multiple characters/ATs by leveraging Epics/Patrons... I've pretty much been ignoring Epic/Patron pools unless they fit my concept or otherwise don't clash with my character concept. even with the (semi-)recent lowering of level ranges at which I can select an Epic/Patron pool, I typically feel like the powers simply come too late in a build to end up as a "key design feature" for most of my concepts. My feels/approach should not be taken as a criticism for the game mechanic or those who get really excited about them! I still get really excited when I have a primary/secondary/AT concept and there is at least one epic pool that fits just right.

While this would eliminate 100% of what I see as "petty bickering", it would also eliminate discussion (from all sides of a proposal). I also feel like this would have negative affects like the presumption that the ONE post is dispensing immutable wisdom on the form of a stone tablet. Forum participants don't need larger egos IMO. This suggestion sounds like the sycophancy @biostem referred to. It certainly would be easier to believe that an opinion or suggestion was "quite popular" if folks are forbidden from discussing what they don't like about it.

I don't have many Sentinels, but one combination I tried that "felt right" for a Sentinel is Beam Rifle/Energy Aura. What follows is my opinion of each primary/secondary, and why I like them on Sentinels. Beam Rifle is a fun set, but as a Blaster Primary I find that it generally under-performs for Blasters compared to other choices, for large spawns. I like it on Defenders, but for Sentinels (with their Secondary) it feels like the Sentinel port of BR simply synergizes well because of the ability/need to pick targets and not worry at all about keeping a distance from any of them. I don't notice the downgrade in damage scales as much for Beam Rifle. Energy Aura is an armor that I find to be a real mixed bag for melee types. It is a satisfactory performer once it covers most of what you need it to cover... but I find (on melee) that eventually I run into a large spawn of some enemies where things go pear-shaped... and in melee it can be difficult to single out the "most problematic" enemy when things are going sour. The Sentinel certainly has similar weaknesses, but with a ranged primary I find it a lot easier to focus fire on one (or more!) enemies in a spawn that are the source of my trouble. For melee I usually have to rely on some other power pick (Combat Teleport, a ranged pool attack, whatever) to deal with those. Also, starting a combat from range helps minimize the occurrences of those sorts of circumstances.

I have never tried! A more complete answer is: I've never tried soloing a pylon with *any* of my characters. I understand why folks do this, but as a "task" it holds no appeal to me.

My comment on Psi resistance was self-directed! I think my slotting ends up with a base +10% more Psi resistance than Negative, which I attribute to a habit from Live about "patching the Psi hole". A (possibly bad) habit I have is running Invuln Tankers with most of the toggles off... so I kinda get used to "burning some Green bar". It's the small fraction of "extreme" content where my approach is slightly more panic-inducing than a heavy lean into across-the-board maximized resistances would otherwise be. For that content... some help from teammates is appreciated!

I can speak a little to the "a boy and his robot" (both before and after MM revamp for Robotics). The current version of Robotics is better for MM+T3only, but it is still somewhat lacking... I blame the poor-ish ST damage more than the actual damage scale.

I no longer bother with KB->KD in the Robots. I think there is really only one attack from them that will still do KB (against even-level enemies, not counting clocks). It's not a big deal to me. My T1 have the %BuildUp piece, plus the Explosive Strike %damage. The first is very reliable (often multiple triggers simultaneously) and the latter does slightly speed up clear times for me. The protector bots get a pair of ATO pieces, 2 uniques, and then a Hami-O Centriole and a LotG Def/global recharge. The T3 gets 4xATO + 2xATO. When possible, I like to add a HamiO Endoplasm to Dark Servant for more control. I think when I have an extra slot I also will sometimes add a Trap of the Hunter %damage piece, but that is very optional. (4x Cloud Senses is also my default). 6-slot Tactics seems like overkill to me, but I smell what you are cooking. The Kismet piece in Weave is something I'd just drop, as it only helps the MM and often Weave isn't needed to be toggled on.

Anecdote: In the current game, the only open-world content I see Masterminds regularly having trouble zerging are Giant Monsters like nu-Eochai, Lusca (with Tentacles), and the Arachnos Flier (far less trouble IMO, but there are some subtleties with it relating to its shield, regeneration, and travel times). Every other GM (except for Rikti Dropship) is something I regularly see MM's fighting toe-to-toe. The first two GMs are problematic because of AoEs... nuEochai's has an auto-hit patch, and Lusca with even just one tentacle can muster multiple AoEs to grief and MM+henchmen. This is not to say those GMs are unbeatable, rather they are in a category where many MMs don't bother with them because of the extra effort required. No-cost auto-upgrades of henches certainly would make life even easier against those two GMs... because now those MMs that can't/won't/don't zerg those GMs would zerg them. Right now my Lusca solo times (all 22 merits) are rate-limited by the 2-minutes between Destiny Barrier modulated by the resummoned henches not having their upgrades. Lusca would become very easy for me if the henches didn't have to be upgraded. The next lower tier of annoying Giant Monsters is IMO nuJack-in-Irons and (a little bit) Kraken. nuJack because it can chain a bunch of AoE (including some controls) that "get lucky" and mess up an MM trying to zerg. Kraken has the Damage aura which isn't so much of a big deal, but with its AoEs it means that it (currently) it is smart not to resummon a hench too close to it. Most other GMs have some sort of AoE attack(s), but in practice I haven't observed them to be worried about (mostly because of ToHit checks). There are adjacent points to be made about MM secondaries.... whatever team buffs are in those are the same types of buffs that other ATs have. That is: no "for free for the henches at all times". Any "Aura buffs" from a secondary will still have to wait for the timing of a complete summons before affecting a newly summoned henchmen. FWIW: I'd probably rank /Marine as the best of the MM secondaries because of every tool it brings to a fight, plus a "patch", and then either /Time or /Traps. Traps is very busy (but powerful) while Time should be slightly more laid-back.