tidge

For those us without Discord, any chance of a text version here?

I guess I *am* in the future. It is too late!

I definitely find myself wondering if some players recognize just how little they get for some of the recommendations. I do effectively pointless things like boosting the damage enhancement in a Purple set to go from something like 300 to 301, but I'm aware how wasteful this is... but my reasoning is "it is MOAR damage!" so I can understand the instinct.

I have recently gotten some training origin level 50 drops. Weird but true.

My apologies for weak search-fu... no apologies for not being on the Discord... what was the nature of this Tuesday's update?

I don't go out of my way to criticize MIDS, but I will reluctantly reveal that I think it is probably one of the worst-engineered pieces of software that I've ever tried to use/install/use/re-install. I don't care that it is a volunteer effort... if volunteer carpenters were making furniture that wobbled, gave splinters, didn't fit through my doors, etc. I still wouldn't accept them with a "thanks for volunteering!" Re: Slotting... why put all those slots into either power when the 6-slots are needed for Wall of Force?!

Forum PVP is the only PVP.

I was hoping @Maelwys would do the math, but here is my thinking: As far as %proc rates go (for Force of Will) Project Will is a base 5-second recharge time power, Weaken Resolve is a base 30-second recharge time power... the longer recharge time puts it in the "90% ceiling" category (%chance ~ 3x or 4x higher for the slower power) Naively: PPM were originally intended to be something of a wash when it comes to "do I slot damage enhancement or a %damage"... but (some Controller focus) the following come into play: Global recharge doesn't affect %proc rates, so a 30-second power is available more often from global recharge (than a 5-second power... less foot-room for improvement) Is a Controller going to put (enough) slots into a pool attack (I've done this for set bonuses, but it is uncommon) Is the pool attack going to be crucial enough that I'm going to be spamming it (sooner than 30 seconds or less)? (for my Controllers...no) Is the primary effect of Weaken Resolve (the debuff) valuable by itself? On the last point... for me (solo) it depends on the Controller. If there is a lot of extra damage floating around (teammates, pets, patches) then some debuff plus %damage is the choice for me.

Watch out, or the @Maelwys will get you!

OP doesn't even offer anything controversial IMO about the request... folks have been asking "lemme buy ____" for a long time. If there is controversy, it's repeatedly bringing up the same request. We deserve a better set of controversial options: 1) Let players who want to earn accolades put them on the market for other players to buy. 2) Grant fractional values of the accolades based on the amount of effort put in to earn the accolade.

I'd vote 'no' for a variety of reasons. This isn't Pokémon. Sets become unbalanced... or put another way, if some sets get chances for more damage their base attributes have to be decreased to maintain balance with sets that can't get the boosts. Nobody wants that... and frankly it would be a development nightmare to try to balance all the sets just to become Pokémon.

The stat-boosting aren't 'fluff'.... but HC has made it easier to get set bonuses that do what the accolades by slotting pieces. The +MaxEnd is a big deal for all ATs, the +MaxHP is a much bigger deal for Brutes and Tanks (because of base HP), followed by any AT with Scaling Damage Resistance and/or Regernation-reliant characters... but otherwise the +MaxHP isn't that big of a deal IMO. It isn't nothing, although the +MaxHP have gotten several of my other AT characters to their HP cap.

Fair enough, but it certainly seem that folks who want permanent stat boosts, purple sets, etc for no/minimal effort have motivations somewhere on the 'bragging rights' spectrum too.

The level 45-50 arcs are available (one time only) for level 50s, and Maria Jenkins requires no introduction. The original Tina M arc is in Ouro. I suppose it is 'annoying' but so are shoelaces.

This sort of request feels (to me) like another FOMO by not having everything (Stat boosts, Purples, Accolade Powers, blah blah fishcakes) on every character, at will. In-game, blue side: The Tina and Maria PI contacts are excellent for accumulating XP (including Incarnate XP, should the character be there) for both teams (natch) *and* solo... solo is especially good because of the NPCs that help in certain missions, and the variety of opponents that are weak to different damage types. The player needs to know which missions are which, but if the player is *bored* by those arcs and didn't learn anything... why does that player deserve an easy path? I agree with the sentiment that "waiting" for a contact to give a specific mission is annoying... so here is some validation on that point. I simply don't think it is that big a deal, because for solo play we have a mechanism (Ouroboros) to get missions that grant things we need for (most, certainly the stat-boosting) accolades.

I no longer bother with keybinds for henchmen commands. I always found them clunky, and now with fast resummons and AoE buffs they are less necessary than ever IMO. For fine control I use the pet window. That being said, I only use macros for: 4: Agressive 5: Defensive 6: Passive 7: Attack my target 8: Follow Me 9: Goto Plus STAY and DISMISS

I'm avoiding commenting in the MJ arc, but I've come close to hitting thumbs down on the OP. My point about badges v. accolades comes down to: if someone has got no time or willpower to collect the 4 stat-boosting accolades, they certainly don't have time or willpower to collect 1500+ badges.

I feel like adding: I feel similar about Controllers v. Dominators. I can build both, both play well for me, but I find Controllers to be much more fun than Dominators. Much of the feels are certainly due towards building for perma-dom as it limits the design space for me (for any given Dominator combo). Without perma-dom, DOminators are somewhat meh, with permadom they feel like narrowly specialized Controllers.

The accolades aren't that hard to get... they are one of the few in-game rewards for individual (not bankrolled) characters that are unlocked through playing the (specific) character. The stat-boosting accolades have a tangible reward on play.... better to ask for the ability to purchase more difficult things to achieve, such as badges. (not my suggestion, but badge count has zero effect on character play.)

Time is powerful. It probably requires less attention than Marine.

On other ATs, I'd never skip Whitecap. On MMs specifically... even though I play something like /Traps in near-constant base contact with enemies... I don't know that the rest of what would come from /Marine benefits that much from going into melee combat (as the MM). For me, it would 100% depend on how the playstyle develops. So much of Marine requires being close to the henchmen or picking targets from range, so Whitecap (again, on MMs) feels like the odd power out to me. On my other ATs with Marine, Whitecap ends up as a 6-slot power... and slots are especially precious for MMs in my experience. This is why I'd deprioritize it without establishing my playstyle for the MM (and henchmen). EDIT: Shoal Rush is an AoE debuff, which I find important for MMs. Less so for other ATs. It should work with minimal slotting, and should be a good %proc power (on cast) similar to Caltrops (on a Traps Masterminds) if there is a desire to invest some slots in it.

Marine Affinity is absolutely a pick 8 or 9 power set. Ironically, a power close to the "go ahead and skip" in Marine is Whitecap. This is an excellent power, good for %procs and it can be an important source of -Resistance... but it is going to commit the MM to being in melee... not normally an issue, but sometimes it absolutely is. It will depend on how survivable you can make the MM. I'd put a (single) %damage piece in the T1s before the %-Res piece... because damage always stacks, %-Res from the same source does not (although stacking it resets/extends duration) The T7 robotics power pick is now Maintenance Drone, which is an excellent power. It's a great use of 6-slots for Preventive Maintenance. It's the most no-brainer heal power in the game IMO. It is much more reliable than the T2's heals. The drone also happens to be one more thing you can cast upgrades on after summoning a replacement henchmen (during the untargetable phase). It should pretty much minimize the need for Soothing Wave (on robots). Soothing Wave is a good pick-up for Thugs (and Mercs) ... less so than for the Robots. Soothing Wave is IMO good for the melee henchmen because the MM is likely to be focused on the enemy being engaged with, so the debuff and heal happen at once. For Robots, I try to have both Pulse Rifle Burst and Photon Grenade for -Regen, and the effects help keep aggro on the MM. Soothing Wave should also help grab/keep aggro (max 10 enemy targets to hit) With Maintenance Drone I'd probably minimize slotting on Soothing Wave. Soothing Wave will work on all allies, the Drone only heals (your) Robotic henchmen.

So... I get what you're cooking, yet there aren't many powers (certainly not when compared to attacks/controls) that would benefit from from Defense/Resistance/Healing pieces... and if limiting this hypothetical set to Tankers via ATO is narrowing the window. As I wrote: I used to grumble that that most Tankers could only use ATO in Secondaries (see also Defenders),, and I still occasionally grumble about the 'control' ATOs but specific to Tankers, their primaries and ATOs I feel like disclosing my general feels about ATOs: ATOs are convenient to use while leveling up At level 50, Superior versions often offer very good set bonuses and useful procs (and sometimes excellent globals) I write the above because my experience with Tankers is: There are very few primary powers that need many slots, mostly because they simply don't need more than three (set) pieces, often only two are good. There are some Primary powers worth franken-slotting... but then 4,5,6-piecs set bonuses aren't in play.... so ATOs would have to have some extremely good 2 or 3-piece set bonuses As for the need... I'm specifically thinking about things like resistance toggles: They pretty much exclusively only need Resistance and Endurance Reduction They typically don't need to be toggled on (depending on enemy attacks) Extra (i.e. past ED cap) increases of that specific resistance are very likely to be marginal On the final point: I know the arguments about damage resistance resisting resistible damage resistance debuffs, the "but 50% of 4 points of damage taken is 2 fewer points of damage taken" and the old (pre-typing change on HC) ideas about S/L ... but creeping up specific damage resistances by fractions of a percentage by gong well past the ED limits is IMO typically a real waste of slots... especially for Tankers that can really benefit from things like %Heal, +MaxHP, Scaling Damage Resistances, and +Regeneration in ways that few other ATs (Brutes really) can because of the pool of HP. Having written all that: More enhancement sets would be welcome. Personally, I'd focus on gaps in current power types (Primarily: Threat and Fear; see also 'Accurate' powers like ToHit and Defense Debuffs plus "Accurate" Healing) before trying to create more ATOs (or HO/DS)

I'm not disagreeing... but I want to share a revelation I had about Tankers and ATOs (but applies to all armor primary/secondaries): The enhancement schedules for things like Defense and Resistance are different (lower) so a hypothetical Tanker ATO would have to consider the caps for both Defense and Resistance... and of course, not all Armor sets are equivalent. That is: a Hypothetical Tanker ATO would have to have a 6-piece distribution of something like Resistance, Resistance/Endurance, Resistance/Recharge, Defense, Defense/Endurance, Defense/Recharge to be "fair", and then trying for a 6-piece bonus would be a losing proposition for most Tankers.

Here is a tip about Force of Will on Controllers (specifically, but applies in general): If I want the "ranged attack" find it is generally better to take Weaken Resolve slotted with Accuracy/Recharge and two %damage pieces than it is to take Project Will. Add the %-Res if you like, if it triggers I'm pretty sure it will happen before %damage. Controllers have a poor damage scales, the %procs are fixed damage that ignore the scale. Mileage varies of course if you want Project Will specifically to hold some other set, but for Controllers... unless there is a thematic reason to take Project Will "To Me, My CoX-men!" I don't need the piddling damage it can add.