tidge

I was Anonymously working on an Old Coholics, but I accepted that there were some things I couldn't change.

Conventional wisdom (ignoring potential set bonuses for these points) is: The Assassin's Mark %Build Up proc should be in the build, but can go anywhere The Stalker's Guile %Hide proc should go in AS; putting it anywhere else risks making the AS attack into slow mode Opinions vary on how deep to go into Build Up slotting, I have two general approaches: I like all the 6-slot set bonuses from Gaussian's Synchronized Fire Control. 6-slotting Build Up with this set can have it available quite frequently (30 sec or less) and still have an incredibly reliable chance for extra %Build Up from the proc. If I can't spare the slots I'll try for just two slots: the %Build Up and a (boosted) Recharge IO. Note that for my damage-dealing ATs, I prefer to have the %Build Up proc under my control rather than adding to a team (leadership) toggle.

I actually think this is a better topic for General Discussion. There are many different ways of approaching 'problematic' missions, and I don't see any specific actionable changes that would be worth dev time. It's not as if any devs frequently chime in on threads in the suggestion forums (and when that happens, it is frequently to offer 'calm down' reminders). A thread for venting seems perfectly appropriate. I particularly don't like this aspect of 'rescue'/'kidnap' missions: It's trivial for player characters to have improved movement speed (ehem, inherent Swift) such that the player completely outpaces the civilian. We can talk about the thematic approach & roleplay implications, but such discussions won't change my mind that this side effect of the game's design is essentially griefing players. If player could single-handedly delay another player's progress in PvE mission completion, I don't think that would be long tolerated.

I just wanted to add a comment in the category of "things I really appreciate as a teammate, but...", springboarding from Every once in a while, my Fortunata will frustrate a teammate with healing powers. With Scaling Damage Resistances, a chance for an Absorb barrier, my Fortunata likes to 'live life on the edge' to the point where I will see the healer make extra efforts to drop what they are doing and chase after me to keep me alive. This is appreciated and it is being a good teammate! However... my teammate may not realize that my build also has a very high recharge Unrelenting (*1) or that I'm probably not even using Mind Link when I am away from other teammates. I love the attention, but I always feel bad when I pull a healer away from other teammates. (*1) The Presence pool is a favorite of mine for my Fortunata. I know it isn't everyone's cuppa tea but another PBAoE control (Invoke Panic) is a wonderful addition to to the control set, and even without Hasten it is possible to get the recharge on Unrelenting fast enough to use it as an occasional 20% buff to damage without worrying about its healing/recovery properties. The ONLY things I don't like about the set is that the single-target Intimidate is of minimal use in the end-game (would be mitigated by a 'Contagious Fear' proc) and that Pacify doesn't work like Placate (for Widows). I should note that Intimidate's fear can be used to stack with other Fear effects, so it isn't completely useless, but the only real use I've ever had for Pacify has been to get a breather in EB/AV solo fights while leveling.

While I *like* Mass Confuse (and its Fortunata equivalent Aura of Confusion) I feel like the power fits much better with the Fortunata power set because of what else a Fortunata can be doing while waiting for the power to recharge. I grok that this T9 is the 'nuke' of Mind Control, but with the long inherent recharge time it feels rather underwhelming. I haven't seen much discussion on Secondary T9s. It looks like there may be some skipable powers in some powers but I haven't played sets like Pain/Empathy to be sure. Any comments?

Let us know what (if any) changes you make, and how your build(s) play for you. I can only write for myself, but I often get 'stuck' in certain design theories so I like to see other player's approaches to builds and power choices. I try to not be too critical of folk's power choices because why should I "yuck in someone else's yum"? Often I learn something! Having written that, I want to add my voice to @Gulbasaur with my own take on the Fighting pool for Widows: I see the Fighting pool as a bit of a build trap for ATs that can already slot both Defense and Resistance with Primary/Secondary power choices. I'm well aware of how Tankers and Brutes leverage Tough and Weave to achieve 'mathematical finality' on some of their stats, but doing so often consumes precious power (and slot!) picks. Don't forget that their are (Orange/Purple) Inspirations! I will write that I have some builds where I took the Fighting pool ONLY to get Tough to be able to slot Global IOs, with no intention of ever using the toggle, but the Widow set is not one of them. I can't speak for the utility of the attacks in the Fighting pool, but I am aware that some players will use them on certain AT builds.

I took a slightly deeper look at a few of the early choices, I didn't see a Gladiator's Armor +3% Def or an Unbreakable Guard +Max HP in the build, so I'm looking for a couple of slots for those. Level 4: Tactical Training: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (5) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (5) Red Fortune - Endurance (7) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (7) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) I think TT:Maneuvers could be slotted slightly more efficiently. I personally don't think the tiny set bonus from 2x Red Fortune is worth chasing here. I don't take fighting pool on my widows, so I consider Tough to be overkill, YMMV. Keep in mind that you can boost (50+5) the PVP pieces. I think having a Shield Wall Defense and Defense/End boosted to 50+5, along with the Global +Resistance is providing more benefit (+2.25% Health) than the Red Fortune 2-piece resistances. Plus they exemplar down to level 7! This would get you one extra slot to play with. Level 10: Indomitable Will (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance (43) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance Here is where I usually 2-slot the 2 Resistance pieces I mentioned. Another place you can pick up a slot IMO is Level 44: Assault (A) Endurance Reduction IO (45) Endurance Reduction IO You may not notice much difference running with a single 50+5 Endurance Reduction. You may want to consider moving one of those slots into Ball Lightning to get the +Max Endurance bonus from Annihilation. In the long run, having a larger Max End will be more beneficial than the little extra endurance discount on a level 44 toggle power.

I understand the concerns about Endurance, but you may not be getting as much Recovery as you might think from the slotting of Stamina: Level 2: Stamina (A) Power Transfer - Chance to Heal Self (3) Synapse's Shock - EndMod/Increased Run Speed (9) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (34) Synapse's Shock - EndMod If you want the %Heal in here (I don't think I use this on my low HP characters), I would only use two slots: once for the %+End, and a level 50+5 Endurance modification. Run Speed is one of those things that I can sometimes see the effect, but in gameplay it is less noticeable. I do see that you are chasing that bonus in multiple places, so YMMV. You can have multiple Sprints to choose from, if you want to slot things differently in each one. If you have enough Global Recharge, and resistance to Slows: you can consider dropping some slots that are getting you smaller Global Recharge bonuses from sets (e.g. Red Fortune in Maneuvers) to move a precious slot elsewhere. There is a point of diminishing returns on Global Recharge.

I always like reading about people's takes on the AT, but I think focusing on Night/Blood might clarify the opinion on a few things (like choice of powers). I think this guide did a slight disservice to a two areas which might help it stand out. As written, it appears to be more of a guide for final (or at least late-game) builds. 1) The guide explicitly directs players to switch to Blue Side. There is no explanation of why this is recommended, nor is there a description of what is given up. If this is a guide for beginners, everything should be on the table. 2) The guide doesn't explain much about play style and choices pre-24. This may not interest everyone, but if the player is new to the class I don't think it is fair to assume power-leveling into the mandatory respec. Power choices at low levels will depend on play style. I have found that pre-level 24 I go heavier on the toggle choices specifically to team. Powers at lower levels are slot-starved, so bonuses from team toggles 'go farther' at low levels. For example: I don't value the ATO %Fear proc (on a Fortunata) as much as @Gulbasaur does; however I find that it is more useful when leveling up than when in a final build. At end-game (and when exemplaring) the %Fear has value as a control, so my $0.02 is this: if going for a (many piece) set bonus from Dominion of Arachnos, take a good look at the build's powers for Enhancement Diversification and (power) recharge for proc-ability before deciding to simply drop any %proc in place. There is nothing wrong with builds for extreme end-game content, but that isn't the whole game. There are also different end-game play choices. My end-game builds very rarely have as many (team) toggles. I want to point out that there are many different types of 'end-game' play styles. For example, when I solo I rarely use Mind Link... for the type of content I run, I use it as the mitigation for the lack of defense debuff resistance (DDR). If a build can get Perma-Mind Link, by all means there is no reason to NOT keep it up. One thing that I feel should be always be mentioned for the VEATs is that players have access to multiple builds: It is easy (if expensive) to use the multiple builds to explore different power choices/career paths. You can have both a Widow and a Fortunata, and the 3rd build slot can be used to cover different play styles (solo v. team).

The OP missions have bad design elements, but the ones that I absolutely hate are the "stop x from escaping"... and the character has a jetpack flying at Mach 1 to the elevators. Miss him and he's escaped, mission fail. I'm blanking on the contact name, but it is a redside arc in the 30's I think. Missions which are almost as bad are the painful 'escort/rescue' (see Mu Mystics above, and also the 'escort the Arachnos agents from the Shadow Shard') especially as a stalker.

I'm in favor of seeing the cysts return. I remember the painful days of Frostfire missions which included Cyst spawns. It would be nice to team with Kheldians and have the mission difficulties edged up a notch because of the Cysts.

Melee poetry: TAB chooses wrong foe? "/bind n target_custom_near enemy alive"

I only ever slot the %Contagious Confusion in single-target powers. I tried it in several different AoE (including a toggle) and it really isn't helping much. IIRC the duration of Confuse from the proc is less than an enhanced confuse. If throwing an AoE, you will generally be targeting nearby mobs anyway. This proc helps keep single-target confuse powers relevant once a character starts facing larger groups of enemies; I wish there was an equivalent %proc for the Fear sets. For AoE confuse, I would recommend adding one (or more) %damage procs. If you damage mobs with the AoE confuse, you are 'on the record' for earning rewards (drops) if they happen to get defeated by their confused allies. Some factions are VERY strong against themselves. The %damage procs also allow for some massive damage in Mayhem missions, if that matters.

Group Fly offers much more precise control than Fly (or Mystic Flight), and it is faster than Hover (for the same effort in slotting). I've only ever kept it on my Masterminds, but I really get a kick out of it (when solo, to avoid griefers).

I suppose this will be seen as trying to 'yuck in someone else's yum', but I don't see the need to increase Recovery bonuses from set enhancements. To be honest, I'm not even sure I would notice the value in increasing them. I grok the feels when watching the blue bar dwindle, especially when you feel like you've got more to do. When this happens to my characters, I ease up on the proverbial gas pedal and/or start detoggling (ehem, Ninja Run). To me, this feels like a natural part of the game. That being written: The game already has MANY non-incarnate ways to help (a solo player) with this, including (repeating things already written): Inherent Stamina (you even get a free slot with this power) Endurance reduction IOs (almost every power with an Endurance cost accepts these) +Max Endurance Accolades +Recovery SG base boosts +Recovery P2W +Endurance IO %procs (every character has an inherent power which accepts these) +Recovery IO Globals (every character has an inherent power which accepts these) -Endurance cost discount (IO set) bonuses +Max Endurance IO set bonuses I'm of the opinion that if those are not enough to get the Endurance bar under control for a given playstyle that a hypothetical increase to Recovery bonuses from IO sets is unlikely to help. I'm not immune to math, but between different builds and playstyles I don't know how this could be meaningfully studied in a vacuum. Also note that the nature of level progression throughout the game is not going to mean that replenishing the blue bar is going to keep pace with the expenses. With P2W, there will be more powers to use at low levels than there are slots for powers. The raw numbers from IOs scale with level. Lower level characters may not have access to powers or slots that can take advantage of IOs or set bonuses. I certainly don't expect most low level characters to have collected the +Max Endurance accolades before level 20.

PVP isn't a concern for me (and never was). I also don't need every melee set to be optimized to quickly clear x8 missions by itself. I don't know that I necessarily need all the damage back but I'm completely ok with ET being the gem of the set instead of simply spreading more damage out over the set (or adding another AoE).

Careful, your non-Mastermind AT avoidance showing! The Titan AoE attacks can wreak havoc with Pets. Crabbermind pets suffer as well, but the Crab should be able to handle Malta without pets, whereas the Mastemind will have fewer tools available.

Only with the correct animation.

I get the sense that you know this, but once you are in combat, the snipes automatically become fast snipes. Setting aside the question of bonus damage from a slow snipe, why not replace the insta-snipe Global with a 50+5 damage enhancement?

To springboard off of @Greycat advice: If you have a high enough level (to be able to access enough power pool choices), you may be able to use a second (or third) build of an existing character to have access to enough different powers. You wouldn't even have to slot enhancements in its powers, possibly saving you even more unslotters.

I think you misspelled "Group Fly". Come to think of it: if Stun was replaced with Group Fly, I don't think I'd ever skip it.

If there is actual misinformation, you could quote it. If it's one of my posts, I can always go back and correct the misinformation.

Receipts?

With this quote, I'm now starting to question something that I avoided mentioning in my original response: What kind of "level 50" enhancement are you referring to? To my knowledge, the only enhancements which show a difference in the market place between 'attuned' and 'level 50' are ATO and (most) Winter Sets... these are the ones that become 'Superior' when attuned. If an alt wants those attuned, you can email/SG storage the catalysts for trading among alts. If an alt can use an ATO or Winter set piece, they can slot the unattuned and attune it themself. If you are considering using PVP or the 'Universal' sets on characters lower than level 47, and want those attuned... the prices on the market are the same for attuned/non-attuned. (edit: the Overwhelming Force 'universal set' comes attuned, the Universal Travel IOs can come at any standard level for IOs) If you are a level 47+, the numbers on PVP pieces are in your favor (for everything but %Procs) to have the piece at level 50 and boosted (keeping an eye on Recharge, and enhancement diversification/diminishing returns) rather than being attuned.

A general piece of advice to Attune pieces is to sell the piece you want attuned on the Market (/AH) and buy an attuned version from the Market. It will cost you the Auction House fees, but those costs are generally less than the cost of a Catalyst and Unslotters. A level 50 character should easily be able to afford the market fees for any IO enhancement that you want attuned. For example: selling lvl 50 recipe drops to a vendor should be able to cover market costs.