tidge

I didn't see "Vengeance Bait" listed as an answer on the poll. More seriously: When a Dominator is rolling (with Domination) they can be a whirlwind of insanity. I personally think the controls are what to lead with, but it would be a waste to not lean into their damage and debuffs. There are plenty of different directions to go in, but perma-Domination should be a goal.

The repeatable sources: A full set of 12 ATO purchased directly with merits would be 1200. Each day you could do two runs of a Hamidon raid, choose merits and end with 120. If you don't feel like joining a Hami-raid, Pick-Up-Groups are good, especially the weekly SF/TF that offer bonus merits. The signature Story arcs offer 20 merits each the first time you do them, and you can repeat them weekly for another 20 merits. Alignment missions can be treated very much like AE farming, and after 10 of the same choice, you get a morality mission worth 40 merits. You can convert Vanguard merits to merits if you accumulate a lot of them from Mothership raids. You can also find Ouroboros missions that can be mastered to yield merits for completion.

I feel that the second/final upgrade at Level 26 is warranted. The extra offense granted by that power makes sense to me, from a "progression through the game" PoV. Much of the lower level content would be absurdly easy if the second upgrade's offense was baked in to each henchmen. I point fingers at the first upgrade only because pretty much every MM (except a self-gimping variant) will always have the first upgrade before they get the second or third summons, so except for the brief time immediately after summoning, there won't be a time when the second and third henchmen won't have that buff applied.

I'll list (non Def/global +Recharge) LotG pieces when the stockpile is "too big" and if I don't feel like playing converter roulette. There are only a few circumstances where I will use other pieces from the LotG set, but I know folks will buy them. As @Ironblade wrote: I usually keep the globals, as well as Reactive Defenses pieces. If not a "Display Bug" It's entirely possible that someone listed some of the pieces to quickly get them attuned.

To answer the thread's title: YES, procs are good for game design. Reasoning follows: The game's objective rewards are based on defeats and mission completions. The amount of rewards increases with the number of defeats. Procs of the %damage variety allow low-DPS characters, especially those without AoE "nukes" to turn up the spawn size, increasing the number of potential defeats, and complete missions within an order-of magnitude time with ATs that have AoE damaging attacks from their primary/secondary. If %procs were not available for low-DPS characters, the in-game rewards would be skewed to certain ATs. %procs help smooth out the difference in rewards for different styles of play as well as for different choices of AT.

First: nobody is spending Billions of Inf on Procs. There are a couple of D-Syncs that are elevated in price, but even spending 25 MInf on 30 Very Rare pieces would only be 75% of a Billion. I haven't checked the market for those, but that would have been extreme prices not that long ago. I have a lot of builds loaded with Very Rare sets and the like, and all my characters start with just seed cash and rely on drops, conversions and merits. Now, about %damage pieces... the primary way they improve DPS: Characters that are on the low end of the inherent damage scale, because %damage doesn't follow the AT damage scale. %damage can end up helping low DPS ATs avoid incredibly long clear times when spawn sizes are turned up, but they will still lag behind high DPS ATs slotted without %damage. There are things that work against leaning hard into %damage: Slotting multiple %damage in a power means that you will sacrifice Enhancement set bonuses, and Slotting multiple %damage in a power means that Enhancement values generally are not being slotted (although there are a few %procs that enhance attributes as well) %proc chances are hurt by fast-firing powers, as well as slotted (and Alpha) recharge ATs that already do good damage from an attack should probably just slot those attacks with Enhancement sets, rather than relying on RNG. It would be foolish IMO to give up the sure thing of Enhanced Accuracy, Damage and Endurance from a set just to hope to see some extra %damage. Having written that, my own thinking about high-DPS ATs involves the nature of the power, the sets I would otherwise slot and the %proc chances.

Here is the way I slotted the Shield powers on my Shield/Battle Axe Tank:

I have never tried Titan Weapons, mostly because I never had a concept that called for it and partially due to personal hesitancy to embrace the Momentum mechanic. The personal hesitancy comes from having use War Mace... I know different set... and I found War Mace to be super clunky while leveling up. It was only until the build had a LOT of global recharge (plus whatever set slotting for Recharge in individual attacks) that it played smooth enough for me to feel like I was having fun with it (across all levels of content). As far as "hand held melee weapons" go... I found Battle Axe to be satisfying (both while leveling up and at end game). I haven't tried Broadsword or Staff... I know a lot of folks recommend Staff Fighting, and again (for me) I just didn't have a concept that called out for it. Staff definitely feels like a power set to take advantage of the improved Tanker AoE.

As I wrote: The "defensive" portion of the level 6 'upgrade' makes sense (to me) to not bake in (per my suggestion), the same way Defenders usually have some sort of Ally 'defensive' Buff power. The Level 6 first upgrade isn't doing anything directly for the MM defensively (blah blah Bodyguard mode blah blah fishcakes) so the Tanker "armor" comparison falls flat, as a HUGE portion of the MM offense is coming from the application of the current first upgrade to the henchmen.... which I repeat is a level 6 power that has to be applied to powers used level 12 and level 26. Even in terms of rationalizing the "lore", it makes no sense that a boss learns how to make T1 henches, learns how to improve all henches, then learns how to make more offensive T2 and T3 henches but doesn't know how to make those improved offensive T2 or T3 except by backing up and applying some skill they learned at level 6. Folks can rationalize why this happens, and Homecoming has it so that we don't have to individually apply the upgrades (yay!) so it isn't as if all the aspects of the clumsiness of the original version of the first upgrade have gone unnoticed. As for what sets can be slotted and how those sets apply set bonuses and globals... that's a coding/configuration setting. Presumably this hypothetical resummonable pet could be used for things like the new/in Beta version of Detonate which does work from enhanced damage values of the thing detonated. All MM primaries have the same sort of "first upgrade", so I don't think it would be as unbalancing among MM primaries as it would be to just ask for a single primary's power (like Maintenance Drone) to accept those global pieces. This isn't a hill I'm going to die on, yet it is obvious (to me) that it makes no sense that every T2 (level 12) and T3 (level 26) henchmen shows up "half-baked" because the MM immediately has to apply a one-and-done power the MM picked back at level 6 to give the just-summoned T2 and T3 a more complete set of offensive tools. Strawman arguments about other classes aren't moving my needle. as the balance issues are inherent to the MM AT. Every (well constructed, so avoiding corner cases like "petless") Mastermind is pretty much always going to have that first upgrade applied at all times, except for these cases: The MM is below level 6 The MM is burning through henchmen and is in the short period (8 seconds?) between when a henchmen is summoned and when the upgrades can be applied/stick I don't think it would be game breaking to have MMs with only a single T1 henchmen have more offense at levels 1-5. baking in the offensive upgrades to the T1 is asymmetrical but this is such a short period of time when there already exist inexpensive asymmetries (cheap P2W boosts, etc) for low-level characters, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My own experience with "burning through henchmen" is dominated by the need to defensively boost them, and not offensively boost them... which is why I propose the "defense" elements be tied to a level 6 (replacement) power... I mean, as things currently stand: yes the "one more things to do (by applying all upgrades to a newly summoned hench)" is a thing that currently needs to happen, but my experience has been that having newly resummoned T1/T2/T3 with all their offense isn't really going to make a noticeable difference. I suppose it is possible that the henchmen AI might start with a different set of powers, but it is already a pretty short period of time before newly resummoned henchmen can have the upgrade applied to them (and start attacking).

It is a totally unnecessary "synergy" that exists for MMs, for no other reason than the game used to have a time when it took time and effort to get from level 2 to level 6. It isn't as if ALL the other powers available to MMs hinge on that one power to make the player embrace "synergy".... but all the henchmen summons that come levels after it DO hinge on it. It is a totally artificial construct that is being rationalized, and for all practical purposes ONLY affects "game balance" before level 6, because AFTER level 6 almost all MMs will have taken it. I haven't had a Tanker yet where I needed to toggle or click on my low level powers. Specifically for Invulnerability, I rarely toggle on Temp Invulnerability below level 50, and Dull Pain pretty much only gets used in extreme content. Four of the other powers in Invulnerability are Auto, no clicking or toggling required! My other Tankers are similar, most have toggles I don't feel the need to run with, especially Lethal/Smashing toggles. Especially not between levels 1 and 6! Anywho, it is something of a stretch to equate Tanker toggles/clicks with the first henchmen upgrade, which is mostly offense. I'd be perfectly ok with the defensive characteristics of the first upgrade staying with a hypothetical resummonable "buff pet" (assuming it had a respectable radius for henchmen), but it seems silly to me that the henchmen summoned with level 12 and level 22 need a level 6 power cast on them to unlock a significant portion of their offense.

I don't disagree, but it makes no sense to me that the henchmen summoned at levels 12 and 22 require a level 6 power to be fully efficient. I have zero issue with the second upgrade being what and where it is, but I cannot imagine a non-gimped MM (with henchmen) delaying the FIRST upgrade until after level 12. Status protection powers aren't part of those later powers... they are separate powers.

I think you are looking at this from the wrong direction... my argument is less about freeing up a single power although that could happen(*1). Imagine if a Tanker had to take a power at Level 6 just to make their higher level choices of armors work at full capacity. AFAIK, except for a few offbeat power sets (examples include: Dual Pistols' Swap Ammo, Bio's Adapatation) and the way Hide works for Stalkers' offense (but Hide isn't in a primary), I can't think of any AT where all the primaries from the same AT specifically require an earlier power to be taken to unlock new abilities in later choices. (*1) As I wrote above, I'd like if all the MM primaries had a place to slot the henchmen/pet globals without having to actually sacrifice henchmen slots. This is why I suggest a long-recharge based resummonable pet at level 6. If the henchmen had the first tier of upgrades baked in, the proposed pet could do something else that buffs the henchmen.

Lemme 'splain. Current: @01 T1 Summon @06 Hench Boost @12 T2 Summon @22 T3 Summon @26 Hench Boost The T2 and T3 are available AFTER the first boost... so why would those henchmen simply not be summoned with the effects of that boost already? It would be a change to give the T1 henchmen that boost but only for level 1 thru 5 content. I don't think there is any place for pearl-clutching how that would ruin the play experience for Masterminds. Baking in the effects of the Level 6 Boost into all the summons would free up a power for all Masterminds.

This is a common problem for those windows. I see it all the time on the Invention crafting screen (when the list is overpopulated). I suspect there is a miscalculation in the UI for the window display and the code for the slider portion of the UI. I suppose it could be triggered by the characteristics of the items being displayed, such as length of strings or embedded breaks, that cause the slider/window to underestimate what is needed to display. I can suggest a possible fix: force every window to be sized as if there was "one more" entry to be displayed. We'd get some dead space in a LOT of places, but this problem would probably go away.

Obviously we need some "January Releases" of simply terrible movies.

The one change for MMs that I had been advocating for is building in the effects of the first upgrade to all the henchmen... it makes no sense that the first upgrade is available before two of the three henchmen summons, and that it is available IIRC for the T1 henchmen in all exemplared content. We are WAY past the point at which players would take a long time to get to level 10+, which is teh era I think that the placement of the T1 summons and first upgrade reflect. I've tempered my calls for this, only because MM now have some better slotting options for that power, so it can yield set bonuses/mules/etc. Never-the-less, for primaries that don't have a "fourth" summons power to mule the Defense/Resistance globals, I wouldn't mind if the first upgrade was changed into some sort of resummonable "buff" pet (not a henchman) that could take those globals. I wouldn't mind there being some sort of balance pass.

For me, x8 solo Synapse becomes a personal bugbear for me because of the way the spawns scatter/run on the "defeat all" mission more than anything else. It only takes missing two mobiles from more than one spawn to make life miserable on some of those maps.

I want to explain why this might be happening. Tankers generally take many more attacks to finish off bosses than other AT, even while they are holding the aggro of the boss. AoE attacks are generally not good against bosses... so a Tanker might be trying to cluster another group while dragging the bosses along. All of this would be in the service of "fewer attacks to defeat more mobiles" which is good for the team. A good tanker is usually paying attention to the team's cycle of attacks, controls, and aggro situation. Fore example: A boss that is locked down by controls probably doesn't need the tank paying attention to it.

Stock up on those [Arrows of Romance] ! No one should endure side-eye from another player that is getting upset because that player doesn't understand their limits. I have a couple of "support" characters that are perfectly fine running off by themselves when necessary; often I just go with "The needs of the many..." and stick close to those who benefit most. Oh... I've got some taunts for that player. With the influx of new players, I suspect we are going to go through another phase of "My Tank doesn't need Taunt" (pick a reason why: "I make attacks" and "I have an Aura" and "I have Fold Space" are common rationales. It took a while, and some changes to Tankers, but I think the critical consensus among veteran Homecoming players is finally "Tankers need a Taunt". If someone wants to play a Tank without Taunt, they should probably just roll up a Scrapper and no one need be the wiser. Don't be discouraged, and play the way that drives your satisfaction.

I have found it useful to keep a Valentine's Day mission "all year" to have a tip that won't disappear if you change alignments or after doing a morality mission. I find having one is useful for the times when I start a mission with difficulty parameters I don't want and forgot to change.

The winter lord always (per my observations) spawns in place of an opened present being replaced. Minions from the winter lord that are not cleared will (I believe) prevent a new WL from spawning. Minions that otherwise appear from a present (with no WL) will eventually respawn.

Always has been. OK, read the massively editoral, and it feels like a complaint that comes from a mode of thinking "race to 50". I look forward to the author's realization that the answer to the question: is either "Base Building" or "Costume Design."

I've done solo Synapse in about 30 minutes. I honestly can't recall if I broke the 30 minute mark, but... probably? I know that I've been on PUGs that have either broken 30 minutes or just missed it. There is some luck involved in maps, but the keys for solo were: run it exemplared, so powers are slotted don't turn up the spawn size, or difficulty have AoE (including P2W) spawn Babbage in Steel Canyon (near Positron and Valkyrie) and call out for help (if you want the merits, otherwise skip) have some sort of temp summons to help defeat the final AV. It doesn't take much, a Shivan or a Warwolf will do. High DPS characters may not even need this. It definitely helps if you are familiar with the cadence of the missions to use "fast travel" options where optimal. SG base buffs for travel speeds can help.

It absolutely would work, because it has been implemented already. Merits (from TFs) can be used to buy recipes now. Not every TF/SF offers enough merits to buy every recipe, but running four weeks of the weekly TF/SF certainly would offer more than enough.

I blame the Incarnate grind from Live as the primary reason I do so little of the Incarnate content (including slotting Incarnate powers beyond Alpha) with most of my characters. Homecoming has made incarnate paths much more palatable, just like they did with non-incarnate power slotting. I can sort of judge my own headspace about "what constitutes grinding?", because it appears (to me, from my PoV) that there are an order of magnitude more gripes about the market/economy/auction house than there are about slotting Incarnate abilities.