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We've had some very polite and informative conversations about potential "changes" for Masterminds over on that subforum, and there has been some analysis of 'raw damage' from the henchmen in the suggestions forum. I even have my own favorite dead horse... which on the surface looks to be completely in the realm of an idea I think @Captain Powerhouse has expressed no interest in visiting (auto upgrades for Henchmen) but my specific suggestion is IMO more subtle and different than the typical ask for auto-upgrades of henchmen. I'm not linking the above here because of a sense of self-importance, but because: much like the Stalkers have a common layout in terms of primary power choices (not to mention the default Hide in the secondary), Masterminds have a rather formulaic primary power layout... but in the case of MMs it's just that some of the primaries have powers that leverage the ATO/Pet Enhancement pieces MUCH more effectively than other primaries and by rejiggering one of the powers common to all MMs, we could smooth out the performance of all the MM primaries.

My Villains often do end up missing Port Oakes (because of XP), but it is very symmetrical with how my Heroes often missing either/both of the Hollows/Galaxy City. Port Oakes has the repeat Mayhem Mission contact... I just wish he wouldn't often send me to the other side of the map to catch a ride to cause more mayhem!

"Can I interest you in the exciting world of day jobs ambushes?

I agree with the above (because if you want to 'taunt' one your probably want to 'taunt' more), but there is a tiny fraction of content where Confront is superior to Provoke: Confront doesn't require a ToHit check (AFAIK, I never take it!... well maybe once on a VEAT) so Taunt/Confront is superior for keeping the aggro of enemies like Lord Recluse. I'm a 100% with the comment about Runners being a PITA, and not just for Melee. Runners are one of the two reasons why I was against the range in range for Fast Snipes (the other reason is that for Blasters, the nerf to Fast Snipes screwed up the range hierarchy for attacks).

Communication on a message board strike me as more civil and with less attitude when posts are constructed without trying to include the words "you", "him", or "her" in every other sentence; especially when there is a tendency to attribute motives, attitudes, and thoughts to other people.

There is a distinct forum for suggestions for the developers to consider. I cannot promise that passions run cooler there, but chances are good that a suggestion made there will be greeted with some cold, uncaring numbers presented in the service of explaining game balance. When a person makes a specific suggestion about changing an AT in the sub-forum for a particular AT, the chances are good that the folks who frequent that specific forum will have a very rich set of opinions about the suggestion, and the suggester will have to stomach that rich stew or face the possibility of a bellyache. No matter how it is sliced, suggesting a change to an AT's inherent, on the sub-forum for the AT, is going to get reactions. Writing only for myself: I'd like the Brute AT a LOT more if I didn't have to fuss over the Fury bar. I've yet to make a suggestion about how the Brute's Inherent can be improved so I'd have more fun with the AT.

I never wrote that, straw-ma'am. I was writing about making a specific AT effective at low levels. Perhaps you are tired because the imagination is working over-time. From my PoV, most ATs don't come into their own until after level 20, along with more slots and more AT-defining powers.

I simply want to congratulate @Brutal Justice for reminding this thread that there are differences between Taunt, Auras with a Taunt component, Confront,, and Provoke. Changing Confront (on the ATs which have it) into a aggro Toggle would have some serious balance issues, IMO. I also happen to agree that it's the sets without a damage aura and a survivability mechanism tied to the aura that set those apart from classics like Fiery Aura... surely I'm not the only player that remembers how Fiery Aura Tankers used to simply consume DE Swarm for easy XP?

We can quibble about how awesome "sets" can make awesome characters, but as I wrote above: It doesn't take MUCH (in terms of slots) to make an effective low-level (< 20) Stalker. I certainly agree that individual pieces can be expensive in terms of INF, but that cost is all relative to how much time/effort the PLAYER wants to make (see threads on the Marketplace, Farming, and Merit generation). Generally, what I recommend for a low-level stalker: Slot the Kismet piece in Hide. You are going to almost always have this toggled on, so save on not worrying so much about extra Accuracy slotting in attacks. Slot Panacea %+HP/Endurance somewhere. Everyone can put it in Health. <- You will need the extra Endurance to keep going. Slot Performance Shifter %+Endurance somewhere. Everyone can put it in Stamina. <- You will need the extra Endurance to keep going. Depending on your secondary, slot Shield Wall +Resistance, Gladiator's Armor +Defense, Steadfast Protection +Defense. Remember you can respec your slots/powers if you make an early compromise for a Global piece that you really want somewhere else (e.g. Hide can take Shield Wall) Take Build Up at level 8. Minimally slot it with Recharge. When you can: slot the Gaussian's %Build Up in there. (I like all 6 pieces, but you can make do with far fewer.) Put the Assassin's Mark proc in one of your attacks. Put the Stalker's Guile %proc in your Assassin's Strike Personally, I always take a travel power. I slot it with a Blessing of the Zephyr Knockback Protection piece (if necessary) or a Winter's Gift Slow Resistance (otherwise). Under level 20, there are Recharge/%Damage IOs available at P2W. Go ahead and get all five. Slot them in your attacks. You probably want some Endurance reduction in your build (non-Hide toggles, certainly) but also attacks. If you feel like you don't have enough of an attack chain at low levels, buy some P2W attacks. While you are at low levels the various boosters are also pretty inexpensive for 8 hours worth.

I want to note that by level 12 a Stalker can have the Kismet +Accuracy (really +ToHit) piece slotted in Hide, and that this helps a LOT with early slotting choices at low levels. If you have Build Up at level 8, and leverage the ATO, and have teammates, it really isn't inconceivable to be playing at +2 by level 12 since at that point you can also have global pieces that help with Endurance, Defense and Resistance. My stalkers could not take large spawns at low levels, but could take on higher level ones. This is while leveling without access to awesome set bonuses. The level 50s who exemplar down do much better, obviously.

@SwitchFadeisn't the only Stalker player that does what he describes, I do much the same thing when helping PUGs with the Maria Jenkins missions, at least for the missions with multiple objectives (Malaise and his poisons comes to mind) or when ATT is down and the rest of the team can't immediately join in the fun (Back Street Brawler, Infernal). I know that players with other AT builds can solo these missions at +4/x8, but my favorite Stalker is pretty much the only character of mine that I can defeat AVs back-to-back in a relatively quick period while also "fighting the clock" of other players grinding through the rest of the map to other objectives. Many of my other builds can hang with AVs, but none can take them down relatively quickly. My build is a 'spendy' Spines/Bio Stalker, but Inf/Merits are easy to come by. As for sets: It uses both ATO, 5x of two Very Rare (Armageddon, Apocalypse), 5x of one PVP (Panacea), one 6x Winter (Avalanche), three HO (but these were late additions to the build after a lot of play) and a smattering of 1-off pieces (Globals, %procs) from PVP and Very Rare sets plus 5x LotG. The ATO and Winter sets have been catalyzed, and I have boosted pieces where possible (where it makes sense to have boosted) with only a marginal eye on the effect of Recharge rates on %proc chances... the only real %proc powers are DNA Siphon and Throw Spines and my slotting choices on those power doesn't have any meaningful pieces capable of boostable recharge to significantly hurt %proc chances. I don't expect any character of mine to be soloing AVs at +4/x8; this isn't part of the game how I try to challenge myself. I also don't expect leveling characters, or ones that haven't invested in slots and enhancements to be able to to do so... but if I can do these things it should be within reach of other casual players. My build doesn't have capped defenses (the build includes Shadow Meld, but I only use it when trying to time against certain AV attacks or to mess up their Streakbreaker). The build is survivable because of Ablative Carapace, and I'm somewhat sure that the -Regen from DNA Siphon is what allows me to bring down AVs via attacks. I do try to switch to Defensive Adaptation when going toe-to-toe (solo) with AVs, but it depends on how RNG is treating their punches.

Is the complaint about AS being partially driven by low-level play (<15) ? I join a lot of Frostfire missions and because of my build choices I typically only have 3 attacks (without the full suite of Global Recharge) and I will admit that playing with AS at such a low level takes a little bit of adjusting. It gets so much easier with an attack chain that uses higher level attacks... and you can leverage more tricks from your secondary and pools. Very few classes are great at distinguishing themselves at low levels; all AT get better when exemplaring down (more slots!)

My experience (on the Dominator) was that if the nearby enemies got confused, they would basically just ignore me (typically scattering) but for only a VERY short time. It simply had no place in any conceivable version of my build... and I tried to make it work. I think I ran with it for at least a couple of weeks trying different lvl 45+ content. (Obviously Nemesis troops were unaffected)

When did I suggest lowering the Brute Resistance Cap? This (original) post in the thread I'm responding to is about the Taunt aura on Scrappers. I'm going to ignore your attempt to put a Taunt aura on your word salad/strawman character.

I find my Dark/Time Blaster very rarely using Blackstar on teams, and I never use it as an opening move against large spawns. On teams, I will move in to use it if someone else in the group has grabbed the aggro, but often the faster cycling AoE Umbral Torrent (with the -ToHit effect) helps teams more against harder targets. solo (or in team situations where aggro is not under control) I use Blackstar (and the PBAoE End of Time) for when I'm getting swarmed.

I have no experience with WoC in the Blaster secondary, but I tried VERY HARD to make it work on a Dominator (from the Ancillary pool) and I was very disappointed with it. There was no combination of play style or alternate power choices that could make it worth the slots or Endurance cost.

I can't divine the thoughts of Captain Powerhouse, but I agree with the assessment that Scrappers shouldn't get Taunt Auras moving forward. On Live (even before City of Villains) some Scrappers could already be made survivable enough that players were questioning the relevance of Tankers. I don't see any reason to further blur the lines between Scrappers/Brutes/Tankers.

I'm perfectly fine with where Stalkers are in the game; I prefer my Stalkers over my Scrappers. Like every other AT there are some primary/secondary power sets that could stand some tweaking (or availability) but as far as revisiting the AT inherents and ATOs: Stalkers would probably have the lowest priority. This is not meant to be snarky: I suggest the OP try several other ATs to REALLY hone that sense of righteous indignation.

I'm sure that most of us who have played Stalkers have a common set of pet peeves, but there are a few missions and arcs that really stand out as being bad for (Stalker) business. Here is my least favorite: Marshal Brass' Aeon Conspiracy. This is a level 15-19 mission, so chances are that if you want AoE to help speed this up, you will need P2W powers. This is just the least annoying aspect of the arc. It is the overwhelming number of escort missions... including the dreaded PTS Complex map... I've played a LOT of 'find the hostages' on that map, and even I still have trouble tracking them all down. We also get several missions where we get to either escort Amanda Vines through three levels of a science map, but from the bottom level of the underground PTS complex. BLECK. I'm unconcerned about the "kill all" or even the kill ambushes, or the kill to make escorts easier, it's just the frickin' escort missions that drive me crazy. They can be annoying enough for any player class, but when your character has a Hide built in, it is extremely annoying.

Don't forget the known klowns.

I'll write this about radio missions (either side): I will almost always help if someone is having trouble; the times I don't offer is when I am on another PUG or doing SF/TF content (including Ouroboros) When I play radio missions: I want the Temp powers. the hero/villain pelts, and the badges. I've been with groups that felt the Mayhem/Safeguard missions were not worth doing... to me they are the whole reason to do tip missions. There are many players who FREAK OUT when part of a team when they would have to exemplar down, My absolute favorite over-reaction was when my level 48 invited a level 50 to help fight a fire in Steel Canyon... OMG the WHINING about me not passing him the star...

I'll chime in that I agree that I think most combinations of Tough/Melee and Debuff/something ought to be able to handle an even level MoITF. I've never tried to solo it, but I did pair my Dark/Time Blaster with a Scrapper to get it done (at some elevated difficulty level). We actually had a second scrapper who started with us at level 40 (we were incarnate), so we had an additional challenge (of a sort). The only other detail I recall about that effort was the compliment (backhanded?) that I demonstrated 'I knew how to keep myself alive.' Despite Blackstar and End of Time being PBAoE, and the melee Future Pain working with the Time Controls, there was NO WAY I was going to toss the MoITF attempt by trying to Blapper. Dark is a perfectly fine ranged offensive set, thank you very Darkly! (Especially when keeping an eye on our third man!)

Welcome to Blue side, Hero.

I can TOTALLY appreciate this, but from my POV (as a participant, not as a leader) that amount of effort appears to be more about improving the efficiency of the raid and less about completing the raid. I wouldn't suggest starting a raid without having a dedicated tank, or enough Control/DPS to take out the mitos. In my experience the 'waiting around time' isn't used to explain the mechanics of the event, even by folks who aren't setting up macros to use during the raid. 120 merits in 35 minutes isn't bad, but if my game time is ~2 hours a day that's a pretty dull use of 35 minutes. The most interesting twist (but ultimately boring IMO, YMMV) I saw a league use was the explicit desire to spawn and clear each mito bloom in a semi-old school approach. I never got an explanation of WHY that is how the leader wanted to run that raid, but I saw a LOT of macro use explaining that this was HOW it was going to be run. I had plenty of time to look at the league composition and powers and there was nothing that stood out to me as making it necessary for the league to have to take that approach (he still had requests for Lore drops, for example). I'd be slightly less jaded about the Hami raids if I didn't see a full league of people give up when a triple-bloom goes pear-shaped. It's a LOT harder to get those first 80 merits in that circumstance, but it is still 80 merits and it is entirely doable, especially with a full league... and access to the auction house for EoE refills. I wish all blessings to raid leaders. Maybe appoint a deputy to run a trivia contest or something while we are otherwise doing nothing in game?