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Revisiting this (old) post: I can confirm that Colleen Nelson awarded the Shrouded badge via the "Destroy the Rikti Virus" mission to my level 39 character. As an aside: I was rather peeved at my "friend and colleague" Steven Sheridan running out of missions for me without sending me to the map in question.

It is possible to slot level 50 PVP pieces before level 50, of course....subject to the same rules for slotting higher level pieces.

I'm looking for some new cell phone sounds, and I rather like the "Success!" sound when combining enhancements (or attuning). Does anyone know the name of that sound (and it's location in the pigg file, if applicable). I also kinda like the "Failure" noise too.

I typically (eventually) attune a LOT of PVPs, as long as they are below 50. That way I can (later) slot them into new characters at level 10.

I would never buy a crafted enhancement with the intent of attuning it, but I have attuned a LOT of enhancements that I've simply crafted (or converted into). At this point in the (Homecoming) game's life-cycle I am catalyst-rich (and merit-rich, for that matter) so I am completely unconcerned about raw Influence. I play all levels of content so attuned (for set bonuses) is the way for me. There are a small number of times when I will specifically buy level 50 versions of enhancements with the intent to boost them to 50+5. I don't want a set bonus (i.e., the piece is a one-off not giving me a set bonus anyway) The power can take enhancement set pieces that boost effects but not IOs (or HOs), like Adjusted Targeting: Recharge in Link Minds (or Mind Link) which cannot have recharge time boosted by IOs or HOs It's a piece that isn't available in an HO/D-Sync variety (such as Accuracy/Endurance Reduction) It's a piece I'm too cheap to get the equivalent HO/D-Sync. IIRC in almost all cases, the boosts from a 50+5 piece is just under the values offered by a level 50 HO. A classic example for me is choosing to use singleton Universal travel pieces at 50+5 in place of Microfilaments or Accelerations, or a Shield Wall Defense/Endurace Reduction in pure Defense powers in place of a Cytoskeleton

I want to chime in with a sincere THANK YOU for putting the guide together for blue siders. The only issue I have with the guide is that as written, it may not be immediately obvious to an uninformed that the Croatoa arc has to be started before moving on to level 30. It is there in the text, but it seems weird to come after the "before you move on" bit for level 25-29 content. I was playing at launch day, and I have (for the past several weeks) been playing a blue-side character through as much of the content as I can. This has meant TURNING OFF XP and some amount of grinding. That character is currently level 37, here are my thoughts while they are somewhat fresh: I started the character with the typical gift of Influence, in order to buy P2W travel, utility, and temporary attack powers. I did invest in (cheap) amplifiers at low levels but I don't think they were needed. Much of the game has grindy travel between zones, so P2W helps. I also picked up the Ouroboros portal ASAP for the same reason. Full disclosure: I skipped the Hollows arc. There is nothing wrong with that arc, its just that it is essentially designed to let you skip those low-level grindy missions. I have used Oroborous to work on it when I feel like taking a break. I think I've done all the "newer" zones/contacts at appropriate level (including Faultline, Striga, Croatoa, First Ward, Night Ward). I have mostly skipped the PVP zones, although they are trivially repeatable at higher levels so I'm not sweating them. I did have to use Ouroboros to get a couple of Atlas Park missions that I wasn't offered. I also didn't get around to joining a Death from Below until I was already level 20, and I haven't seen a Drowning in Blood offered! I made one peculiar choice: I took Infiltration as my "travel power" (because Kismet +ToHit), which meant that as soon as I got Agent G's Arachnos Disguise I spent an hour traveling to all the blue side zones I could enter (except the Abandoned Sewer Network, curse you Rikti Drones!) to collect all of the exploration badges and history plaques. This has saved me later effort and allowed me to leverage Long Range Teleport as needed. Infiltration also allowed me to "stealth" many missions that would have otherwise forced me to "defeat most" which would have sped up XP. Turning off XP has another peculiar effect that I am sure doesn't apply to most players: I found myself collecting enough recipes and salvage (and vendor-able items) that this character has been able to craft the Invention badges as he goes along. This is particularly important for the 25-30 inventions, as those badges increase salvage storage capacity. The level range 20-30 has a LOT of content, so XP was off for most of it. Crafting and using the Auction House allowed this character to make back every drop of Influence invested in him (and then some) per typical Auction House strategies by level 30. I should not for "badgers": Taking a "defeat all" approach as a solo player will naturally earn many of the defeat badges (YMMV on bosses). I did turn up the team size to get the Croatoan Ghosts badge withing that arc of course. I have been sure to do a single round of radio missions, to collect the exploration badges in the Safeguard missions. again, Stealthing these makes this go really fast without having to earn too much XP. I've also been doing Tip missions (both hero and vigilante), as I find them to be among the better written missions in the game, and usually I blow past the levels 20-29, 30-39 to get all the different perspectives of the various "soft arcs" in them. I was surprised how much of the OG content I enjoyed in the level ranges 20-40. The "feel" of this content is much different than when revisiting (via Ouroboros) the missions as a level 50+. I'd also forgotten that many of the non-badge, non-story arc missions from contacts drop clues about the greater Lore. Thanks again for the guide, and good luck to all who try the OG "slow path".

I wouldn't worry about a "kiting" on a Robotics/Traps build. I'm pretty sure the build I posted has (with no Incarnates) MM: Positional Defenses of 50%+ for Melee/Ranged, 54%+ for AoE Henchmen: 46%+ Melee/Ranged, 61%+ AoE

I lurv the Presence pool on my Fortunata. Provoke is a bit of a waste(*1), and the ST Fear really only gets leveraged when piling on Fear (magnitude/duration) but the AoE Fear is a wonderful additional source of %damage/control and Unrelenting is a thing of Beauty with the way Fortunata defenses/resists (and recharge times!) can be made to work. (*1) Because small number of targets and ToHit roll required. Just grab aggro from an AoE attack instead.

Slotting single-target and toggle aura Confuses (and Taunts) for %damage is almost always a waste. ST Confuses are better served by Contagious Confusion, Taunts are better with Accuracy (for the non auto-hits, such as from Presence pool) or simply Duration. If confuse or taunt is a secondary effect in some sort of attack, and the AT has a relatively low damage scale, then go ahead and try to leverage %damage from procs. There are a handful of single-target holds and debuffs that have "low enough" damage (sometimes depending on AT) that a %damage proc can make sense, but it is not a sure thing. Currently, I am looking real hard at Water Blast's Whirpool: it ought to be a good place to drop %damage from procs, but much like my previous experience with Caltrops and Bonfire I am beginning to think that it's probably an over-rated place for %damage and that the slots would be better used for set bonuses (such as from Annihilation). Psuedo-pets are always worth keeping an eye on: When I see the %procs trigger it is on the casting (I could be missing some of course), so for high DPS ATs I don't think the little bit of occasional extra %damage is making enough of an impact on clear times to justify the use of the slot.

Setting aside discussion points around Cloak of Fear: is this one of the aura powers that doesn't show the successful ToHit rolls in the combat log? I feel like there was a thread (in the Bugs subforum) a while back that was questioning streakbreaker and observed misses... and that this discrepency was attributed to auras that were (unobservedly) making ToHit rolls.

IIRC, the %damage/%effect procs do rely on a To-Hit check, in addition to the %proc check. I cannot recall if the lost-to-time poster of that tidbit qualified if it was slotted ToHit rolls from the power itself, or using global ToHit/Accuracy. If the latter, Enhacement set bonuses and other power toggles would mitigate the need for slotting Accuracy.

This was me: Not in Beta, but waiting for release day... and OMG the waits on assorted downloads! (Also me, Invuln tanker, stuck in place, watching the fire Tanks earn insta-XP from DE Swarms.) I have a LOT of memories, but the one thing that really stands out to me as a work on leveling a blue-sider by turning off XP and hitting as many of the OG contacts as possible for missions is how much more enjoyable the game got with Veteran rewards, especially means of cross-zone travel that did not involve the CTA trains.

I am not familiar with the specifics of Animated Stone, but I have to believe that Hecatomb is better used for set bonuses in one of the AT's attacks. The Very Rare piece you want to consider for a pet (or a henchman) is Soulbound Allegiance's %Build Up (assuming the pet has no dead-time between attacks). If the summon power brings out multiple pets, the Overwhelming Force Knockdown is also a solid choice.

Leveraging the melee attacks takes some getting used to, for multiple (generic) reasons: The Blaster has to be able to stay in melee, for at least a little bit of time. This isn't easy to do at low levels (low defenses, no resists) , and at higher levels where spawn sizes are larger RNG has more opportunities to land hits. Since many enemies have a mix of melee and range, when in melee range you open yourself up to more attacks. This can be mitigated with a variety of powers, playstyles, Enhancement set bonuses, and power choices. Low-to-mid level Blasters often have something like a decent attack chain made almost entirely of ranged attacks (from the primary) that they grow comfortable with by the time they could choose to have melee worked into the chain. A player has to make a conscious effort, through pool choices (of melee attacks, which could be seen a "gimping a build") and play style to see how melee could be worked into a build at low/mid levels. A level 50+ build can respec and add lots of slots (with Enhancement sets) to better leverage melee attacks, even at low levels. There are a handful of pool powers that can help "Blapping". I'm a personal fan of Combat Teleport, using a couple of binds: /macro_image "DevouringEarthSeed_Hematic_Seedbuff" "BAMF" "powexec_location target Combat Teleport" /macro_image "DevouringEarthSeed_Hematic_seedblood" "Back" "powexec_location Back:25 Combat Teleport" The first puts you in the face of a target (I keep meaning to experiment with the bind to go "just past" the target for those times when targets are on the edge of ledges); the second pops me back to switch to ranged attacks (typically cones). Patches Blasters with some sort of "placed patch" powers also get a bind to drop the patch on a specific target; often the patches have some some sort of "soft control" like Knockdown or damage-over-time, or debuff that causes enemies to begin to scatter, which can buy time for a melee attack. Pay attention to the AI Many single harde targets, like GMs, have a cycle of attacks... so time your melee attacks based on their attack chain.

I have my walking fly trap slotted as follows (Dominator): (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (*) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50 (*) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (*) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 (*) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 20 (*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage: Level 50 From memory, the reason this pet has those two %procs is because one of the attacks they fire in is a cone, and there are also two single-target attacks. My Dark/rad Defender only has Fluffy 4-slouted with Cloud Senses. I could put any extra slots to better use elsewhere in the build.

I'm not that familiar with Force Field, but at first blush I would think that the Fighting Pool's Weave isn't necessary and two picks to get Tough (presumably to be mostly a mule) is... well "tough". Given the inspiration, I'd be tempted to forgo both Fighting and Flight, and leverage Sorcery (loss of Group Fly of course) which has many powers that can act as mules (for a variety of types), and if slots are needed in the defense powers (a good idea, probably) then I'd add Concealment for default-slot LotGs global recharge mules. I would probably skip Arcane Bolt on a MM, but it has a cool thematic animation.

No disagreement from me on this approach. Health is IMO one of the trickiest to consider, as it is something trivial to self-monitor (by default) and also easy to monitor for teammates. Experienced players can probably tell if/when a teammate needs healing, but not always. Sometimes it isn't possible to tell when an AT with a "sack o' Health" really needs healing, or when that non-sack AT has got beaucoup resists/scaling and a high-frequency Unrelenting to be popped. I never really mind the TLC, but I'd almost always prefer to have a teammate make it so that I don't need Orange/Purple/Pink inspirations. Wakies I can keep in email, so feel free to spam Howling Twilight on the spawns! If anyone needs team-friendly pool suggestions: one thing an inspiration can't do is teleport teammates across Independence Port.

Thanks for the notice! I've never Stayed goldside long enough to encounter that arc!

This is going into alt-Lore territory, and while I'm glad this wasn't done Back Alley Brawler, I'm always surprised (given the apparent Praetorian connection to Deadlock (and the old devs seeming distaste for certain elements of the original Lore) that Back-Alley Brawler wasn't beaten into a pulp, kidnapped, and turned into the Noble Savage (in the First Ward). Noble Savage's backstory seems to be entirely lacking (is he hinted at in any Gold lore prior to First Ward?), and BA Brawler doesn't seem to be any worse for the experience shown in Eagle Eye's 'personal' mission in any of the places/missions where BAB is encountered.

If you are tight on powers, I'm curious how many of the other (non-Maintenance Drone) primary/secondary powers you are taking, and how deep you are getting into pool powers. My own experience with leveling Masterminds (prior to page 5 revamp) was that because the attacks were so bad, that combined with the levels that late-tier powers were available, it was always an easy choice to go deep into pools. As the number of henchmen grows the MM pool powers become less crucial, and at 50 when Superior Enhancement slotting is possible, things become a game changer. Because of the Endurance tax and crummy damage scales, I don't recommend taking personal attacks except as a debuff/aggro mechanism (especially true for Robotics). A no-pet or single-pet build is a different game of course. I like Seeker Drones, but I don't have them in my build because they just weren't doing enough across most content for my play style. I also skip Trip Mine and Detonator; I find that the first just slows me down and the second is counter-productive. Poison Trap doesn't need much slotting to do what it does best. As noted above Triage Beacon has even fewer corner cases of utility (I do find it to be a cool power). The revamp in T2 choices means that it is possible to skip Web Grenade (for Caltrops). Of those two powers, I sacrificed Web Grenade because its use was almost entirely limited to trying to keep AVs and certain GMs from fleeing. (My build includes Group Fly, because Robots with Rocket Boots, so I'm less concerned with escaping fliers) In contrast Caltrops is a non-targeted AoE damage/slow that also happens to distract enemies in the area, both good effects for aiding survival. This is a power that could be squeezed in as a later power choice, or replaced with something like a Patrol pool immobilize.

I can see what you are going for with Howling Twilight and Tar Patch, but I would recommend trying to have those powers up as quickly as possible and not go all-in on Absolute Amazement. I think Tar Patch would be better served with two 50+5 Recharge IOs, leaving Howling Twilight with 5 slots: Ragnarok Acc/Recharge Ragnarok Dam/End Absolute Amazement Stun/Recharge Absolute Amazement Acc/Stun/Recharge Annihilation %-Res I think you could go ahead and boost all the purples to 50+5, but if you are concerned about the %proc then only boost the Damage/End piece (I apologize in advance for not doing the math). I don't think you need the Kismet piece, and I'd try to work in a six-piece Reactive Defenses set bonus. I feel like the henchmen have be shortchanged on slots.

This is really not true for Robotics, especially in the recent Homecoming changes. What does the build look like? (text please, if possible) So I can better understand what you are going for.

I am well aware that Hasten can lead to having three Acid Mortars simultaneously, but honestly I consider it to be a bad power pick for Robotics/Traps (particularly) and for MMs in general. MMs have a high Endurance cost for using their powers, so using them more frequently isn't exactly a good thing, even considering the eventual Endurance cost of Hasten. The move of the -Regen into the MM attacks does mean that for some fights the MM will need to use its attacks, so those attacks should have Accuracy and Endurance slotting.

Here is my level 50 build (sorry no MIDS) with three sets of henchmen. I have a "One Big Robot" build as well. While leveling, I had different power choices and slottings (mostly to control Endurance costs).

Strictly limiting discussion to Maintenance Drone: I like this change. I have it on Robotics/Traps. While leveling up, prior to the Assault Bot, I was using the Medicine pool to keep the small number of Henchmen healed. Once I had enough Henchmen, I found it to be unnecessary to worry about healing individual henchmen, and worrying about the T1 and T2 is ultimately just a waste of Endurance. I chose to respec into Triage Beacon, which is a non-moving device. I feel that in solo play, I was able to use a 6-slotted (with Preventive Maintenance) Triage Beacon about as well as could be expected (with large spawn sizes), but I won't kid myself that this power brought much to the table except for some rather corner cases (I'm thinking mainly about turned-up Positron TFs, or certain GM/AV fights). Maintenance Drone has replaced Triage Beacon in my build, with same slotting: I fire it once in a new map instance, and then I pretty much can forget about it, It follows me around the map, It fires its heals more reliably than the Protector Bots use theirs (perhaps this is the perceived 'nerf' to the Protector Bots?) IMO: Any opportunity to slot Health Enhancement sets is a good one for MMs. 2 and 3 piece sets bonuses from some already good sets get Regenration and/or Recovery bonuses. Now, about the entirety of the Robotics changes... I haven't radically changed my Robotics/Traps play style with the latest changes to Robotics, I attribute this to the way I was playing before: I was always using MM attacks (two from Primary, one from Patron) to debuff, aggro, and soft-control enemies via Knockdown. The recent changes simply inspired me to change the order of power picks (to not delay the picks of MM attacks as previously). The changes to the primary meant that I got a lot more freedom in slotting enhancements such that I see improvement in performance of the Henchmen independent of the way the individual power were changed: With Knockback (mostly) removed from Henchmen attacks, one slot previously used for Knockback->Knockdown became available! Protector Bots get a dedicated Defense 50+5 IO, which improves survival rates Equip Robot gets enhancement sets which also boost resistance