tidge

AND make Atlas Park a PVP zone!

Oh look: first the market was going to raise prices, now if we don't take action it is going to catastrophically drop prices. Economics, amiright? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ For those not following the linked thread from Beta, I'm not sure it is really worth having the "economics" discussion there as the proposed change ("Sorry boyo, you won't be able to convert Empyrean Merits to Reward Merits") has people scrambling to every corner of a room; and that room has corners where no one expected corners to exist. I think @Yomo Kimyata wrote it best (paraphrasing): "We don't even know what is motivating DevThink." Of course, I have no insight into DevThink. The only coincidental (possible, planned) rollout that comes to mind is the name release policy... maybe the Devs have taken a deep look into the way players are using Homecoming and saw a few extreme methods of play that strike them as so peculiarly different than what was expected that they are drawing some lines. (*1) As I (and a few other market regulars) have written in the Beta thread: I don't think eliminating the conversion of Empyrean Rewards to Merit Rewards is that big of a deal. Without a doubt, there is some number of players who only buy Enhancements/Recipes from Merit Reward Vendors... so some (tiny?) fraction of those people might be using Empyrean Rewards (farmed or otherwise)... but this defies (market) logic. (*1) Random, unsubstantiated imagination of hypothetical player behavior motivating DevThink: Farming (XP, inf, drops) is clearly tolerated, and hasn't been a problem for the game or the market. It hadn't previously occurred to me (because of the effort involved to get a currency) that a multi-box player (even one adhering to limits on multi-boxing) might be also farming vet levels for Empyrean Merits. In hindsight: the static number of Empyrean Merit Rewards (for veteran levels) is a currently fungible asset that doesn't neatly scale with team size... so from that perspective I wouldn't at all be surprised if the fungibility was removed.

70K inf x 30 Enhancement Converters = 2.1 MInf. No flipping.

Thanks for the info on the Thunderstrike %procs! I so rarely hit the actual target that I haven't even been able to notice any %proc behavior on adjacents. As a practical matter: after my character brings the control (typically Seeds of Confusion and Roots, also Carrion Creepers), I'm simply not having enough enemies near one another to even notice the PBAoE aspect of Thunderstrike. Part of the issue for my play of this character is that the best control (Seeds of Confusion) and my best non-pet %debuff %damage (Static Discharge) are both cones, so popping into Melee (even after picking an optimal target) is rarely helping clear spawns. More often than I even connect (ehem, corpse-blasting and RNG), it is just opening me up for a melee counter-attack. As for runners... that's what Voltaic Sentinel is for!

This was my (best) guess as well, but this approach seems particularly pointless.... I understand that it could yield some Reward merits (via Empyrean conversion), but eventually whatever alt is benefiting from the farming must be collecting reward merits on their own. Everything else that is coming from the AE farm can also be used to fund/equip the alts. I absolutely don't want to yuck in anyone's AE fun, but I'm going to call shenanigans on double- (or more)-boxing AE farming of Empyrean merits. This is judgemental as get-all: At the point at which a player feels they need to do this... I'm thinking maybe they should just play on the test server.

So what I (ultimately) did was pull the 5th slot from Voltaic Sentinel, and the 6th slot from Thunder Strike to put BOTH of my options (%Absorb, +Recovery) into Health. I like pairing %Absorb with Scaling Damage Resistance... I still get this character in deep doo-doo, but I want to believe that I've improved survivability at least fractionally. I found Thunder Strike to be such a disappointing attack that extracting the 6th piece (was %-Resistance) to be a no-brainer. Besides being slow enough to do nothing against defeated targets, it appears that the mechanics were such that missing the actual target meant no chance to trigger against adjacent enemies, and RNGesus is a cruel master. The (PB)Aoe also seemed to be small enough that my typical controls made it rare that MOBs would be close enough to each other by the time I decided to pop in to throw the attack. I'm having trouble remembering a time when I've been so utterly disappointed with a secondary's T8 power. I hate to do it, but because I use that attack so rarely and because I'm thinking about (further) delaying the choice of Thunder Strike... I think I may simply just replace it with an alternate attack from an Epic/Patron power pool. In the case of this character, it would be Psionic Tornado (from Psionic Mastery). This is much less potential damage, but I am already NOT using the melee AoE attack very efficiently.

This is all about me: I do a LOT of solo, but I also join PUGs for TF/SF... less so for incarnate content and MSR, and I am about 50/50 on if I join a Hamidon League or not. I still find that Reward Merits flow like water, and I am never thirsty for Empyrean Merits. I cannot recall ever transferring merits (any type) between characters; enhancements, inf, catalysts, converters, yes... but never merits of any type. I can understand why... but what is the point of skipping low-level play... even if "I've done it a thousand times before"... just to get to incarnate play, that I'm guessing has been done an awful lot as well? I should disclose: As a mostly solo player, I cannot bring myself to consider running certain content (e.g. Dark Astoria story arcs) as joyless grinds... even as I consider grinding them. As a test, I took a brand new level 50 (no incarnate powers, but fully built otherwise including most accolades) into DA, and ran the Heather Townshend arc twice. I had intended to run it at +0/x1 to time it, but the first mission I had left my difficulty turned up so that time was slightly longer than minimum at around 12 minutes... the second run took 9m 56s with a semi-favorable placement of glowies in mission 3. If this was all I was doing with the character, yes it would take a while to get those precious T4s... but 98% of my time with that character is playing non-Incarnate content anyway, generating threads, shards and vet levels. I am confused about the economies of converting Empyrean merits to Reward merits to Recipes/ATOs.... or at least: confused about why take this path... I totally understand how this works, it's just that it seems so inefficient to me. Even rolling Empyrean -> Reward -> something else for AH sale doesn't seem as useful as it would be to just craft Incarnates and then run/play (Merit) reward-rich content (Hamidon Raid, Mothership Raids, TinPex, Weekly). I grok that these are different than an AE farm, but surely the extra farm rewards (occasional Empyrean merits) are either/both marginal or secondary. If I was on my very first character, and I felt like I either wanted that character (or my very next one) to be near-instant 50(+3)... I guess I can almost imagine why I'd fret about some of the changes... but honestly the Empyrean -> Reward doesn't seem all that different than when the shift on Vanguard -> Reward happened... except of course that one might no longer exist.

OK, so if that would happen, can we support an AE environment that is open-world (non-instanced) that lets people play at a non-instant level 50 pace and team with random players, and has multiple zones and contacts to choose from? /s

Sorry if I haven't been paying attention to the proposed/walked-back changes... A couple of things to alleviate any (current) sense of doom: 1) You can also get Notice of the Well from weekly TFs/SFs 2) The Dark Astoria story arcs can be run relatively quickly or be played with lots of enemies (for even more threads+); I don't think the rewards "suck"... yes the rarity of a chosen Incarnate salvage is random, but if you are struggling to unlock T3s grinding the DA arcs isn't a bad way to do it. There are a variety of other ways to work on Incarnates on a spectrum of efficiency (Vanguard merits, for instance), weekly SSA rewards.

"Report Zone Geometry Issues Here"

With help from @Bopper and a few other comments from other players, it looks as if 'walking through (certain) fences' is a thing (even with just Sprint!), but as a character approaches the Running Speed Limit of 120 mph (no matter the source, no matter the slotting) it becomes much 'easier' to pass through the fences.... possibly due to server/client effects. I definitely remember that jerk hack from Siren's Call!

As I wrote, I just finished leveling my Plant Dom, and I more-or-less purposely left it with only around 20% positional defenses for extra excitement other may find distasteful.... so I even though I (now) have a reasonably kitted perma-Dom, I'm still thinking of the original run while leveling. Seeds of Confusion is the "money power": I try to open with that, and then follow with Roots. SoC didn't need many slots while leveling, but YMMV. The pets/pseudo-pets aren't super reliable until they (a) will stay with you (b) have recharge times close to their duration. Not a lot of deep thought on that one, but I felt like writing it. Those two cycle fast enough that they basically set the pace of clearing spawns. At 50, Roots has the ATO %+Damage; while leveling I had that ATO in Strangler... I don't expect this choice to make much sense to anyone, it's just that I made some early choices on which of those low level powers were going to give me certain global +Recharge set bonuses before 50. I have two %proc powers in my build: Carrion Creepers and Static Discharge (Electricity Assault Secondary). A few powers will have a set %proc in them, fewer still may have a second as the 6th slot. Again, this is not a particularly deep thought for a Dominator. I only write this because I found (at level 50) enough recharge (without Hasten) to have permadom in the absence of slows and without relying on SG base buffs. I do try to remember to keep the SG base buffs (attack rate, recovery) active anyway. I could slip more global +Recharge into the cone attack, but that is where I have some %-Resistance. The Fly Trap also has %-Resistance, which I find helps. I used ATO %Fiery Orb when leveling, but I had pulled it out of the build. I felt like it helped with aggro at low levels. I'm going to experiment with it again I think. I should be able to drop it into Carrion Creepers to replace one of the /Recharge pieces used there. The only power on my build that disappoints me is from the secondary: T8 Thunder Strike (PBAoE Melee). Even slotted with 5x Armageddon, and an even-level accuracy of 153%, this power misses far too much for my taste. It isn't a terrible finishing move sometimes against weakened spawns, but it doesn't have the synergy I want with the primary.... either in solo or in PUGs. I delayed picking it to level 41, and I am going to move the 6th slot (was %-Resistance Fury of the Gladiator) to another power. I really want to play my Dominator as a melee character (I even have Combat Teleport at level 6!) but this T8 just isn't paying dividends on the investment.

I just got my Plat/Electric to 50, and the primary (during leveling, kept at respec) was 1) Strangler 2) Roots 8 ) Seeds of Confusion 18) Vines 26) Carrion Creepers 32) Fly Trap I don't like single-target Immobs so I skipped Entangle. I have another character with and AoE sleep, and I didn't feel like putting such a power in a Dominator. Spirit Tree was sacrificed to pick up 5 mules for LotG. Vines isn't quite up enough for me to really rely on it... it is basically my alternating control with Seeds of Confusion.

Where was this stated?

Tests: w/ SG buff, Thrust Slotted. Super Speed + Athletic Run + Sprint = 118.46 mph run through fences no issues w/ SG buff, Thrust Slotted. Super Speed = 103.07 mph run through fences after "double tap" w/ SG buff, w/ just Sprint = 40.46 run through fences after "double tap" I tried with Superspeed slotted with a level 50 IO, +Sprint = 119.34 mph run through fences no issues So it is the speed, and NOT the enhancement.

Some random (recent) observations: 1) I have definitely recently encountered (what I would consider) to be a significant uptick in the number of characters clearly on the spectrum of "this is obviously _____". A few have been bluntly named precisely the comics character along with a costume that precisely matches the comic/TV/Cinematic character, I appreciate the effort, but come on. The most peculiarly ironic example was a hero toon who had a creative IMO alternate name for the character, but the bio said "____ (copyright name) was taken"... tell me what you really wanted to do without telling me what you really wanted to do. Another eye-rolling moment: "Please invite <copyright name> to team".... and of course, "copyright name" isn't the character name, it is "copyright name with laziest possible alteration" that the PUG buddy doesn't even recognize. 2) There have been a small number of characters that are basically skirting the established naming policies re: the pandemic. These could fall into the Gilbert Gottfried (RIP) "too soon?" category. I don't know what the intention of those players are, I certainly wasn't triggered.

So, about Super Speed.... a travel power I almost never take... I decided to give it a "fair shake", 'cuz: I'm know the doors on well-worn TFs, so speeding to them can be second nature (start fighting those scrubs ASAP!) This is a Dominator, so I was going to be in the Speed pool anyway ...and I discovered something really weird about it. If Super Speed is slotted with a Thrust: Running Speed/Increase Running Speed, and Super Speed is toggled on... I also tend to have Sprint and Athletic Run also toggled on, but not Speed Phase, it is possible to run through (some) chain link fences and a few other "see through" map artifacts. If another enhancement piece like a Universal Travel set is slotted in Super Speed, this effect goes away. The posts between chain-link fences will still stop the character. I don't know if this is a bug or "working as intended", but it is actually kind of cool to NOT have to jump over certain map effects.

^ Check this. If you (player) have a storage UI window open when you go to the manage enhancement screen (to try to catalyze), the catalysts are going back into storage.

Speed Phase is not toggled on, only Super Speed, and only when that piece is equipped in Super Speed. Unequipping that piece makes the effect stop.

My question will be about the /Electricity Assault Dominator T9 Secondary power available at level 38. This is a Recharge-Intensive Pet, with all the limitations/timers/lifetimes associated with such. The question involves a single slot that I'm not quite sold on. The current slotting of Voltaic Sentinel for my (level 50, perma-Dom) Plant/Electric is: Expedient Reinforcement (Accuracy / Damage) Expedient Reinforcement (Damage / Endurance) Expedient Reinforcement (Accuracy / Damage / Recharge) Expedient Reinforcement (Endurance / Damage / Recharge) Soulbound Allegiance (%Build Up) Monitoring the logs, I can see that usually the Sentinel gets the benefit of Build Up for one attack; occasionally it will happen twice. Against level 50 carnies, when %Build Up is triggered, it is about 30 extra single-target damage. I like the little sparky guy, but it's already something of a high-maintenance power that isn't something I always keep up. Normally: My attitude is MOAR DAMAGE is MOAR DAMAGE. However... in this case, as the delivery is single-target in a completely uncontrolled manner... What do y'all thing about pulling that %proc out of Voltaic Sentinel and using the slot somewhere else in the build where it can have more impact across all levels? As far as where I would put the slot, the primary candidate power is Health. Currently, I have neither Preventive Medicine (%Absorb) nor Miracle (+Recovery) slotted. The extra Recovery translates to ~ 0.25 End/second... with perma-Dom and no Incarnates I'm on the knife's edge of button mashing, so "dulling that blade" may be useful. %Absorb is pretty much just a warning sign that I'm taking (too much) damage and need to refocus attention. I can use unslotters to switch between those choices. There are lower tier powers that could take a %damage enhancement (or the %Fiery Orb ATO) but I'm otherwise comfortable with the powers/slottings in those powers and don't feel that either of those types of options would really help performance.

Disclaimer: I almost never take Super Speed as a travel power. Truthfully, I only rarely dip into the Speed pool. I was leveling a new Dominator, so perhaps it is easy to imagine why I might wade into the Speed pool, and I opted to go up into my knees, as it were. I happened to slot the Thrust (Running Speed / Increase Run Speed) piece... there was no real reason: I happened to roll into it during an enhancement conversion, I know the zone geometry pretty well, so I wanted to see if I could use it to "speed" to missions on PUGs (ehem, Synapse). I started noticing on instanced maps that I could Run through certain map geometries... I assumed it was a map/server glitch, but it was repeatable. I then noticed I could do it on the open-world maps (Peregrine Island especially). as I hit level 50, I respeced and replaced the Thrust piece with a Winter's Gift (Slow Resistance)... and noticed I could no longer run through map artifacts! I swapped the pieces and it returned! Basically: If it is possible to "see through" a map artifact, it becomes possible to Super Speed through them. This includes chain link fences (but not posts) and transparent walls (like on many Praetorian maps). This is cool, but is it intended? I haven't gotten it to work in Pocket D.

While I appreciate that y'all are looking for new niches... IMO a new Issue/Page simply means that more new characters will be made, a few older characters will be respec-ed, and it means that sales will increase on all the old favorites. If I wanted to try to predict an impact from AE changes, I would consider the potential impact for less AE farming to have on supplying raw materials to the Auction House. I'm well aware of the (quite right, IMO) theory of worrying about inflationary pressure from Inf farming, but it is hard for me to gauge the impact of past AE changes... especially since I never AE farmed for influence; I did occasionally use AE farms for drops, years ago. The post-Incarnate Vet Levels XP (to me) falls into the category of things that I simply didn't know were a thing that people really cared about. I'm just as surprised to find out that anybody really cares that some folks are leveraging it.