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I definitely will take the Fighting pool on a majority of my characters, but MOST of the time it is to get a power to use as an enhancement mule. I have a /SR (Stalker, not Scrapper) that took Kick/Tough and 47/49 just to mule the extra +Defense pieces. For most of the game's content she doesn't even have access to a damage reducer (except for the Shield Wall global). My other squishies (with neither Defenses or Resists) tend to dip into the Fighting pool earlier but i don't kid myself that they are able to soak damage!

Aid Other vs. Triage Beacon I have two MM that I've taken through 50+. One is Robots/Traps and one is Thugs/Thermal. There may be subtle combinations when trying to speak to Thugs/Traps, so I just wanted to explicitly write about the place of my perspective. I should note that the 'Bots MM went to 50+ before the henchmen AI changes. I found Aid Other to be useful when leveling, but swapped it for Triage Beacon. The downsides of Aid Other, from my PoV It breaks up whatever else you are doing, both in terms of clicky powers and attention. Some henchmen just aren't worth chasing down to heal // only rarely is it absolutely neccesary to heal a henchmen dragging a green inspiration will also heal a henchmen body guard mode needs as many henchmen as possible Aid Other was useful while leveling, because with very few other powers and only a few henchmen it is useful to keep them ready for the next fight. For example: it is possible to street sweep Perez Park at appropriate levels if you can keep your very few available henchmen healed. The dynamics of a MM with 3 henchmen (and only 2 at -1) is very different than a MM of 6 henchmen where only 1 is at even level. Triage Beacon has an obvious downside: In highly mobile play, there won't be as many opportunities to get much benefit from it, but in HARD fights it will be much more useful than a single target interruptible Aid Other. Triage Beacon is also not a true heal, of course. Now about Thugs. Thugs are not as well behaved as Robots, as Thugs rely on a few melee attacks. It's pretty much the Bruiser that is the candidate for Aid Other, as he'll scamper all over creation and occasionally get quite far from you... but I don't think it is a good tactical choice to run after the Bruiser to give up your position (with Acid Mortar, Caltrops, Poison Trap) where your Enforcers and Arsonist will be (I have found the Enforcers to be the laggards). Once the Posse is in play, you can rely on your pet window (or targeting macros) for targeting the true Henchmen, but visually the combat zone is going to be crazy. Thermal has a single-target (non-interruptible) buff that I try to apply to the Enforcer, but quite frankly I find it to be a PITA to stay close enough to him to do that... I can only imagine how painful it would be to try to apply Aid Other to him. Of course, you could do without either power. But... Triage Beacon is a power that makes a BIG difference on low-level task/strike forces (even if the slotted enhancements are above the level of the TF) because a TF PUG of 8 will likely be close together and will appreciate the Triage Beacon boosts a LOT more than one-off casts of Aid Other. Also the set bonuses from Healing sets are pretty nice.

I only put uncommons on the AH about once a month, so I doubt it was any of my characters. And even then, it only the uncommons not used in my own crafting on recipes or SG boosts. I also don't check the final sale prices on salvage so it is unlikely I would even notice. I can almost imagine the scenario that could lead to lots of lost Inf, but it involves not paying attention. Place some ~10MInf bids on many (ten at a time?) specific (Very Rare? PVP?) Recipes Jump to the salvage area and start placing bids on salvage (ten at a time) but not updating the bid price. I've done something similar, but it is immediately noticeable because the "bought" items tab in the AH increments while the total Inf decrements. When SERIOUSLY overbidding I think you have a little bit of time to cancel (part of the) bids for ten-at-a-time.

That particular proc only works for the character with the power, and it will fire even if you never drop a Triage Beacon. (assuming level ranges, damage taken, blah blah blah fishcakes)

I think it might depend on your primary. My /Traps build doesn't have too many procs, because I don't really need to do extra damage as much as I want to help the henchmen do extra damage. There is a subtle point that any one given %-res source won't 'stack' with itself, but the duration length will be increased if it was re-applied (such as from the Achilles Heel %proc) I want to say that Pseudopets (like most traps) have a slightly different (inferior) way that they work than in character powers. The only other caveat is that the Endurance cost of attacks for MMs is quite steep, so there is a real balancing act when deciding to try to provide your own offense (via %damage) and letting the henchmen do their thing. I can share the slotting of my Bots/Traps/Mace (level 50, leveling was different) Web Grenade is not really worth slotting, IMO: Level 1: Web Grenade (A) HamiO:Endoplasm Exposure I like the slow from Caltrops, I have a sort of compromise slotting that uses one lower-level set and one higher level (both attuned). I can't quite remember the math, but I think the %smashing is close to the ceiling while the %-Res should be about 70% of whatever the %damage is. Level 2: Caltrops (A) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime: Level 50 (7) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50 (9) Impeded Swiftness - Damage/Slow: Level 30 (9) Impeded Swiftness - Range/Slow: Level 30 (11) Impeded Swiftness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow: Level 30 (11) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing): Level 30 Triage Beacon holds a 6-piece set for bonuses: Level 10: Triage Beacon (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 50 (17) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 50 (19) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (19) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 50 (21) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 50 (21) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 50 Acid Mortar has two %-Res in it. It should be more %proc friendly because of the longer recharge time. Level 14: Acid Mortar (A) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 50 (34) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 20 (34) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff: Level 50 (36) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff/Recharge: Level 50 (36) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50 (36) Undermined Defenses - Recharge: Level 50 FFG is included for completeness. No %procs. Level 16: Force Field Generator (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 (46) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 (46) Defense Buff IO: Level 50 Poison Trap is another compromise between set bonuses, %proc, and actually doing the job of holding enemies. Level 22: Poison Trap (A) Gladiator's Net - Accuracy/Hold: Level 50 (23) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50 (23) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (25) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Endurance/Hold: Level 50 (25) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 50 (34) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50 I have the attacks designed to grab some aggro, knockdown and %-Res enemies with AoE; Photon Grenade, Mace Beam Volley.

Sounds like a respec into a different travel pool!

I've never tried to %proc the Scrapper/Stalker Snipes, except as a 5-piece set (with a %proc, almost always Sting of the Manticore) and then a 6th %proc from another set (Apocalypse %negative, at lvl 50). YMMV, but for my Inf there are 5-piece set bonuses worth chasing for what will be the only (or one of very few) ranged attacks for these AT. With the Homecoming changes to Snipes, these can become reliable parts of your offense. As to the OP, the powers are practically identical in terms of numbers. I typically go with Moonbeam because of the ability to add a LotG mule via Shadow Meld.

My StJ/WP Scrapper also has Shadow Meld but it isn't a power I use regularly (except as a LotG Mule, of course). It's use is limited to: activating (during the run towards a group), after I have used a (long range) Moonbeam (Snipe), as I close into the range of their alpha-strike during a 'lull' in my attack chain, where 'lull' is defined as waiting for a specific power to be available to make use of a StJ 'combo' For giggle, when facing difficult enough targets and the opponents' BIG ATTACK is coming up (and my teammates aren't somehow already boosting my Defense). I wouldn't say I'm 'tired of it', but if I was trying to use Shadow Meld all the time I certainly would be.

What is the current breakdown of Defenders at level 50 versus Blasters at level 50?

I was thinking that the hypothetical AFK Mastermind Farmer would be possible (even if not lucrative) by turning down the difficulty on enemies. Exposing my ignorance, but I'm not sure if a 50(+1) character still gets Inf from a level 47 enemy or not. I do know that it is necessary to earn XP from a defeat in order to get a recipe/salvage/enhancement drop. I'm pretty sure the lowest level character I had that got a purple recipe drop was lvl 47, doing Unai Kemen missions at standard (enemy level +0) difficulty.

While I agree 100% that MMs would make terrible AFK farmers if the reason for farming is recipe drops and not Inf, it makes no difference between lvl 50 and lvl 53 enemies. As far as very rare (purple, not PVP) recipe drops, you might be able to run a farm as low as level 48 and still get one but I don't know that to be true (I have no experience with farming such content).

Perhaps not... exactly... the only way to come close to the OP request. We have seen in several missions that 'duplicates' of the player (or entire team) at mission instancing appear as enemies, perhaps a slight step in the requested direction would be to have a mission where the duplicate of the mission holder (or team) appear as Pets/Allies instead? It certainly isn't going to pull characters from the database that aren't in the mission (upon instance) but it would a nice change of pace. I'll add this: on some of the missions where a duplicate of your character appears, I've changed (mid-mission) my build and costume to take them down with the alternate build... which is why this feels a little bit like getting other characters from my own personal roster.

Where did all the accuracy on Seismic Smash come from?

I don't power-level my characters, although I will make use of double-XP for ATs with similar power-sets that I have played before... such 'near duplicates' have been slight tweaks on other characters, so I don't feel the need to take leveling particularly slow. On all my characters I try to get as close to completing the respective accolades before level 50. In certain cases, I'll take things slow to avoid out-leveling certain content. I'll use Ouroborous and join PUGs as necessary for certain tasks. I enjoy playing with PUGs, but watching my XP can become a chore! At level 50, I typically embrace PUGs. I prefer content below level 45... my character is almost always slotted the way I want and Incarnates aren't a thing. I have the set bonuses I want and I'll have the powers I want for all lower-level content. I will almost always slot the Alpha (eventually to +1) but on about half my characters with many dozens of veteran levels I don't bother with other Incarnates unless the mood strikes me. If I feel like doing Incarnate content I'll pick up the other two level shifts, but usually I am in no hurry.

You do know I'm an incarnate, right?

I can only speak for myself, but until around level 30, I don't have the SLOTS or set bonuses to franken-slot attacks (or controls) to get reliable uber-offense from anything other than non-%proc pieces. I will however, typically try to leverage at least one ATO set. Are some folks considering the 5 P2W 'universal damage' %procs that conk-out in the 20s to be part of the 'problem'?

I'm not ignorant of putting many %damage procs in powers for low-damage scale ATs, I do it myself on some builds. Those builds end up sacrificing something, and typically do not sustain the damage numbers of a DPS for lower endurance costs at the same accuracy.

I agree. There are compromises (for all AT) to be made when choosing to slot %procs: It could be sacrificing Global +Recharge or +Accuracy or Endurance (MaxEnd, Recovery, Discounts)... It's just my suspicion, but sacrificing those sorts of common (and useful!) set bonuses for more %damage dice rolls is often covered by Incarnate choices... and I don't think anyone should be considering balancing the ATs with Incarnates (or Accolades) in mind. I don't think it is worth getting upset because an inherently-low DPS AT has the capability to 5-slot a Very Rare set (with a %damage) and then add a sixth slot with another %damage.

Well written. I'm even more perplexed by posts along the lines of "I mostly play Dominators but I wish they were more like other ATs".

I can only support this in specific ways: There are a handful of sets (e.g. Fear, Taunt) that have neither PVP or Very Rare enhancement sets that could use some love. Some specific ATO pieces are lackluster, or only have the ability to be slotted in relative few powers (ehem, Masterminds) Specifically for Dominators, I don't think this request scales particularly well, because (generally): Dominators want Global +Recharge before all else, and (after LotG) many-piece set bonuses are key to perma-domination... so in general there aren't going to be many places to put %procs. Many %procs are extra control effects... which Dominators don't really need. Of course I am ignoring %damage procs, but again... because of the chasing of set bonuses do we really need more %damage? A pure Hold already has the option to slot seven different %procs!

I have reviewed the data in the OP: It conclusively proves that I need more Auction House slots to satisfy all of these eager customers.

The last few times I used Windfall, I was unimpressed with it. The scenario: level 50+ character (the test character had a +3 level shift, but drops are independent of level as long as there is XP) running Heather Townshend's Dark Astoria 1 arc (via Ouroboros) at +0/x8, defeat everything. The character did have 'patrol XP' to burn, but not a massive amount. The only 'reject' option chosen from P2W was on resurrection (my choice) and dual/team (default) inspirations. Recipe drops are how I evaluate runs on this arc. On average, the arc takes my DPS characters (with some AoE) 30 minutes to clear all 4 missions. Two runs back-to-back will almost always result in a Very Rare or PVP drop. I vendor the common recipes (~100K each), craft the uncommons, and I have an ad hoc approach to the rares (I do various things, trying to avoid taking up space in personal inventory). I saw no noticeable changes to recipe drops after using Windfall. I used Windfall on three different days. The volume of recipe drops was not noticeably different, nor was the ratio of drops. From the three tries, I only got 1 PVP (no Purple) recipes which is reasonable for 'standard' (non-Windfall) runs. I can't say anything specifically about Salvage drops. I often get around 5 rare salvage drops from such a run, but I don't pay that much attention. I didn't notice my salvage filling up any faster.

Ultimately "expense" is a very nebulous concept. Any player's first character should be the most 'expensive', but any level 50 can run content with regular IOs (which have an expense, but can be bought on the AH for relatively cheap prices) quickly for both merits and recipe/salvage drops (as well as raw Inf), and those can be used to either (a) build more wealth or (b) used directly on the character. Builds can look 'expensive' but only if you look at a level 50+ build with full suites of enhancements and imagine that you magically appear as a level 50 with nothing but a shopping list. If the level 50 happens to be capable of much DPS against many enemy targets, there is a LOT of content across all levels that can be 'turned up' to x8 for even more drops/inf. Merit rewards will stay the same. There are many guides to 'making bank', and there are many different paths to take. These days I start all of my new characters with 200 MInf (although practice shows I could start with much less) to buy P2W items and whatever enhancement pieces I want that haven't been squirreled away in the SG base. As the character levels, I use the market to make back the money spent, so from my PoV most every build 'costs' between 100M to 200M, but it's all made back (and then some) by level 50 with no sweat.

My character item tab is where I keep a lot of materials for account use. The most 'grabbed' items tend to be unslotters, converters, and merits; it's the newer/low-level characters that make the most use of them. I used to treat catalysts this way, but extras tend to accumulate in SG storage. I did recently burn through Brainstorms, just to make a dent in some of the rare recipes characters had been carrying around.

The Penny Yin TF occupies a real sweet spot, IMO: It's at the level range where ATs have begun to distinguish themselves (by use of their primary/secondary) It's at the level range where those who exemplar should still have most of their set bonuses from enhancements The missions themselves are "defeat most" (or "defeat necessary", as opposed to "defeat all") The maps are well-chosen. I especially like instanced 'outdoor zone' maps, the only map I dislike (by only a small measure) is the final room of mission 2 when Freaks scatter behind terrain. It scales for a nice challenge, even mid-mission (because you can always aggro MOAR enemies than you strictly need to defeat) Minimal cut scenes, travel between missions is straightforward.