tidge

As you start to look through the wiki, a couple of general points: "Set bonuses" and (most, all?) "Global bonuses" will shut off if you exemplar more than 3 levels below the level of the Enhancement piece... this is why many (most?) recommend using attuned enhancements (same cost on market, or use a catalyzer on a slotted piece). Don't use catalyzers on Purple/very rare pieces, and PVP pieces work better if boosted to 50+5 (PVPs that are below level 50 may as well be attuned IMO) as the enhancement set bonuses will work as if attuned. Winters and ATOs are always attuned; catalyzers make them "Superior" when slotted in level 50 characters. Classic "Global" pieces that all ATO can use: Luck of the Gambler Def/+Recharge (global): The power does not need to be available (or toggled, or clicked) to give the +7.5% Global recharge (down to level 22, IIRC) You can benefit (in terms of the +Recharge) up to five different powers. Panacea (%+HP/%+End), Miracle (+Recovery), Numina (+Regeneration/+Recovery): All need to be in an "active" (or a "click") power, Health counts. Preventive Medicine (+Absorb): Will "always" work even if the power is never clicked/active. Performance Shifter (+End): I've only ever used it in Stamina Power Transfer (%Heal): YMMV, I mostly only include this on "high" HP characters. (Tankers, Brutes, Masterminds) who will also have... Reactive Defenses (Scaling damage resistance) Shield Wall (+5% Resist) Gladiator's Armor (+3% Defense) Steadfast Protection (+3% Defense) some sort of Magnitude 4 Knockback protection (Universal Travel, or Steadfast Protection) I also try to include Kismet +6% Accuracy (it is really +To Hit, which makes it MUCH better) if: The build has an Auto power that can take it, or The build has a toggle power that can take it... at a low enough level, that will almost always be used (Stalker's Hide for example, or something like Shadow Fall) The Kismet Bonus is a HUGE help before you start slotting Accuracy, and any character with a Snipe will get a damage bonus from it during Fast Sniping. I'll let others explain %procs (especially in attacks), but I will say that generally %damage procs are more useful in low damage scale AT (attacks), see: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Damage_Scale

I'm not too ashamed to admit that I was noodling around with a new character that needed a single slot of Accuracy/Recharge and it was not immediately that it occurred to me to use a +5 boosted Purple instead of a level 53 piece.

I never knew that there were recipes in the auction house! (j/k, but I feel like it's been 2 years since I bought a recipe)

I'm not convinced it has to be the TF leader. I was able to spawn Babbage in Steel Canyon by exiting the mission to SG base, and then base TP to Steel Canyon. On that occasion, I waited for the rest of the team to exit the mission before trying to save use time by visiting Positron. It's possible my zone changes resolved before other players of course. On another occasion I teleported directly to Steel from the mission, on that one I think I was the TF leader.

I have no experience with /Storm. I suppose that it offers some chances for %+Recharge, but that isn't what I would do with it. Keep in mind that for the Pseudopet powers it may not be possible to expect much in the way of %procs (some are likely to happen on cast, some may 'tick' at reduced rates... as I wrote, I have no experience with this set) My (offensive) foci would be: Knockback -> Knockdown, as a "soft control" as mentioned by @Neiska; This should be very reliable. %-Resistance, mileage may vary depending on particular power If there is one excellent reason for a MM to consider spamming attacks, it is to get (PB)AoE -Resistance on enemies so that the henchmen do more damage. If multiple different %-Resistance procs are in play, there is the potential for more -Resistance. If the same %-Resistance proc is in play in multiple powers, there is the potential for longer application of -Resistance. My experience has been that because of the MM AT penalties for Endurance and Damage, it is generally better(*1) to focus on putting the %-Resistance pieces in AoE instead of single-target. I should also note that it is very rare that any of my MMs take attacks until very late in the build. I find that earlier power choices are much more necessary to make the henchmen as effective as possible, and that I need accolades and set bonuses to get Endurance (Max, Discounts) and Recovery to where I need to be to even consider spamming attacks. If I really want to be throwing personal attacks in low-level content, I'll just use P2W powers. I should also note: despite %damage (from procs) being a good option for MM attacks to increase total DPS potential from the MM, I almost always find myself using the attacks to slot for set bonuses plus %-Resistance. YMMV... there is a balance to be found. (*1) "Better" depends on what type of content and what difficulty settings a player will choose.

This is one of the reasons why I think it is important do distinguish between Globals and %procs. In rough order of importance when trying to be precise about CoX game terminology: Global enhancement bonuses vs. %procs Henchmen vs. Pets Spawns vs, Mobs Tanking vs. Not Dying ... the last two are practically trivial hobgoblins that aren't specific to CoX, so there may be a few others that fit in above them in this very personal hierarchy.

Was the system tweaked maybe after issue 6? I feel like there was a subtle respec effect which made it possible to make the Kheldian Dwarf forms more effective in Bloody Bay than they should have otherwise been because of slot availability ... of course the current system (even without Enhancement set bonuses) would still do the same. I have a vague memory that you didn't apply slots until after power choices, but that maybe the slots themselves became inactive if you exemplared below the "level" of when you placed the slot... so you could slot your first extra (i.e. the second) slot in a power you got at level 20, but if you exemplared below level 21, you would still have those early slots but none of the slots you placed that you would have "earned" above level 21 were in effect. I don't remember a respec that worked like what we now think of as making a second build (the initial time), but that doesn't mean that there wasn't an era when that was the case. "Hot Mess" is an apt description. The Bloody Bay/Kheldian effect I recall was this: slotting the first/earliest slots in the Dwarf for powers meant that it was possible to make an oddly powerful Dwarf for that lower-level PVP zone. These days the slots are always there, it is the powers that become unavailable.

I mean... I could run them without Hasten, My build could fit Hasten. It's entirely possible to even have most of those attacks, and Hasten for a lot of the content. Among other reasons why I don't spam the same three attack is that I find it boring. I think I may have even had Hasten in the build while leveling because the attacks are painfully slow. I feel like I mentioned low level content as well? Anyway...I feel like the point about a simpler attack chain for the OP could have been made without throwing salt at my reply. To each his own.

That's not the only reason. I can offer my reasons but feel free to keep reading my mind.

I don't disagree... but I have a (slightly) different perspective. For so much of the game's content (which are not GMs or AVs or Pylons) my math is "do I need to fire off at least one more attack or not?" and not "how much more damage can I hypothetically get out of an attack?" (*1) I suppose that the damage scale 1.0/1.0 characters may be considered "support", but I've found that PUGs in certain content tend to have better clear times when I have a Fortunata using Weaken Resolve (against the hard targets) as part of the attack chain. As @Sovera indicates, where there is a hard target that will take many attacks to defeat, -Res (as well as -Regeneration and -MaxHP) will typically be more of a benefit to a team than any single attacker doing (maybe) up to 70 more points of damage per attack. (*1) This "one more attack or not?" consideration is one of the aspects of combo-attack systems that irks me in a peculiar way. I can understand the appeal(s), but at some level the combos for high-DPS ATs always felt like giving more (damage, control, and complication) to ATs that already have decent mission clear times while ignoring already complicated ATs (Masterminds, Controllers, etc.) that have poor mission clear times.

From the PoV of a Fortunata, it does two things for that character: 1) It is an offensive stats boost (damages scales are 1.0/1.0 for melee/range) 2) Fortunata rely on Defense values (typically positional) backed up with a scaling damage resistance ( and %Absorb proc) based on Health... so Unrelenting can be used to boost Regeneration when the damage is starting to stick. Depending on enemy types and spawn sizes depends how liberal I am with (1) as opposed to potentially holding it in reserve for (2). Even without Hasten, it can be available rather frequently. There are some other conditional uses of Unrelenting, but those are generally my reasons for using it.

I posted this on the Corrupter sub, I should have checked the Scrapper forum first! Enhancements made a HUGE difference in enjoyment for this build. You should be able to pick of crafted Enhancements (common) for very cheap on the Auction house, but set bonuses make all the difference. I have a War Mace / Invulnerability scrapper, so allow me to offer my perspective on that type of build: 1) War Mace is very slow. I don't seek the perfect attack chain, but more than any other non-Dominator AT I played, I found that I needed as much global +Recharge to get a cadence in attacks. I should note that for this character I didn't take Hasten, all recharge in attacks is coming from set bonuses or slotted enhancements. IIRC, I may have a Force Feedback %+Recharge proc in Crowd Control, or I may have replaced it with something else. Keep in mind that a Scrapper really ought to be focusing on enhancing raw damage (output) and not try to leverage %damage procs, so slotting attacks for recharge is typically a net win for Scrappers (and Blasters). 2) Invulnerability is a very forgiving set, in that you don't need many slots in most of the powers and you don't need to run with all resist toggles on for much of the content. As a Scrapper, you won't have Tank/Brute levels of resistance anyway. On this character I don't sweat positional defenses. On this character, I 6-slotted every attack (Pulverize, Jawbreaker, Clobber, Whirling Mace, Shatter, Crowd Control, Moonbeam, Cross Punch) except Kick, to get set bonuses, and to have a reasonable attack chain at even lower level content. (I put %procs in Whirling Mace, just because). Build Up, Dull Pain and Invincibility are also 6-slotted. I have some extra slots in Stamina and Health... after than, you can imagine that I have a lot of 1- or 2-slot "mules". I should disclose... this character is definitely NOT my favorite, yet it contributes fine on teams.... but keep in mind that a Scrapper contributes MUCH differently to teams than a Defender does... especially if you are used to Empathy. I specifically avoided Confront on this build and I purposely only took Maneuvers at level 49 (it's a mule for LotG) because I wanted my PUG contribution to be SMASH SMASH.

We call 'em "Pool Boys".

I dislike any and all enemies that are prone to run, especially Warwolves. Igneous Minions are almost as bad, and there is a special place with Mot for the Circle of Thorn Specters who turn invisible and fly away. Far worse than Fake Nemeses.

Also not true, unless there is some peculiar definition of the Nash Equilibrium is being used.

Here is a thought that's been on my mind for years: I simply can't wrap my head around the geography of Talos Island -> (Dark) Astoria -> Founders Falls. Setting aside the canon that the island may not have even existed until after the 1960s, and that the highway signs read "Dark Astoria", it's the water tables that have me completely confused.

I was on Liberty, and I definitely remember that the server had more than enough jerks in PVP to last a lifetime. I remember one PVP zone event I thought was fun: it was multiple teams of heroes trying to take out as many Arachnos main base defenses as possible while the villains tried to beat them back. That felt like a cooperative event. I also remember my Inv/EM tank being jumped in a higher level zone while simply exploring and having to hold off 8 enemies. That group wasn't particularly well-built, but they had a plan that included merciless and obnoxious trash talk. The Tank was never going to win, but it demonstrated what slotting for Stun was actually good for, and since I had been used to using Teleport from the original days of Unyielding Stance I think they were particularly annoyed that I didn't have to stay in one place. I had respeced by then, but I had gotten use to the power so kept it. I'm not ashamed to admit that it was easier to eventually leave the zone than to give the basest members of the server any satisfaction.

Fun fact: Converters can also result in Boosted %procs from purple sets! There is also no benefit to this.

For you: the day the Tanker disgraced your TF was the most important day of your life. For me: it was (Tanker) Tuesday.

My favorite Fortunata has 4 powers from the Presence pool (Provoke, both Fears, Unstoppable). Provoke and Intimidate are single-slotted, but Invoke Panic has 5-slots (Glimpse of the Abyss), and Unrelenting 6 (Preventive Medicine)... If I could slot an additional %damage in Invoke Panic I would probably do so. I also have the %Terrorize ATO in Psychic Scream, so with all these powers taken by level 18, she tosses them as controls in quite a lot of low-level content. At higher levels, I'm convinced that Invoke Panic is helping solo a lot of x8 content by slowing down opponents' offense, I don't tend to use them very often in PUGs or more extreme group play, but I did find myself using the fears (and Fortunata confuses) to help slow down certain spawns when my teammates got in over their heads. As others wrote: Unrelenting is the gem of the set. I think it is tailor made for Fortunata, but I can see it working for other ATs as well. I'll use it even if she isn't taking damage, just for the 30 seconds of BUFF. I'd feel a lot better about Intimidate if there were a Purple or PVP set for Fear. Finally, a use for my Endoplasm Hami-Os! Provoke is a nice idea, but the ToHit requirement and the small target cap get in the way of it being that useful, even when a teammate is in over their head. This just gets slotted for Accuracy, because I can't think of anything I'd rather do with it except hit.

Of the original zones, Brickstown holds a special place in my memory. I did a lot of "street-sweeping" for XP, and I have fond memories of making my way around that zone picking fights with enemies above my level. Of the original Hero Zones, it's the one that has multiple elevations that make sense. Redside, I have a healthy appreciation for Sharkhead Isle, but Cap Au Diable has an amazing amount of diversity in terms of what is going on, and in the architecture.

I haven't been playing much, and I don't think I've teamed since maybe March, so it wasn't me, but.... Tanking with Freakshow means different things to different players. Only the Super Stunners are a 'guaranteed' rez, so standing around for the Freak Tanks is certainly killing the mojo for Brutes. A while back I was on a "kill all" Penny Yin TF, and my tank was scolded for opening the side doors on the way to the reactor. Of course, my non-tanks get scolded for the same thing... Now this might be a bigger deal for builds that don't have something like a "full kit", but it is extremely rare (most TFs) that any of my characters are concentrating on the mobs around the tank... usually other players are nuking them with AoE, so I'm trying to drag other spawns to the tank.

I offer no deep insights. In my experience Blasters and Scrappers are the AT I play that end up with "too many attacks". My sense is that this personal situation arises for a few reasons: I like playing low-level content, and it just isn't as much fun in a Frostfire (for example) mission with P2W attacks on a DPS AT Certain ATs tend to collect certain enhancement set bonuses (Purples, ATO, Winters) almost exclusively from attacks.... and... generally, it isn't possible to get more than two %proc and benefit from some of the most useful set bonuses (such as a 5-piece global +Recharge from a Purple) The last two bullet points are a balancing act for many of my builds: I generally don't want %damage procs in my DPS characters (especially if attacks are fast-cycling) as the %proc rates will be low and the extra damage is usually not worth it (especially for single target attacks) when considering the math of "if the %damage occurs, do I still need to hit that Lt/Boss a second time anyway?"... but I am often satisfied to put something like a %-Resistance proc in an attack, because when that fires, it will generally help both me and teammates. As far as which powers get the set bonuses (I don't think of attacks as being candidates as "mules") and which do not, usually it goes like this for me: The characters with a LOT of attacks (DPS AT), the earliest attacks get set bonuses (usually ATO) because the rapid cycling (from the Recharge pieces) usually doesn't hurt performance For characters with AoE, non-DPS AT will get %damage pieces because those help even out 'clear times'. For DPS characters (scale 1.00+) I prefer to leverage 5-piece sets because faster recharge is better than %damage. For non-DPS characters who have epic pools... often I use the epic attacks to hold set bonuses because an AT like a Controller may not have a convenient place to get a set bonus from an attack. Such characters can get (similar) set bonuses from other types of powers, so this is a case of "mileage varies" Stalkers & Scrappers are a special case, because the Epic pools open up Snipes for them, and those become good spots for a few different enhancement bonuses. I almost always invest multiple slots in a Snipe for a scrapper/stalker. There is a sort of similar math for Tankers (which generally cannot slot ranged attack sets until the epic pools, modulo a few newer pools).

Usually I don't have an issue with global +Accuracy (so I get you), but I want to write this: I think in every case I ever considered either of these (4-)slotting choices, the diminishing returns of Enhancement Diversification always had me moving that 4th slot to somewhere else in the build... and it was my reconsideration of such a fourth slot (in Defense powers) that had me reconsidering the enhancement choices that @Yomo Kimyata mentioned above. I will spend like a drunken sailor on enhancements, but I'm a pre-Christmas morning Scrooge when it comes to slots! No one should really take slotting advice from me of course, because I play all sorts of content at all levels and all difficulties... and so I'm never satisfied with any given build (or three). If there are dangers to having too much Inf, for me it manifests itself in never being able to remember which character build I logged in with.