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A couple years later, and I will add that my MM prefers that the FFG is a summonable (limited life) object as opposed to a toggle. I wouldn't want him to have to spend the Endurance tax to maintain it, and aside from some occasionally issues with paths/corners it will pretty much stay with me. Keeping it as a summon makes it feel much more like the rest of the (Mastermind) secondary.

I'm just dropping by to resummon the following message: There is a difference between PETS and HENCHMEN. Casually using the terms interchangeably IMO can lead to different expectations about how certain things work in the game.

My Thugs MM was rolled after the changes to henchmen AI; I'm not ignorant how to command henchmen. It's clear that your opinion is that Thugs are a cut above all others, and in many ways they are... but I believe in terms of AoE, against large spawns (e.g. x8), that it is Robots that come out on top. I completely agree that the Traps secondary is a large part of it. Traps has both the FFG and a Triage Beacon to provide direct help to the henchmen, beyond the Protector Bot's shield boost to allies. I don't typically experience "cascading failure" when it comes to Robots, except: against very specific enemy types (e.g. Rularuu) that have both nasty tricks stacked on their attacks AND don't cluster like other enemies If I am making a "mad dash" through +4 enemies as part of a TF (because I'm not laying down the AoE controls), and the henchmen don't keep up (losing both the benefits of protective auras and FFG). Against almost all single target tests, Robots are really bad(1). My Robots can typically handle as many different spawns as I can drag into their kill zone. It isn't a lot of fun, but my Robots are able to take down multiple GMs (one at a time, and sloooowly) which is not something I would bother trying to do with my Thugs. (1) Re: Single target misery (in Robots) No one should underestimate the importance of the T1 and T2 Robotic henchmen for dealing with single-targets. It is a common statement made along the lines of "80% of your DPS comes from the Assault Bot, look at TEH NUMBAS". I used the second build on my Robots/Traps to try the "one big robot" challenge, just to see what content would be like... and I swear that it took me between two (at x1) and three (at x4) times as long to get through typical game content (level-independent arcs, Ouroboros, tips). The force-multiplier effects from the T1 and T2 should not be underestimated.

I think the answer was /Traps.

Bots don't have Gang War to mule Aura sets, so if the measure is going to be 'slot the henchmen for procs', well... yes Robots will suffer. However... Bots don't run all over creation, they stay in place to finish off enemies. I've had ZERO problems keeping my robotic henchmen alive.. I can barely keep my different tiers of Thugs to stay in one place.

I've played Robots/Traps/Mace and Thugs/Thermal/Heat to level 50+, and the Robots are much better at AoE. The Robots can be made even better by making some choices to KEEP enemies in place. I regularly use: (Traps) Caltrops (AoE, slotted with %-Res from Annihilation) (Traps) Acid Mortar (AoE, slotted with -Res from Annihilation and Achilles' Heel on top of being slotted for the inherent debuffs) (Traps) Poison Trap (AoE, slotted for Hold Duration, some %damage) The Robots all have Sudden Acceleration KB -> KD. This is quite important. (Robots) Photon Grenade (AoE, slotted with %-Res from Annihilation and Overwhelming Force KB->KD) (Mace) Mace Beam Volley (AoE, slotted with with %-Res from Annihilation and Sudden Acceleration KB->KD) I want to note the following: The primary attacks (and Epics, naturally) are taken LATE in the build; they wouldn't help nearly as much before the final Upgrade at level 32. The build also includes single-target powers Web Grenade (mandatory T1 secondary, no extra slots) and Pulse Rifle Blast (with Sudden Acceleration KB -> KD). If they proc, the %-Res from Annihilation don't stack, but they will extend the duration of the debuff. I played around with Mace's Web Envelope (an AoE Immobilize, which looks like something I would want), but opted for Pulse Rifle Blast instead because: The extra immobilize wasn't doing much on top of all the other 'tricks' to keep enemies in place I found that the Single-Target ranged attack was more efficient at drawing enemy spawns into my Robot's "kill zone". I liked the slotting options for Pulse Rifle Blast (Ranged, Knockback) more than Web Envelope (Immobilize) I could drop my travel power (Fly) to take Provoke from the Presence pool, which would make the character a slightly more effective 'tank' at lower levels (leveraging Bodyguard mode), but that would cost me 4 points of KB reduction (Blessing of the Zephyr) and my Rocket Boots costume piece! I also wouldn't have the slots to give Provoke the respect it needs... and even with slotting it wouldn't do a job that needs to be done (either in solo or group play). I won't provide a similar analysis for my Thugs/Thermal/Heat build, but between the nature of the attacks by the Thugs henchmen, even if I made different choices for secondary and epic I don't think I could match what the Robots do (for AoE).

I (only) have Spirit Ward on a Controller, but it is pretty much exclusively as (a) a mule for Preventive Medicine's %Absorb and (b) a casual power to back up that character's otherwise half-hearted ability to protect allies via heals/absorb and (c) a stepping stone to Rune of Protection. This is a pretty selfish/self-oriented build. I didn't have the power choices or slots to do 'better' than muling an important enhancement, and I didn't need (and couldn't leverage) Arcane Bolt for offense. I have trouble imagining how to fit the power in on a VEAT.

The following comment is not precisely about Energy Melee (newly revised, or what came immediately before)... The Stun component of Energy Melee is (in my experience) one of the best places to experience 'disorient' as a type of control against enemy mobs, as you literally apply the disorient as you are actively working to get their health to zero (and reap rewards). I've played many sets that include stuns, quite a few that have them as secondary effects, but Energy Melee was always the best experience for me. I make this comment because I think that it is important not to minimize/trivialize the opinions of folks that lean into Stun as a part of Energy Melee.

No complaints about the rest of the OP, and I just want to chime in on: I suspect fatigue plays a big part, but it could also be timing. Aside from Vanguard Merits (and whatever XP/Inf that comes along) the reward is pretty much badges (and an eventual accolade)... and you can only get those once per character. I was starting Leagues (Blue Side) to help other players get badges simply because no one else wanted to do so. I also felt that since I was logged into a 50+ Stalker: being able to one-shot freshly dropped bombs has got to help other players looking for that badge. We never got full Leagues, but this week also has some high-level Weekly TFs that were running and I think some Incarnate trials were running simultaneously while I was logged in. The structure of the event really benefits large teams/leagues, especially if your character is low DPS (during the Bomb phase). The only tweak I feel would improve the event: I'd like to see the Rikti Master at Arms spawn similar as to how Nemesis spawns during his invasions. Maybe he does and I have always missed him?

The revamp didn't go the path I would have chosen. I think it is objectively a better version than the immediate predecessor. I happen to have fun with the new Energy Melee (on my Tank, no PVP), but there was a long stretch of playtime (on Live, with my launch-day character) after the AI behavior of stunned enemies was "fixed" that I leaned in HARD to the Stun mechanic. The current version has brought a lot of that feeling back, without me having to make as explicit choices in power selections or slotting. There are some enemies that just look so CUTE stumbling around in a daze.

Yeah I get it, especially the "your taking 50% less damage by going from 90% resistance to 95% resistance" (for example)... but sometimes the amount of survavibility is already 'enough' such that a build can get better returns by investing the slot in something else. That is past my point of diminishing returns.

Thanks for the cross-link @Troo I should note that for me: I almost never chase +Regeneration, either because (mostly because it hits the point of diminishing returns too soon for my taste, a little because of my opinion that needing +Regeneration is a function of play style choices that come from 'spending' Health) so a semi-regular +HP bonus is always preferred. YMMV.

The only build of mine (please consider that I don't have a full spectrum of ATs) for which I considered having multiples was with my Invulnerable Tank. I figured that for certain content, damage would be getting through and that the Max HP and the resistances might provide enough extra buffer during those periods where Dull Pain wasn't in play (because it hadn't recharged after previously clicking it, or BUTTON MASH MODE ENGAGED) or an Incarnate heal wasn't available. I ended up NOT moving a slot to where I could leverage a second instance, but I can understand similar math for high HP characters could motivate doubling up on the piece. I have the piece (singular) on some far squishier characters, and I am not adding more. As it is: it is just a random bit of healing that helps when I've taken some lumps and reconsidered my immediate play style (or skipping towards the next spawn). For me it's the final layer behind Panacea +HP/+End, Preventive Medicine %Absorb, and Scaling Damage Resistance. My (somewhat limited) roster of characters can typically find a better use for the slot. I like reading others' opinions however!

These displays should give folks an idea of why some mid-to-low-end video cards of the Live era gave folks problems. I don't know how the zones were constructed and/or what tools are available for the editing of the maps... but drawing all the content that folks should never see is a waste of resources. In earlier eras it was possible to go through maps with a "cutting tool" to remove bulk. I can somewhat understand wanting to keep some of the resources as is for cutting/pasting reasons, but several zone (e.g. Port Oakes) were particularly bad about having many complicated structures extending pretty far below ground (that was itself somewhat complicated. These days? It's almost certainly not worth addressing.

In my day job (the one I don't get Patrol XP for) I find myself on both sides of issues like this: explaining why we just can't write requirements around specific implementations and motivating testers to demonstrate that any invocation of the "80-20" rule had better be thorough enough to show me that such an issue (caused by a specific immutable implementation) happens less than 20% of the time. I think it was Genghis Khan that said "There will always be one software engineer willing to walk alone into the blizzard just to scream at the Dzud."

That's not the Carnival of Shadows after a shift change... That's the Paragon Police Department after a shift change.

I don't mind the defeat all in the Synapse TFs as much as I dislike the 'run around Steel Canyon and click on things', and then pop into Boomtown, and "btw lets send you to another zone" after that. For revamping Synapse: I would strongly prefer the first few missions (the defeat alls, the talk, the hunts, the clicks) to be replaced with an instanced map of Steel Canyon similar to how the Penny Yin TF has an instanced version of Independence Port. Fight groups of Clockwork, talk to somebody, click on things... but all on the same map. If 'Bertha' is so important to the story arc, send us to an instanced map to fight with her. The Clockwork Court is a neat idea... but the execution of it feels off to me. Partially because of the 'go back to Positron while Babbage spawns'. I would revamp the penultimate mission to be in a single map where the TF has to defeat different members of the clockwork court to assemble/unlock the one-shot temp power (that was stolen from Positron). Again, taking a page from Penny Yin's TF where three of the missions require explicit defeats of spawns to progress.

For what you ask: Nothing is better for Tankers than taking your Taunt ASAP (level 12) and putting a Taunt duration enhancement in it. You can collect aggro by doing more, but the aggro cap limits mean that you won't ever be able to protect everyone if the spawn size exceeds the cap. After taking the Taunt, you should focus on your own survivibility, which means different things for different primaries. In my experience the early slotting for survivibility means Endurance reduction for toggles, and 'just enough' Defense or Resistance to buff what your primary gave you. With INF you can invest in some of the Globals to boost those things. Some Tankers will rely on their attacks to survive, so don't short change those.

One more thing I want to say about why I eschew multiple (i.e. more than 2) %damage procs in single-target powers: If a single-target attack is not reliably defeating minions and LTs at 100% Health, there is no effective difference in my mind between maximum damage values from MIDs if I have to swing twice to defeat them no matter the slotting (1). Slotting an enhancement set that scales with the power is almost always the more effective choice, for a wider variety of game content. There are times when I don't follow this: low DPS ATs get more DPS by adding %damage procs to powers (at least for now) There are some powers (Holds are the typical example) that can take a LOT of %damage procs, but also do good 'raw' damage worth enhancing. The Fortunata Dominate falls into this class, as it has some good choices (as you point out) for alternate slotting that scales across almost all content. I consider the specific slotting in Dominate to be a sort of 'dealer's choice' depending on what else a player wants to do with the build . and what attacks will be available across level ranges. (1) It is possible to debate the effects of random %damage on 'harder' targets (AVs, GMs), but I suspect it is more valuable to try overcome the purple triangles with stacking -Res debuffs or tricks like -Regen, -Max HP than prayers to RNGesus of %damage.

For what it is worth, I only have two slots in my Fortunata's Aura of Confusion, so I don't feel like I'm 'wasting' slots in it. As I ALWAYS start with when I have this argument.. it is IMO getting ANY damage in on enemies to get onto the %drop table that is the primary benefit of using the %damage procs in the PBAoE. Enemies that totally defeat each other without you scoring damage on them means you aren't on the drop tables. You may not notice this, but if I have run a lot of x8 content at level 50, this is the difference between getting 1 Very Rare drop per hour and going longer. As far as Global +Recharge, I don't think I have very much, and I don't really miss it. My build is getting the +10% Global Recharge bonuses from: 5xSuperior Dominion of Arachnos 5xArmaggedon 5xCoercive Persuasion (in the single-target Confuse) I used to have Ragnarok in the build, but I found that I didn't need it (and could add %damage to a cone instead) because the build also had: 5x LotG pieces (CT:Defenses, TT:Maneuvers, Foresight, Mind Link, Combat Jumping) +8.75% Global Recharge (Preventive Medicine, Reactive Defenses) +6% Global Recharge (Positron's Blast, Glimpse of The Abyss) I should note that my Favored Fortunata Build doesn't include Hasten. I have room for it, but I checked the math and even experimented with it and I was barely getting an improvement in Mind Link uptime, and the 'key' longer recharge AoE powers were only getting a tiny improvement in recharge times. I ended up replacing it with Weaken Resolve, which I have kept even though it was nerfed a bit. I also had alternate slotting in Dominate for +Recharge bonus, but I found I simply didn't need it. In my build, the only two powers that I found were really benefiting from more recharge was Unrelenting (because of the LONG base recharge time) and Aim (because of my lack of slots for it) If you REALLY want to have MOAR damage on a %proc build, I have another recommendation that will go against your slotting philosophy: Unless you are always playing on large teams, I would move the full Gaussian's Synchronized Fire Control set out of Tactical Training: Leadership and into Aim. You will get lots of procs from the %Build Up if you are working with teammates (and/or pets), but in smaller groups you can get an on-demand use of the %Build Up (90% anyway) by putting it in Aim. On my Fortunata, I didn't have the slots so my Aim is slotted with the %Build Up proc and a Recharge IO 50+5.

Slotting Aura of Confusion with %damage procs doesn't stop the characters who take %damage from being confused. This is not a zero-sum choice where something is sacrificed, it is adding to an already good one (the PBAoE confuse effect). As far as what else you could be slotting instead of the %damage procs in the PBAoE: You will almost certainly be at a "final to hit" of 95% anyway, so it isn't as if more accuracy is really going to make a difference... all the misses are coming from the RNG > 95%. Longer confuse times (either from direct enhancement) mean very little for an AoE Fortunata, the targets will either be defeated or ready to be controlled in some other way... it's just not worth trying to "perma" confuse a target with the PBAoE. The potential extra range of the PBAoE Confuse by relying on the %Contagious proc is minimal, and the duration (of a single confuse from the %contagious, or the increased magnitude for a double-hit target) is similarly short. For even-level minions, it is sometimes only long enough for them to get through a single cycle of attacks. Hitting the (now confused) enemies with %damage, immediately "wakes them up" to start attacking each other. You don't have to 'wait' for the AI perception check. If you want to benefit from the subtle and sly use of confused status, you want to also take the single target power (Confuse) and slot it with the Coercive Persuasion set. I can understand if you have the opinion that the ST Confuse is a waste of a power, but it is a force multiplier for the PBAoE confuse. I have a parallel sort of feeling about Dominate and Mass Domination. I played around with using both in my Fortunata builds, but I found: Enemies held by Mass Domination would be defeated before the status ended, or They wouldn't be, at which point I'd have to deal with all of their alphas In either case, it was just me fighting with a a bunch of statues that weren't clustering... plus the recharge times on the power were too long to use in every fight. Stacking the ST hold from Dominate was too much effort when facing large spawns. So... I dropped Mass Domination and slotted Dominate (taken at level 12) with a Damage IO, 2 PVP %damage pieces, 2 very rare %damage pieces, and a level 10 %damage piece (so that the %proc damage is available at low level SFs, keep in mind that my build explicitly eschews the claw attacks). One of the builds above has Dominate taken at level 26 and loaded with %procs... IMO level 26 is too long to wait to take a power available at level 12 and try to turn it into a %proc attack... the ST attacks should be the ones to carry the set bonuses, YMMV. If you aren't going to take the ST Confuse and you want the 5-piece Coercive Persuasion bonuses, I won't try to convince you to avoid trying to get those set bonuses... I just think that this is probably a case where trying to overload other attacks with %procs has backed a build into a corner where the build is making (IMO, YMMV) a bad choice but trying to get a set bonus from a power that doesn't otherwise do damage because the powers that could get set bonuses and be slotted for damage are being filled with %damage procs.

I suggest trying @DoctorDitko 's advice, because the extra bloat/overhead is probably not doing you any favors. Disabling the GeForce Experience completely (but keeping the drivers) would have almost certainly fixed the issue I introduced by myself. From memory, I had to log into the NVidia (or was it GeForce) account and find a setting in there that I had (previously, intentionally) flipped. I think it was my account 'remembering' the setting, so rolling back the software itself didn't put things back. From my recollection, it was hiding behind a 'cog wheel'. I feel like it may have been the 'overlay' that was on, as well as one other setting. I have an older rig, and I play older games without using co-op modes, screen captures or streaming... so I feel like I should have known better than to mess with software designed for a different class of user.

Oh, I misunderstood the Reactive Defenses to be the Recticle! My Bad! I also believe that the LotG Global +Recharge doesn't scale, but some folks on general said it would. I keep mine attuned,.

Aura of Confusion is IMO a better proc-based (there are two %damage options) attack than it is for slotting Coercive Persuasion, IMO. Other folks will argue about trying to leverage the %Contagious confusion for "Bosses", but I strongly disagree with slotting the Coercive Persuasion set in the AOE (unless you don't take the single-target Confuse) because: You get experience and (more importantly, IMO) rolls on the drop tables if you do ANY damage to a critter before it is defeated. The %damage procs in the AoE do this for you. You don't REALLY want the bosses KOing the minions/LTs. You can take care of bosses without them being confused. The area and duration of %Contagious Confusion aren't that great when layered on top of the AoE Aura of Confusion. If you have Coercive Persuasion in Confuse, you can use that to toss at bosses if you wish (after the AoE) to get a much longer period of stacked confusion... plus the potential for the %Contagious Confusion. Personally, I'd 3-slot Aura of Confusion (minimally) with two pieces of Malaise (A//Recharge, %Psi) to get the Recovery bonus and add the %Energy from Cacophany. You really won't need the confusion to last very long (with all your AoE), so if you put extra slots into it I would just balance Accuracy and/or Recharge, probably using IOs. Total Domination was something I played with but I found I didn't need in my attack/control chain. In my case, I was defeating enemies fast enough without it, and it wasn't up often enough to really make use of it (either as a control or as %damage dealer). Can you explain your choice of slotting for Mind Link? The Recticle enhancements are a level 10-20 set, so you won't be getting as much recharge as you would from: Level 24: Mind Link Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50 Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge: Level 50 Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50 Where you boost the Shield Wall Def/Recharge to 50+5. (I dropped the global Shield Wall piece here because more recharge is past the point of diminishing returns, especially with Hasten), and I think you can boost the other pieces (Adjusted Targeting, Luck of the Gambler) to 50+5 to eek out more Defense and Recharge that will scale with exemplar since you won't be worried about set bonuses. (The PVP Shield Wall set should provide set bonuses all the way down)