tidge

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.

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that +Damage (global) bonuses from enhancement sets only apply to the base damage of all damaging powers, and not the enhanced damage of (all) powers. I'm reasonably certain that and +Damage bonuses don't apply to %damage from procs. If so, it wouldn't matter if you slot your powers for damage or not. My apologies if you are specifically referring to the single piece of Ascendancy of the Dominator that provides Recharge/%+Damage. IIRC the Superior version has something like a 6 PPM chance. Even with the uber recharge you are getting from the entire set (97%) if you drop it into a 90 second mez AoE you should get a semi-reliable chance for it to fire. I have the set 6-slotted in my T6 (lvl 12) AoE Mez, and that suits me pretty well when exemplared down.

A hard /agree with the above. The design of Dominators allows a wonderful balancing act of Attack -> -Endurance and Domination -> +Endurance, plus the Mez protection and boost to holds. 'Perma' Domination involves a very different sort of build and play style that rewards player investment (in both build choices and play style) in VERY noticeable ways. There is absolutely no reason to change Dominators and Domination. Do they need a buff? I don't think so. There are probably a few powers in individual sets that could stand to be looked at, but I don't think that is exclusive to Dominators. EDIT: I always forget this, but there is ONE area where I think Dominators (and Controllers) could use a 'visual effect buff'. I'd like it if it was possible to have a few different choices (customizable at the tailor) for the ATO-summonned 'Fiery Orb' and 'Energy Font'. The net effects can be the same for all I care, but having visuals that match other power sets would be peachy-keen.

I have two characters that lean 'heavy' into the mental aspect, and then a third that uses a mental primary, but I don't think of as 'psychic'. The first is a ranged Fortunata, with none of the melee or dart attacks. She has the Presence pool as well for an extra PBAoE (and Unrelenting). She also has Weaken Resolve, which has a very 'use my mind powers on you!' animation. The second is a Fire/Psi/Psi Dominator. The Fire primary dominates (hrm hrm) the visuals, but I like having most of the secondary's Psi attacks by level 20 and using the first three powers in the Psi Mastery Epic (Link Minds, Indomitable Will, Mind over Body) to beef up survivability. This is one of the most complementary pairings of identically-themed secondary/epic that I've played. The Fortunata and Dominator ultimately have similar performance, but they approach mission clearing from different directions. The Fortunata's positional defenses and offense has her leveraging controls (with %damage procs) to disrupt an enemy spawn she's engaged with, while the Dominator locks down spawns first, and then punishes with attacks. The third 'mentalist' is a Mind/Poison Controller. The concept of the character is that he's basically such a complete klutz that he was always messing up missions (as a villain) and so was forced to go on his own. I picked the Mind/Poison combo to reflect the sorts of ways he would screw up jobs, so I don't really think of that character as a mentalist. Many of the powers on this character are tricked out with %damage procs mostly because of the low inherent damage scale for Controllers, but a little bit because my head-canon for the character isn't specifically about 'control'.

So if characters being abandoned with all of their wealth is your preferred method of 'sinking wealth', does that mean that you favor 100% inheritance taxes?

My attitude is biased/informed by this: I very rarely use Immobilizes, except on Controllers and Dominators. I don't have any on my VEAT builds, unless they are from secondary effects. I can understand how the Soul Tentacles can work for other players but they aren't for me. I also recognize the vale some of multi-piece set bonuses can bring to slotting Targeted AoE powers, so I'd never advocate a particular power/slotting choice over another. I have found that the cones (Psychic Scream, Static Discharge) and PBAoE on my ranged Fortunata are already 'tricky' to use effectively unless both I and the enemies are mobile. I certainly do end up with runners, but I feel like at least half the time that's because of some inherent resistance to immobilize and half the time it is because of RNG misses... so longer (cone) range helps me target those, at least on certain maps/rooms. For what it is worth, my ranged Fortunata uses three attacks from the Mu Patron pool (Mu Lightning @6, Ball Lightning @6, Static Discharge @5) and each of them has only set bonuses (respectively: Thunderstrike @6, Annihilation @6, Positron @5). I only mention this to demonstrate that I'm not a complete 'franken-monster'. I want those Endurance, Accuracy and Defense bonuses! IIRC, my ranged Fortunata also franken-slotted Dominate, but I'm not as big an advocate of this as other players. Dominate is a fast, single-target attack so with no recharge slotting at all: I think it the typical %proc chance is around 60%. This probably explains my slotting: (common) Damage IO %toxic (Gladiator's Javelin) %psionic (Neuronic Shutdown) %lethal (Gladiator's Net) %negative (Apocalypse) %smashing (Unbreakable Constraint) My global Accuracy bonuses are pretty high, so I don't sweat adding accuracy to the attacks. I'm pretty sure I picked the %damage procs to make sure they work across all level ranges; this is something my picks for Psychic Scream won't do... but choices. I personally don't think that the bonuses from Devastation are all that great (IIRC the damage buffs are only on base damage, not on enhanced or %proc damage) and the level range doesn't really align with the power's level. You can always get some more recharge (from Basilisk's Gaze) in a low-level Hold power. I have one last piece of advice if you are looking to pick up a single slot. This involves ditching 5-piece bonuses from Red Fortune in Mind Link. My slotting of Mind Link (on my ranged Fortunata) is: Adjusted Targeting (attuned): Recharge Luck of the Gambler (attuned): Defense / Global Recharge Shield Wall (50+5): Defense / Recharge Shield Wall: Global Resistance The first three pieces are, I believe, the most efficient way (fewest slots) to get the most Recharge and most Defense slotted in Mind Link... assuming that you don't have 5 LotG elsewhere in the build. I went with 2xShield Wall here because I wanted to slot the Global Resistance somwhere and I thought I might as well leverage the ability to boost one piece and get a set bonus... but replacing the Shield Wall with an attuned LotG Def/Recharge also works. PVP piece may look expensive, but if you play x8 content you ought to be getting PVP recipe drops and you can play converter roulette to get the ones you want (or ones you can sell on the AH to buy the ones you want).

Accurate Healing behave the same way. I have never tried this with level 30 pieces (or those types) specifically (the only level where both sets supposedly exist) but I know that attuned pieces from those two types also don't allow conversions to sets of the different level range.

I haven't had much time to play the toon in question, but here is something weird that happened during "World Wide Red" on a "tech lab" map facing Malta (at +0/x8). One of my T2 Enforcers got separated from the group (I couldn't tell if it was AI mis-behavior as described in the OP or just getting stuck because of a path), but the offending hench did port to me after I went through an elevator (I had targeted him, so was watching) ... but then the hench immediately dashed through the walls of the map (this was like no-clipping, not porting!) to go back to whatever his new preferred hidey-hole he had found. Very odd.

I respeced out of Total Domination, despite the opportunity to slot multiple %damage procs or the chance to acquire more Global +Recharge (as suggested above). Despite my deep distaste for enemies that run away, I found that my mission clear times were improved by using Aura of Confusion instead. On my pure ranged Fortunata slots were tight, so it is slotted only with 2 pieces of Malaise's Illusions: Accuracy/Recharge and %damage. If I could spare a 3rd slot I would add the other %damage proc. It looks as if the OP build is very deliberately chasing particular set bonuses. I encourage you to explore (using Unslotters) how your build plays without some of the set bonuses, because I feel like there may be some opportunities for alternate slotting to improve Offensive output: Psychic Wail: IMO, this deserves a 6th slot with an additional %damage proc. I know that 5-slotting Armageddon works against the %proc rate, but the radius is large enough that I think it is worthwhile to roll the dice for extra damage. Psychic Scream: If you find you can live with slightly less Global +Recharge (and Accuracy), it is my experience that ranged cone attacks are very good candidates for franken-slotting. My pure ranged Fortunata runs with 2x HO Centriole (Damage / Range) ATO Superior Dominion of Arachnos (Recharge / %-Damage / %Terrorize) %Lethal (Javelin Volley) %Energy (Positron's Blast) %Fire (Bombardment) On paper, this slotting looks to be only a slight improvement in damage (relying on RNGesus), but I found that the increased size of the cone improves the utility of it as an attack... again, the enemy AI will have them all-over-the-place, so the larger 30° cone (80+ feet versus 60 feet) helps once I'm in missions.

As I've written in the Market sub-forum, I consider the "300+ Minf" builds to be a corner case that is bordered by the walls of stubbornness and ignorance. I use the term stubbornness for thoughts along the lines of "I can only get enhancements for my build a specific way" (e.g. buy-it-now on the market) and ignorance to cover the those circumstances where a player is unaware and uninformed about alternate ways to get pieces for their builds. Within Homecoming, there is a very small amount of enhancement space that requires market participation, but the Homecoming market and merit system, in addition to drop-rates (catalysts, recipes, converters) and conversion rules makes it incredibly easy to play (multiple, per-character) builds that would have been out-of-reach for a huge majority of players on Live. The Homecoming Auction House fees are demonstrably NOT standing in the way of this.

New influence literally can come from simply walking around and punching things; I'm not sure that equates to a closed system.

I generally try to have ATO available for use by a new character around lvl 12, unless leftover attuned PVP pieces will serve better for the character. As an aside of what I will typically do to meet the needs of a new character: Buy/open packs Play Converter roulette, stopping when either I get an ATO of the type I want, or I get an ATO that I can dump on the market for BIG/QUICK INF I never try to get 'complete' ATO sets this way; I almost always stop when I am 'within one' and then buy the missing piece I need. I find the roulette approach to be be slightly more efficient when I am looking from pieces from both ATO sets.