tidge

Nice and Ebil. The only bit that surprised me was that Catalyzing ATO was worthwhile. I'm guessing that it is farming/PLing toons up to 50 that drives the demand?

Nothing special follows, just my personal experience: The only character with whom I was able to tank a Master of Lord Recluse run with was an Invuln Tank, using flight to avoid standing toe-to-toe with him (sigh, Invincibility). Dull Pain was on auto (perma, even if Hasten is not) with a T4 Radial Rebirth ready for the healing/regen. Some purples were consumed as well. I couldn't really 'glitch' him and it was a more stressful run than I care to repeat. Tip o' the hat to those that have built to do it regularly.

Pardon me while I .....WAAAUGH! I know that people believe this, but I was on a Positron TF (1 ?) and a 'veteran player' was 'teaching' a new player how to 'tank', and the tank proudly didn't have taunt.= "because he didn't need it"... instead the tank was running auras... and the teammates were dropping like flies. That was not 'tanking'. Now about those slots: While leveling up, I usually multi-slot Taunt because its the sole non-temp, non-P2W 'ranged attack' option for my tanks. The progression of Perfect Zinger set bonuses 'feels better' (to me, YMMV) as a tank is leveling up, but Mocking Beratement bonuses usually look better in a finished build (again, YMMV). My Inv/EM tanker didn't have any obvious need for those slots from Taunt in the build: He's 6-slotted in Taunt w/ 5 from Mocking Beratement and the Perfect Zinger proc. I suppose I could eek out a little more Endurance or Recovery with those slots...back to the builder...

I want to second the DA Elder (Lieutenants). They are also on the streets in abundance. The trick is you have to aggro the Elders and then damage the masks simultaneously/before you defeat the Elders. It is much faster (for lvl 50+) to get 100 this way than any other method I have found. While you are in Dark Astoria, the third mission from Heather Townshend is a warehouse that will be overflowing with Tsoo, including Sorcerers and Ancestor Spirits. If you run this arc for Incarnate drops, turn up this mission to x8 and clear the entire map. To farm Vault Doors, I recommend (Heroes) farm Aaron Thiery's arc. It is low level, but the only door mission has an Arachnos prison. The map is small and it is the same every time.

This was my experience; there were never any 'Slow Snipes', and the damage was always in 'Fast Snipe' territory. I was just curious if anybody could offer a rationale for slotting that Proc.

If we must go Marvel, I prefer to stay with the Red, White and Blue:

I won't criticize except to say that the Hami-O Membrane in Mind Link is NOT contributing to Recharge. Better to 3-slot with 2xLotG (Global Recharge, Def/recharge) and an Adjusted Targeting: Recharge. This is I believe the maximum slotting for recharge for as few slots as possible (assuming you don't already have 5 LotG Global recharges). Mind Link can only get Recharge from Global Bonuses or from ToHit or Defense set bonuses. I can point out a few different choices I made. Comments apply for the lvl 50 build, not the leveling build. My Fortunata uses only 2 slots on TT: Maneuvers (LotG) and 6 on Mask Presence (6xReactive Defenses) <- I think there is more bang for the buck on Defense bonuses even once 'discovered'. The second LotG I use (after Global Recharge) is usually Defense/Endurance... but my Fortunata runs hot on offense and burns endurance like crazy. I have both of the Confusion's in my build, bu the single-target Confuse is 6-slotted with Coercive Persuasion while the PBAoE Aura of Confusion is only 2-slotted w/ Malaise (Acc/Recharge and damage Proc). The ST Confuse is only marginally useful at Incarnate levels, but the Contagious Confusion proc works much better in a single-target attack. I throw the PBAoE in x8 content to get a smidge of damage and to improve drop chances when enemies take each other out. (Hello, Knives of Vengence!) I did not go Tough/Weave, as I felt it unnecessary. I added Combat Jumping as a mule for a LotG, as I am almost always running my missions with Ninja Run on. I considered Hasten at lvl 47 to reduce the timing of Psychic Wail by 10 seconds, but I have enough attacks/controls that paying attention to Hasten would be a case of diminishing returns...I think she'd be 2 seconds+recast time off of Perma-Hasten without a major overhaul. I took Weaken Resolve instead, with the Achilles Heel proc slotted. I don't use it much, but you can imagine the situations I do use it. Here are my choices for defensive (and resistance slotting): Villain Plan by Hero Villain Designer 2.23 Level 1: Combat Training: Defensive (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 30 (7) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Level 4: Tactical Training: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (13) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Level 10: Indomitable Will (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50 (19) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP: Level 50 Level 22: Foresight (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30 (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50 (31) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Level 24: Mind Link (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50 (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge: Level 50 (31) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Level 30: Mask Presence (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense: Level 50 (37) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance: Level 50 (37) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (39) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime: Level 50 (39) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (39) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage: Level 50 Level 49: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50 Not shown in the above is this character's investment in the Presence Pool; I prefer Provoke to Confront, and I find the last two powers great for high Defense, low Resistance builds. A PBAoE fear and a self-heal that doubles as a damage boost is pretty good (with enough recharge). Level 14: Provoke (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50 Level 16: Intimidate (A) Fear Duration IO: Level 50 Level 18: Invoke Panic (A) Glimpse of the Abyss - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50 (21) Glimpse of the Abyss - Chance of Damage(Psionic): Level 50 (25) Glimpse of the Abyss - Endurance/Fear: Level 50 (27) Glimpse of the Abyss - Fear/Range: Level 50 (27) Glimpse of the Abyss - Accuracy/Fear/Recharge: Level 50 Level 26: Unrelenting (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 50 (33) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 50 (33) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 50 (33) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 50 (34) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 50 (34) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 50

This thread: SwitchFade:

/em salute

Does the Experience Marksman Fast Snipe proc contribute in any meaningful way? I noticed that when slotted, I never have the chance for Sniper Shot bonus damage. Is the fast snipe damage scale boosted by Kismet's +6% ToHit (called 'Accuracy')? If so, by how much?

This is demonstrably false (ignoring the obvious situation in which a 'farmer' also creates IOs) as farmers are buying IOs from the market as well as placing raw materials on the market. Both of these contribute to setting market prices.

IIRC, Enhancement Diversification was implemented in the same issue that released City of Villains (issue 6?) and IOs were something like issue 9. While I appreciate the bluntness of Redlynne's post, I can't offer a 'like' as it is calling for a nerf of Domination by calling for the prevention of Permadom. The post should be congratulated for a higher level of self-consistency than I see in the many posts asking for fundamental changes to the way Domination works that allow for Permadom under radically different circumstances. Personally I don't think that Permadom is 'something for nothing', as it requires the initial filling of the bar (small hurdle, but it is there nonetheless) and it requires serious consideration of not just power choices but also the slotting of the power choices to achieve Global Recharge. As demonstrated in the Dominator forum (and in the game itself) there are many different ways to this, and chasing Global Recharge does mean that PermaDoms must sacrifice in other areas.

While it might be fun to have VEATs with more pool options, in the specific case of resistances it really isn't necessary. Widows in particular can have softcap+ positional defenses (i.e. >45%) by very straightforward slotting and power choices. I believe the amount of incoming damage (from an even con enemy) taken by a character with 45% defense and 10% resist is something like 9%, while the same defense with 30% resist would be around 7%. My experience with Widows (both paths) is that this really isn't worth worrying about. My experience with Fortunatas is that positional defenses can be soft-capped (non incarnate) without Mind Link, and I didn't bother trying to get Mind Link 'perma'. Night Widows have a much easier time getting Mind Link 'perma' (because of Mental Training). As a further aside: As the Soldiers of Arachnos share patron pools with Brutes and Tankers, it is likely that they'd only have access to the same Epic pool choices as Brutes and Tanks. There are a few good powers in them, but I'm not sure any of those sets would truly benefit any of the Soldiers. There are many ways to improve the survivability of your widow; if it is resistances you crave consider the Reactive Defenses Scaling Damage Resistance proc. You won't have the resistance at full health, but you will start to get it in fights against all opponents except those which would one-shot you.

I believe the 10% from the Superior ATO sets is in the same pool of Recharge bonus as the 10% from the Purple sets, so if you are chasing Global recharge and already have 5x10% from Purples, you may not want to catalyze the ATOs.

This is an excellent point. It is very common for my characters (all of which play mission content while leveling, YMMV) to use pick powers and assign slots differently than are planned in the lvl 50 build. The most prevalant reason in my cases is that the lvl 47 and 49 picks sometime serve as 'mules' for IO choices, but I actually want those IOs way before I hit lvl 47. I sometimes suspect that some fraction of 'nerf X' threads have heat generated in them because folks don't recognize the explicit difference between a levelling build and a post-50 build. For example: before level 50, there is no reason to consider slotting Purple sets. After level 50, the Purple sets drop pretty regularly (at least in solo play against a large number of mobs). The effect of post-50 builds may also be contributing to the perma-Haten threads for other powers and effects.

Disclosing niches is one of the few areas of EbilTM which are not discussed. Disclosing the other areas of non-disclosure is among the other things not discussed.

For the record, I don't think Dominators are the only ones who suffer from 'lack of ATO choice': It has always struck me as odd that both Tanker ATOs are damage-based, as there are primaries that can't slot them at all. Now, about my little Fiery Orb: I found this to be most useful at lower levels specifically to take aggro. At higher levels (once Defense values are significant) that particular aspect is less important, but it still takes aggro. At x8 incarnate content I use the Orb(s) to judge how much damage I could be taking. I agree that it is difficult (aside from logs) to tell if it is doing anything else. The only issue I have with the Fiery Orb (and to a lesser extent the Controller's Energy Font) is a variant of the issue I have with the Winter ATO procs (and Lore pets): I avoid those choices if the special FX don't otherwise match the concept of the character. Some customization would be nice, but I have no idea how we could customize the visual effects spawned by an Enhancement.

As I wrote earlier in the thread, there is a positive feedback between Global Recharge and being an awesome Dominator aside from the magnitude of the controls: 1) Golbal Recharge -> Frequent Domination -> Endurance refill -> More Control/Attacks, and 2) Global Recharge -> More Control/Attacks The other two effects of Domination ALSO contribute positively to being an epic Dominator, but not as much IMO 3) Domination -> Higher Magniutude Controls -> Higher Ratio of Attacks to Controls 4) Domination -> Mez resistance -> Lower likelihood of having an attack/control chain broken I feel that the 'under-performance of non-perma' argument is really sidestepping (3) and (4). I see the last step in the chain as being something that most support ATs build towards as part of the game progression... it's just that Dominators have the unique AT inherent that allows them to get to it using the mechanic of Global Recharge. Part of what I see as a core misunderstanding of Permadom is that it focuses on the increased Magnitude of controls... sure this is a positive, but it is the short-timed reliable Endurance bar refill that is the true benefit. Most other character ATs are specifically trying to achieve (1) and (2) through standard build techniques: Procs which rebuild Endurance, Accolades that increase Endurance, Hasten to increase Global Recharge, IO choices for Endurance Reduction/Recharge reductions, IO sets with bonuses, etc. Dominators have a wonderful trick available to them. The suggestion to just make Domination a click power with no bar at all really wouldn't change the power at all, except in this way: All Dominators (regardless of level) wouldn't have to build the 'charge' for Domination. This seems to me to be overkill, as once the bar is filled Domination is already a 'click power'... you don't have to use it immediately! Having played Dominators through a lot of low-level content: part of learning the AT is to learn the optimal time to use Domination...it's so much more than just Build Up or Aim.

The OP might find better suggestions in the Roleplay forum, especially if there is SERIOUS commitment to always taking Patron power pools. I've used Patron pools on two of my 'goody goodies': The Robotic/Traps MM wanted a peak at Black Scoprion's tech (and got in over his head); the Grav/Kin's powers were corrupted after running into Ghost Widow in Cimerora. In both cases I wanted to think of them as 'good', so I ran them through morality missions to get them back to blue side. Aside from my villains (and VEATs, who can ONLY take Patron pools) I've gotten more mileage from the classic Epic pools. If the goal is to take a Patron Pool for claiming a level of power not available to the character, and the player has RP qualms about their hero taking that path... I say the system is working as intended.

Not a control set, but there is Invoke Panic from the Presence Pool.

Unrelenting, when used outside of a defeat, gives a massive boost to Regen, Recovery and Damage for 30 secs. If you are defeated, you can use Unrelenting as a Rez (assuming it has recharged). The regular boosts kick in, so you will have lots of Health and Endurance.

Would World of Confusion help at all against the AV? The base duration of the confuse is very short, but it ticks often. Confuse magnitudes can also be extended with Incarnates like Hybrid Control while durations can be extended with Alpha vigor.

Since you asked for some pointers, when you wrote: You really missed the point (or at least the sarcasm), as your initial reply to my post about "why aren't you buying from Tidge" was Reveals a deep ignorance of how the Auction House actually works.