tidge

It would be more of a challenge to slot a character with all level 1 enhancements. Boosting is allowed of course.

Re: Force of Will I didn't do this with a Fortunata, but with a Mind/Poison Controller. I should note: This character's entire schtick is that he (unintentionally?) causes mobs to fall down, make mistakes, etc. so the Force of Will pool offered some interesting choices! I removed the Sorcery Pool (Mystic Flight, Spirit Ward, Rune of Protection) and Hasten to replace those powers with Mighty Leap/Stomp, Weaken Resolve, and Wall of Force (from Force of Will) and Aid Other (Healing pool, to replace a lost Preventive Medicine %absorb mule). I rarely used Hasten (it was a level 49 power pick) and between Mind, Poison, Force of Will and Primal Forces Mastery the character is never waiting for something to recharge. Mighty Leap is fine, but the addition of Stomp as a long-recharge "knock 'em down" power fits this character perfectly. Wall of Force is a great cone for %damage powers, I especially like that I can have those two AoE attacks at a relative low level (compared to the Primal Forces Mastery cone attack). The main "compromise" I had to make with the Controller was that the Sorcery pool was primarily mules... that is no extra slots (except weirdly in Mystic Flight), even Hasten was only single-slotted. This meant that dedicating a full 6-slots to Wall of Force and finding a home for the muled ehancement in Rune of Protection. Ultimately I feel like I didn't have to make serious compromises for the Controller, but with any of my Fortunata builds I don't know that I'd be able to slip Force of Will powers into the build before the Epic levels (assuming I want to keep Presence pool, the Fortunata just doesn't have as many "skippable powers") nor would I be able to have many slots to dedicate to the new powers. I'll keep mulling it over.

With the ability to softcap (Incarnate!) positional defenses, and with a large number of PBAoE options, Fortunatas are often best played in close quarters with enemies. I've finished leveling up a Dark/Rad Defender that has a significant number of PBAoE and (target focused) AoE attacks/aurae/patches... it isn't quite able to wander into a spawn of +4/x8 and then aggro them, but once some sort of control/debuff has been tossed at them it can Combat Teleport into the spawn and do its thing. That character also has some cone action, so I have a macros to Combat Teleport into the the spawns and another one to pop backwards to cast the cones. If I have a teammate who is taking the aggro, unless I have a character that is explicitly ranged base (that is, multiple cones or one that needs a wide view of possible targets) I'm generally in the mix.

Is this different than buying (attuned, e.g. ATO) Enhancements or (level 50) Recipes from the merit vendors? I recently decided to clean out some SG storage by kitting out a second build on a semi-neglected character that had thousands of reward merits. There were a handful of missing pieces from PVP and Very Rare sets for that build, and I simply didn't want to drive up the "Buy It Now" price of those pieces (or play converter roulette for so few specific pieces) so I just filled out the build with Merit purchases. In the case of the recipe buys: I did have to go to the AH for a couple of pieces of rare salvage, but otherwise it was relatively painless.

I haven't ever chosen it, so the "clarification" is that I may have looked at some old description of the power. 🙂

All good suggestions so far. My advocacy of the Presence pool (primarily for Widows/Fortunata... honestly any Defense-based AT) is based on (both of) the final two options: Unrelenting is the crown jewel, as it offers an offensive boost as well as a "keeps you refilling" that works nicely with scaling damage resistances. It is worth 6-slots (Preventive Medicine) The self-rez may be the lead in the advertising, but it works better if used while alive, IMO. Invoke Panic is a PBAoE mini-nuke (with %damage)/control. Fortunata can have many different control powers, and since they tend to be (positional) defense-based, more subtle control is better. I typically don't have enough slots to really make this sing. I'm less sold on the picks necessary to get you to (either) of the above, as you must choose two of the following: Pacify doesn't trigger any of the "good stuff" (i.e. criticals), but it can be used to get (a little) breathing room in certain content. Provoke looks good on paper, but the taunt is NOT an auto-hit, and the number of enemies affected is small. Intimidate ends up being the best of 3 bad choices, at least for VEATs that will have other %fear effects.. or team with players that also have Fear powers I experimented a little with Force of Will, I keep meaning to take a Fortunata and go deeper into it (than just Weaken Resolve) but have yet to do so... I just have to make the commitment to drop one of the other favored pools. I generally don't recommend powers that have crashes (Unleash Potential) but if I was already going to have Unrelenting in the build, I could see Unleash Potential as a mule (Power Transfer %Heal) that only occasionally gets used. I used to really like Weaken Resolve, but when Homecoming nerfed it (not a bad decision, but *sadface*) it did make the power worse. Now it is one of those powers that I don't have many slots for and I typically only use when teaming against AVs/GMs.

Badgers or Baggers?

Usually... the arc owner already has the badge (from the GM spawn) so you don't get it again. I am positive that (at least in 2019) players who don't have the badge will get it for helping with the final clear-the-map mission. It is a timed, mission... so you can't get that mission and then keep it uncompleted, but it is a high-level arc so it isn't that hard to clear the map. You will have to coordinate with any teammates of course, as some may jump into the mission without waiting.

To answer one of the OP's questions: At the end of teh Wildflower arc, there is a 90-minute timed mission (via "board transit") where the Kronos Titan appears (as an Elite Boss, if you want). Players who join the mission owner for that mission (and the owner) can get the badge that way (if they don't already have it). As the mission owner, this was how I helped @Heraclea (as Heraclea, RIP buddy) on Torchbearer get that badge. If there was ever a character who deserved "Mistress of Olympus", it was that character.

Catalysts end up being pretty cheap, in that every level 50 gets 1 every 24 hours, assuming that they are defeating enemies. After a a couple weeks every fresh level 50 should have enough to convert all of their ATO (if all 12 are slotted). Catalysts can also be put into SG storage. As further evidence of alternate ways of doing things: if I end up with non-catalyzed enhancements (<level 50) that I'll use in typical (future) builds, during respecs I will swap in the non-catalyzed pieces (for catalyzation) so that I can drop a previously catalyzed piece. Sometime I do this just with unslotters. I could get more "value" by using the AH to do the catalyzation (and selling catalyzers) and simply pay the vig, but I see no need to scrimp or accumulate more Inf.

Some time ago.... I want to say that converting a boosted Very Rare into one of the %proc pieces DIDN'T turn it red, but I can't be certain as I wasn't rolling for the %proc. I also noticed that recently it was having this behavior (see my other threads on slotting Howling Twilight, I was trying to convert some spare 50+5 pieces into something else).

My sloppy and (market) inefficient approach to ATO, (catalyzed) PVP, Winter-Os, and Overwhelming Force pieces is driven by: I have my (small) fortune (Accumulated Inf, Merits, Catalysts) I have an SG base with pieces usable by sub-50s (that aren't used on lvl 50 builds) I play through content to get a feel for a character and its powers Since my characters are spending significant time below level 50, A new character typically grabs those pieces I identified to slot... it saves me the trouble of worrying about enhancement bonuses giving out (especially after the inherent bonuses for low-level characters fade). When those characters are "done" with the pieces they go back in the SG base. Where do they come from? I typically just buy packs (or open already bought packs on other characters) and play a little bit of converter roulette. In my mind I have some vague ideas of which ATO (and Winter) pieces will be worth more on the market to be able to afford a buy of any pieces I want. This is sloppy and inefficient, but it gives me a reason to open packs for other goodies. For those times when I want a specific piece that I am reluctant to spend Inf on the market, I absolutely will spend merits. Aside from Anniversary Badges, I usually find myself only spending merits on Converters and Boosters... sometimes Unslotters if I don't want to bother pulling those from email (or when I have discovered I have extracted all of them already!) I wouldn't do this if I was Inf-poor (on Homecoming, with the AH & fungible asset updates), but as I mostly play arcs TFs/SFs I usually find even a fresh level 50 with ~1000 Merits... not enough by itself for a full suite of Merit-Vendor supplied enhancements, but more than enough to combine with my other stuff (including the Inf fortune) to kit out the first level 50+ build. Every character is on its own to supply pieces for second and third builds!

I don't "power level" via AE. I also don't judge players who do so. I do harbor a personal suspicion that there may be elements of the game they are missing, even if they've "done it all before", but I don't think it is worth entering a debate on the topic... it's a game that can be played different ways. I have only occasionally run missions in the AE, XP on/off wouldn't change my opinion of it.

If the alternate to crafting recipes with a workbench, salvage and Inf is the mechanism by which Incarnate powers are crafted... imma stay with workbench crafting m'kay?

There is also a Mini-Vanguard MVAS vanity pet you can have to follow you around, and you can have one of the two Drone Pets from P2W as well.

I don't think it is a generational thing: some players legitimately feel that the challenges offered by the game are only for content suitable for level 50+ characters, with or without incarnates. Challenges in lower level TFs exist, it isn't a case of them being 'the worse thing ever'. I can't comment on if I qualify as a 'boomer'; the last time someone online tried to exert some authority on that question had a meltdown over the not-so-subtle point around whether a person could be of the same generation as their parents.

I think the only thing not explicitly stated is that it is possible to buy the packs that contain the ATOs and put the goodies in the AH for sale.

I am with in agreement that TFs should be announced at +4, I run quite a few low level content at increased difficulty. So far, it is just level shifts as I think there are precious few players willing to run without enhancement bonuses. Not having 95% ToHit chances is enough of a burden. In the current era of the game, there isn't reason to surprise PUGmates this way. However... I absolutely think players should be willing to play the lower level TF/SF content with difficulties turned up. These offer a different sort of challenge, and IMO they channel the feel of what the game was like at launch, when so little was "guaranteed", including 30-minute TFs. I played on a "secret" +3 Synapse (8-player PUG). At the time, I didn't enjoy it, but it "only" took an extra 30 minutes. I was recently on a (shorthanded, 4-player) Posi 1 PUG that was +2(?)/x8... it took 90 minutes, but we got through... with dozens of deaths along the way, but we got through. Steeping deep into a "kids these days" mode, writing without knowing the details of any particular PUG: Manticore at +4 should NOT be a problem for a team which includes a couple of lvl 50s. IIRC, exemplared players will have access to their nukes and early epic/patron pool powers (assuming the lead is passed to a max level). I suppose that the first defeat all could be a drag depending on Moment(s) of Glory, and "stealthing" past +4 spawns may not be as trivial (especially if relying on soft-capped defenses to click an objective in a crowded end-mission room).

The one thing I will always vendor: level 50 common IO recipes. They vendor for an average of 100K inf; this pays for the crafting fees of everything else. Once I have the badge for selling recipes, I typically vendor Rare recipes too... despite rejecting them, I still get them as arc rewards and they are only occasionally worth crafting. Occasionally I will vendor a PVP recipe that is below level 50... I no longer have a need for the lower level pieces, as my stable has enough catalyzed versions for new characters, and my lvl 50s typically want level 50 pieces to boost.

I have a StJ/WP Scrapper. I almost rerolled it as a Stalker, but opted for StJ/SR instead. Brutes aren't my thing. IIRC, WP is a bit of a "late bloomer" (because of when Heightened Senses is available, not as late-blooming as Super Reflexes of course.) Both WP and StJ can get in over their head, but it isn't that big a deal IMO.

Many have been mentioned. Without passing judgement on any player who chooses to make and play any of the following, these seem pretty cliché: (Blaster) Dual Pistols/Martial Combat fills the need for very tropey action heros. (Mastermind) Robotics/Traps feels very "classic" to me, as does Demons/Dark... I don't typically notice MMs playing Demons/Thermal, maybe because those players all went /Time?

If any other %proc is slotted in Howling Twilight, I am reasonably certain that it should the chance for the %procs to hit is based on a ToHit check... independent of the %proc rate, which will be very good because of the long recharge. I am currently running HT with two %damage procs (Bombardment's %Fire, Javelin Volley's %Lethal) but for a while I also had Annihilation's %-Resistance in it as well. I ended up taking out the Annihilation piece (the %-Resistance was appreciated, but I felt the ultimate duration of it was too short for the ~70 second recharge time of Howling Twilight, and more debuffing means more enemies running). My current slotting is: 50+5 Absolute Amazement Stun/Recharge 50+5 Absolute Amazement Accuracy/Stun/Recharge 50+5 Ragnarok Accuracy/Recharge 50+5 Ragnarok Damage/Endurance Javelin Volley %Lethal Bombardment %Fire I'm overdoing it on the slotted Recharge, but the other Enhancement effects aren't at the ED cap and I'm getting twice the recovery bonus. It's also not typical that I slot either of those particular Very Rare Enhancements. The Damage boost is negligible, but Ragnarok is a convenient set that provides (boosted) Accuracy and Endurance while also picking up a useful set bonus. It may seem nuts, but with the level 50-slotting Howling Twilight becomes an AoE attack/control/debuff nuke that is available in almost all game content (it is an early possible power pick in the Dark Miasma primary) and the enhancements scale nicely.

Dell (Desktops) were notorious for using marginal PSU designs, most obvious in there explicit "just enough" power ratings.... and without cracking open the PSU themselves it would be impossible to tell what blatant compromises were made internal to the PSU. I originally thought that Dell was screwing with us because of their custom connectors, but I later realized they were saving people from 'accidentally' using their shoddy parts in conjunction with others. I have often shared my observation that Dell desktops used to scrimp on using fractions of micrograms of copper by not connecting all the ground (i.e. power return) pins on motherboard drive connectors for external drives... so you have to believe they scrimped everywhere and anywhere else. I am aware of the reputation of Dell's current "gaming" rigs, but I've avoided everything Dell as much as possible since the early 2000s. The only real positive experience I had with a Dell machine since then was that I had a business-issued laptop that performed well for me (I was an outlier at the company in that my laptop did not go belly-up) AND was of a generation that had a peculiarly significant number of "external" connectors/features (for a Dell machine). That laptop had swap-able batteries (and accepted "oversized" batteries), a physical switch for (dis)engaging WiFi (valuable to me for several reasons not worth going into *1), a dedicate slot for an SD card, an internal spindle drive (CD? I never used it LOL), as well as full-sized USB/Enet/Display connectors.... based on my earlier experiences with Dell, I couldn't believe the features on this thing... most of which were complete overkill for business purposes for 90% of users. As I implied above, many of my colleagues had very serious issue with their (identical) laptops, but my traveled all over with me and I was reluctant to surrender it when the lease expired. (*1) The primary reason for wanting to be able to physically disable the WIFI was that my corporation had implemented an understandably-motivated but peculiar method of controlling access to corporate network resources, If WIFI was enabled, upon turning on the laptop it would try to connect with the corporate network before getting to the local log-in prompt, but the only wireless network credentials that were available at this time were the corporate-established credentials (not user-established credentials)... so if you were anywhere but on the corporate campus it would take 12 minutes (I timed it!) before the laptop gave up and would allow you to try to log in. It didn't have this problem if the machine was hard-wired to a foreign network... but that really isn't an option at hotels, etc. It's one thing to worry about network security, it is another to brick a machine from any use!

The text of the badge implies some specific locale, but the badge (Shrouded/Shady) is tied to the map "OUTDOOR_CITY_01B" (per the wiki). From memory, the Nightstar mission awards the badge on mission exit, but Blueside players can get the badge while on the map itself. I can't specifically recall if my redsiders have gotten the badge while in the map or upon exit, but redside the map appears in many low-level contacts... IIRC the lowest is circa level 10 (Dmitri Krylov's "Vahzilok Victims" mission) although I am positive there are other redside contacts that send red players to that same map at level ranges lower than when blue players start being sent to it.

The Shrouded badge is one of those "seems to pop up on certain maps" badges, as Bluesiders can get it earlier than 46. I most recently got it from a timed mission from Sheridan in Brickstown. Redsiders can get it even earlier than that, IIRC.