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Let us know what (if any) changes you make, and how your build(s) play for you. I can only write for myself, but I often get 'stuck' in certain design theories so I like to see other player's approaches to builds and power choices. I try to not be too critical of folk's power choices because why should I "yuck in someone else's yum"? Often I learn something! Having written that, I want to add my voice to @Gulbasaur with my own take on the Fighting pool for Widows: I see the Fighting pool as a bit of a build trap for ATs that can already slot both Defense and Resistance with Primary/Secondary power choices. I'm well aware of how Tankers and Brutes leverage Tough and Weave to achieve 'mathematical finality' on some of their stats, but doing so often consumes precious power (and slot!) picks. Don't forget that their are (Orange/Purple) Inspirations! I will write that I have some builds where I took the Fighting pool ONLY to get Tough to be able to slot Global IOs, with no intention of ever using the toggle, but the Widow set is not one of them. I can't speak for the utility of the attacks in the Fighting pool, but I am aware that some players will use them on certain AT builds.

I took a slightly deeper look at a few of the early choices, I didn't see a Gladiator's Armor +3% Def or an Unbreakable Guard +Max HP in the build, so I'm looking for a couple of slots for those. Level 4: Tactical Training: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (5) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (5) Red Fortune - Endurance (7) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (7) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) I think TT:Maneuvers could be slotted slightly more efficiently. I personally don't think the tiny set bonus from 2x Red Fortune is worth chasing here. I don't take fighting pool on my widows, so I consider Tough to be overkill, YMMV. Keep in mind that you can boost (50+5) the PVP pieces. I think having a Shield Wall Defense and Defense/End boosted to 50+5, along with the Global +Resistance is providing more benefit (+2.25% Health) than the Red Fortune 2-piece resistances. Plus they exemplar down to level 7! This would get you one extra slot to play with. Level 10: Indomitable Will (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance (43) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance Here is where I usually 2-slot the 2 Resistance pieces I mentioned. Another place you can pick up a slot IMO is Level 44: Assault (A) Endurance Reduction IO (45) Endurance Reduction IO You may not notice much difference running with a single 50+5 Endurance Reduction. You may want to consider moving one of those slots into Ball Lightning to get the +Max Endurance bonus from Annihilation. In the long run, having a larger Max End will be more beneficial than the little extra endurance discount on a level 44 toggle power.

I understand the concerns about Endurance, but you may not be getting as much Recovery as you might think from the slotting of Stamina: Level 2: Stamina (A) Power Transfer - Chance to Heal Self (3) Synapse's Shock - EndMod/Increased Run Speed (9) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (34) Synapse's Shock - EndMod If you want the %Heal in here (I don't think I use this on my low HP characters), I would only use two slots: once for the %+End, and a level 50+5 Endurance modification. Run Speed is one of those things that I can sometimes see the effect, but in gameplay it is less noticeable. I do see that you are chasing that bonus in multiple places, so YMMV. You can have multiple Sprints to choose from, if you want to slot things differently in each one. If you have enough Global Recharge, and resistance to Slows: you can consider dropping some slots that are getting you smaller Global Recharge bonuses from sets (e.g. Red Fortune in Maneuvers) to move a precious slot elsewhere. There is a point of diminishing returns on Global Recharge.

I always like reading about people's takes on the AT, but I think focusing on Night/Blood might clarify the opinion on a few things (like choice of powers). I think this guide did a slight disservice to a two areas which might help it stand out. As written, it appears to be more of a guide for final (or at least late-game) builds. 1) The guide explicitly directs players to switch to Blue Side. There is no explanation of why this is recommended, nor is there a description of what is given up. If this is a guide for beginners, everything should be on the table. 2) The guide doesn't explain much about play style and choices pre-24. This may not interest everyone, but if the player is new to the class I don't think it is fair to assume power-leveling into the mandatory respec. Power choices at low levels will depend on play style. I have found that pre-level 24 I go heavier on the toggle choices specifically to team. Powers at lower levels are slot-starved, so bonuses from team toggles 'go farther' at low levels. For example: I don't value the ATO %Fear proc (on a Fortunata) as much as @Gulbasaur does; however I find that it is more useful when leveling up than when in a final build. At end-game (and when exemplaring) the %Fear has value as a control, so my $0.02 is this: if going for a (many piece) set bonus from Dominion of Arachnos, take a good look at the build's powers for Enhancement Diversification and (power) recharge for proc-ability before deciding to simply drop any %proc in place. There is nothing wrong with builds for extreme end-game content, but that isn't the whole game. There are also different end-game play choices. My end-game builds very rarely have as many (team) toggles. I want to point out that there are many different types of 'end-game' play styles. For example, when I solo I rarely use Mind Link... for the type of content I run, I use it as the mitigation for the lack of defense debuff resistance (DDR). If a build can get Perma-Mind Link, by all means there is no reason to NOT keep it up. One thing that I feel should be always be mentioned for the VEATs is that players have access to multiple builds: It is easy (if expensive) to use the multiple builds to explore different power choices/career paths. You can have both a Widow and a Fortunata, and the 3rd build slot can be used to cover different play styles (solo v. team).

The OP missions have bad design elements, but the ones that I absolutely hate are the "stop x from escaping"... and the character has a jetpack flying at Mach 1 to the elevators. Miss him and he's escaped, mission fail. I'm blanking on the contact name, but it is a redside arc in the 30's I think. Missions which are almost as bad are the painful 'escort/rescue' (see Mu Mystics above, and also the 'escort the Arachnos agents from the Shadow Shard') especially as a stalker.

I'm in favor of seeing the cysts return. I remember the painful days of Frostfire missions which included Cyst spawns. It would be nice to team with Kheldians and have the mission difficulties edged up a notch because of the Cysts.

Melee poetry: TAB chooses wrong foe? "/bind n target_custom_near enemy alive"

I only ever slot the %Contagious Confusion in single-target powers. I tried it in several different AoE (including a toggle) and it really isn't helping much. IIRC the duration of Confuse from the proc is less than an enhanced confuse. If throwing an AoE, you will generally be targeting nearby mobs anyway. This proc helps keep single-target confuse powers relevant once a character starts facing larger groups of enemies; I wish there was an equivalent %proc for the Fear sets. For AoE confuse, I would recommend adding one (or more) %damage procs. If you damage mobs with the AoE confuse, you are 'on the record' for earning rewards (drops) if they happen to get defeated by their confused allies. Some factions are VERY strong against themselves. The %damage procs also allow for some massive damage in Mayhem missions, if that matters.

Group Fly offers much more precise control than Fly (or Mystic Flight), and it is faster than Hover (for the same effort in slotting). I've only ever kept it on my Masterminds, but I really get a kick out of it (when solo, to avoid griefers).

I suppose this will be seen as trying to 'yuck in someone else's yum', but I don't see the need to increase Recovery bonuses from set enhancements. To be honest, I'm not even sure I would notice the value in increasing them. I grok the feels when watching the blue bar dwindle, especially when you feel like you've got more to do. When this happens to my characters, I ease up on the proverbial gas pedal and/or start detoggling (ehem, Ninja Run). To me, this feels like a natural part of the game. That being written: The game already has MANY non-incarnate ways to help (a solo player) with this, including (repeating things already written): Inherent Stamina (you even get a free slot with this power) Endurance reduction IOs (almost every power with an Endurance cost accepts these) +Max Endurance Accolades +Recovery SG base boosts +Recovery P2W +Endurance IO %procs (every character has an inherent power which accepts these) +Recovery IO Globals (every character has an inherent power which accepts these) -Endurance cost discount (IO set) bonuses +Max Endurance IO set bonuses I'm of the opinion that if those are not enough to get the Endurance bar under control for a given playstyle that a hypothetical increase to Recovery bonuses from IO sets is unlikely to help. I'm not immune to math, but between different builds and playstyles I don't know how this could be meaningfully studied in a vacuum. Also note that the nature of level progression throughout the game is not going to mean that replenishing the blue bar is going to keep pace with the expenses. With P2W, there will be more powers to use at low levels than there are slots for powers. The raw numbers from IOs scale with level. Lower level characters may not have access to powers or slots that can take advantage of IOs or set bonuses. I certainly don't expect most low level characters to have collected the +Max Endurance accolades before level 20.

PVP isn't a concern for me (and never was). I also don't need every melee set to be optimized to quickly clear x8 missions by itself. I don't know that I necessarily need all the damage back but I'm completely ok with ET being the gem of the set instead of simply spreading more damage out over the set (or adding another AoE).

Careful, your non-Mastermind AT avoidance showing! The Titan AoE attacks can wreak havoc with Pets. Crabbermind pets suffer as well, but the Crab should be able to handle Malta without pets, whereas the Mastemind will have fewer tools available.

Only with the correct animation.

I get the sense that you know this, but once you are in combat, the snipes automatically become fast snipes. Setting aside the question of bonus damage from a slow snipe, why not replace the insta-snipe Global with a 50+5 damage enhancement?

To springboard off of @Greycat advice: If you have a high enough level (to be able to access enough power pool choices), you may be able to use a second (or third) build of an existing character to have access to enough different powers. You wouldn't even have to slot enhancements in its powers, possibly saving you even more unslotters.

I think you misspelled "Group Fly". Come to think of it: if Stun was replaced with Group Fly, I don't think I'd ever skip it.

If there is actual misinformation, you could quote it. If it's one of my posts, I can always go back and correct the misinformation.

Receipts?

With this quote, I'm now starting to question something that I avoided mentioning in my original response: What kind of "level 50" enhancement are you referring to? To my knowledge, the only enhancements which show a difference in the market place between 'attuned' and 'level 50' are ATO and (most) Winter Sets... these are the ones that become 'Superior' when attuned. If an alt wants those attuned, you can email/SG storage the catalysts for trading among alts. If an alt can use an ATO or Winter set piece, they can slot the unattuned and attune it themself. If you are considering using PVP or the 'Universal' sets on characters lower than level 47, and want those attuned... the prices on the market are the same for attuned/non-attuned. (edit: the Overwhelming Force 'universal set' comes attuned, the Universal Travel IOs can come at any standard level for IOs) If you are a level 47+, the numbers on PVP pieces are in your favor (for everything but %Procs) to have the piece at level 50 and boosted (keeping an eye on Recharge, and enhancement diversification/diminishing returns) rather than being attuned.

A general piece of advice to Attune pieces is to sell the piece you want attuned on the Market (/AH) and buy an attuned version from the Market. It will cost you the Auction House fees, but those costs are generally less than the cost of a Catalyst and Unslotters. A level 50 character should easily be able to afford the market fees for any IO enhancement that you want attuned. For example: selling lvl 50 recipe drops to a vendor should be able to cover market costs.

I have absolutely no objection to the OP suggestion. I'd like to see some elements of the Lore be 'backfilled', especially in a non-incarnate, non-endgame way. As far as villain groups: Snakes get revisited at the highest Villain levels, but certain Port Oakes enemy groups feel (to me) like they don't get much attention. If I had to pick the group I'd want to see featured in a new, hypothetical Port Oakes TF it would be Spectral Pirates. I'm selfish, but I'd like a non-world-clock way to encounter these guys (and possibly trap some as well)... I'm thinking how the Moonfire TF can get players deep into a couple of the defeat (Werewolf/Vampire) badges. I will point out that for Red-Siders looking for Merits at low-levels should consider the Mercy Island missions, either through Ouroboros or through level-appropriate contacts. They aren't particularly long arcs, and the travel between missions is (generally) pretty easy as you can expect for low-level characters. Blue side has a few of these 'quickies' as well, but there are more PUG opportunities for starting heroes. Of course: these low-level missions won't be as easy to PUG as a TF, and they won't have weekly rewards.

I have a question about the choice of slotting Crushing Uppercut: Hecatomb w/ the Unbreakable Constraint (%Smashing) proc. Is there an advantage in picking the Purple %Smashing Hold proc (Unbreakable Constraint)over the PVP %Lethal Hold proc (Gladiator's Net) for the attack that already does Smashing damage? I'm aware of the PvE damage scale difference between Purple %Damage procs and most other %Damage procs (e.g. Touch of Death), but is there a difference in PvE %Damage dealt between Purple and PVP procs?

I think @BrandX has nicely identified the core point about this thread's title, and the point that is missed by several participants. There aren't many 'Orthodox Energy Melee' players who are asking for a re-imagining of a set we already enjoy. A limited number of numerical (and if possible, animation) tweaks is all we are asking for. Beyond such changes, and the proposals are essentially another set. The only proposal I've read for a change to the set's powers (other than numerical/animation) that I think doesn't fall into the overhaul category is swapping the T1/T2 powers for Tankers. I will admit I haven't put much thought into this one (I assume it is either to have a more-optimized attack chain at higher levels with fewer power choice, or something to do with %proc-ability) but I am generally open to such ideas. The one aspect that makes me skeptical is that /EM was originally a secondary ONLY (Tankers) and so any imbalance issues that come from making it a primary for (original) CoV ATs have an aged history. After that suggestion, I don't see the proposed changes so much as a 'slippery slope' but more as a Wile E. Coyote no longer standing on firm ground: 1) Replacing Stun: As I wrote earlier, Stun had a place in the game (solo Tankers, especially while leveling). I concede that later additions to the game (Live and Homecoming) had made it less necessary for a solo Tanker to rely on Stun. I think the situation with the EM Stun is similar as to Placate on Stalkers/VEATs (in the Homecoming version of the game): Both are powers that can serve a purpose for players, but neither serves the purpose of defeat-as-many-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible, and as power choices each basically gets in the way of an 'optimized' build. 2) Adding AoE attacks: There should be very few players who don't recognize that standard 'rewards per unit time' (XP, Inf, Drops) don't improve with defeat-as-many-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible, and that AoE damaging attacks are the mechanism to achieve that... yet the nature of the game (especially on Homecoming, where rewards are easy to come by) is such that not every Melee class has to be generalist with multiple AoE. Even if the DPS math may not in their favor: EM Melee Ats can get more AoE (attacks/control) from Power/Ancillary/Patron pools... if they want them. 3) Adding combination gimmicks: These are a hallmark of later power sets: as fun as it may be to spitball new combinations, adding such things to an original power set would make it a different set than classic Energy Melee. Please feel free to propose a completely new set with the proposals, and let the proposed new set stand on its own merits.

I have a Dark/Time, I can share my thoughts on the primary. This character is a "concept" character, with compromises made in power choices. It has more 'attacks' than necessary, so YMMV if this is useful advice. Some general notes: This character has very high Global Recharge, and +Range bonuses as well. Dark Blast: I skipped (see Pool Choices) Gloom: This is where I have the Defiant Barrage ATO. I have this 5-slotted for set bonuses. Umbral Torrent: I love this power, slotted with the KB->KD Overwhelming Force piece. With extra Range, this is good tool for aggro-ing the next group in a big room. Aim: I added this to the build very late, because Chronos was a better choice for me (as it cycles every 20 secs with a 90% Build Up chance) Moonbeam: I have it with 5xSting of the Manticore and a Gladiator's Javelin (2x proc damage). It is part of my standard attack chain in fast mode. Tenebrous Tentacles: I skipped. I didn't want to immobilize enemy mobs for my play style. YMMV. Abyssal Gaze: I skipped. As above, I generally want mobs moving (towards me)... and the /Time secondary provides Holds. Life Drain: I have this 6-slotted 3xTouch of the Nictus, 2xGladiator's Javelin, 1xCloud Senses (3x %Damage procs, and then Acc, Damage, Healing) Blackstar: 6-Slotted (2x %Damage procs) and 5-set bonus. This character's Pool choices are: Sorcery (per concept) Some folks will be quick to recommend Rune of Protection for Blasters. I took it because it fit in with the concept; however if you want it you need 2 earlier powers from the pool. Mystic Flight (Travel Power) w/ KB protection Unique. Arcane Bolt: 5-slotted as an attack (set bonus, 1 %Damage proc) Rune of Protection: I have it available roughly every 2.5 minutes with a 90 sec duration. I only use it when necessary. Fighting: (Tough is an IO mule, Weave holds a set bonus) I don't kid myself that I'm getting great defenses/resists from this. Speed: 2-slot Hasten (50+5) (Epic) Force Mastery Personal Force Field: I use this an IO Mule, although occasionally I'll click it for fun. Repulsion Bomb: 6-slotted w/ Annihilation for set bonuses. I don't often use this attack unless I'm feeling silly (or want some -Res) Temp Invulnerability: A 1-slot IO Mule Note on costs for sets: There are many good sets that can be had for relatively low cost, especially these days. You can keep running the Summer Block Buster mission to get Overwhelming Force pieces... this is a decent set for attacks and also used to sell well.

I agree! And then my villains can take the Inf directly out of the hero banks rather than make it on the market.