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I played on an ASF run with a Fortunata, I want to say we had at least two other VEAT as well. I don't think we were playing at the higher difficulties, although we started the arc at +4 (by mistake or habit) and had no issues. We did go out of our way to face as many AV as possible, which we handled in a very 'normal' manner. I didn't feel like it was very different than other runs, or other content. We definitely had deaths... I want to say that I died maybe thrice: The first was against the initial Goldbrickers (I wasn't paying attention... I specifically aggroed a group to bring to the cauldron and instead of just finishing them off I dragged them and then made the mistake of ignoring them). Once against Ripplesauce (I wasn't really paying attention, forgot what AT I was playing) and possibly once in the long drawn-out fight against the Council AVs. I can't recall on that fight because I hadn't realized how many AVs there were, and the fight took something like 30 minutes to clear them out... that specific fight would probably had gone faster if we had been focusing fire... all I really remember about it that teammates were dropping and so I switched up my attempts at MOAR OFFENSE to MOAR CONTROL to give others a chance to rez. I also remember bruning through all my Insps and consuming all the drops during that fight... I just can't remember if any of them were used as part of a self-rez. I definitely remember being confused, but I think that was from enemy status effects and not rez. I know I took some big hits in the big AV fight, but by that time I was paying much more attention to my combat stats and power timers. There were definitely later points in the arc when I was still playing fast-and-loose (doing solo stuff in the multiple objectives bits... so BAD for 'master' runs) but by that point I was really paying attention and was able to handle all sorts of crazy. At least for 'standard' difficulties, I'd say that the ASF definitely benefits from teams staying together, although there ARE points at which some characters can go solo depending on build and powers. Specific to my Fortunata build, I found myself using the controls (Confuses, Fears) a LOT more than I ever have on other SF/TF content.

I definitely get a Diamante vibe from this one, but here goes nothing: Go ahead and monitor Attributes like your Accuracy Bonus and Last To-Hit Chance. I think you can also monitor your Base To-Hit as well. I WISH that the last To-Hit ROLL was also a displayable attribute, but AFAIK that is only visible in the combat logs. If you can see them through the tears, you'll have an idea if you are getting debuffed or fighting an opponent with serious debuffs. Depending on your power picks, if the last To-Hit chance was REALLY BAD, you may want to consider an action other than button mashing.

My 2 Inf: The game suffers at (almost) every point where some sort of over-arching narrative was added. The game is at its best when it sticks with the pre-1980s age comic book sensibility that there really are no lasting changes to the world, it's simply a "never-ending battle". I like(d) the original payoffs of the Lost arcs; and I get a kick out of some of the (original, added) level 40-50 blue content... but in general I find all the assorted 'forced lore' to leave a sour taste in my mouth, even if I find some of the missions to be fun. Some examples: The Council / 5th Column changes, in-game, always struck me as clumsy. The ultimate result is that we have all sorts of forced exposition in all sorts of odd places. The Midnighters / Cimerora / Shadow Shard connections, not to mention the odd ties to the RWZ and Dark Astoria incarnate content, almost literally "come out of nowhere" SSA1 "Who will die?" always strikes me as more like "Who cares who dies?" Oh, and BTW, the Hollows is full of lava. The destruction of Galaxy City felt like a needlessly cruel loss. It was quite telling that zone content (badges, mob spawns) weren't originally considered for things like accolades or TFs (Numina, Vahz hunt in Faultline) when major changes were first made to the city. Lord Nemesis... sigh. I get some serious "Davros" vibes everytime he worms his way into a story. I have no real complaints about Goldside, except that the original team felt the need to "end the story", despite there being lots of great content using Praetoria! The only 'revamp' that I really like is the Faultline makeover. YMMV. IMO Redside (despite the Mercy Island redo, and the "destined ones" Time Travel shenanigans) has a much more coherent set of stories. There are the peculiar links to the Midnighters and Vanguard, but I find it pretty easy to sidestep that content.

There is a peculiar / obnoxious reason to pick a VEAT, although I wouldn't recommend it: there are the mandatory Respecs (on each build). I think you can 'interrupt' a second (and third) build before you get to that respec. This won't help for catalyzing ATO or Winter sets of course, since the forced respec happens at too low a level. I think having a dedicated 'attuner' is already too much effort, but hey... if you want to do things the hard way!

It would be silly if they had to use those powers every time they used a level 12 and level 26 power.

I'm now picturing toons strutting around causing Lenny Busker levels of -Res.

I'm on the fence about this piece. I almost always use it while leveling, but it is rare that it makes it into my final build. I don't always have a power which will take it, such that the power offers a reliable %proc rate while also being a regular part of my attack chain I do a lot of solo play, so the 10 seconds often feels like not enough time to capitalize on the (resisted) resistance debuff I can totally see the utility in team play, especially if it is a reliable %proc power. DNA Siphon is a good call: as a secondary it is available for a lot of lower level content, it can easily be available to fire every 30-40 seconds with a 90% proc ceiling, it's not a "regular" attack, and that is a power that you will be likely using against (very) hard targets anyway. Personally: I still don't have the piece slotted in my Spines/Bio Stalker's DNA Siphon. I prefer to see the damage NAO, and removing one of the other %damage pieces would cost me ~25% of the damage output from it. I suppose I could sacrifice a Touch of the Nictus set bonus (along with actual power enhancements) but I like the 9% global accuracy bonus. I may start carrying one around to swap in when I join PUGs. Level 28: DNA Siphon (A) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing: Level 50 (40) Touch of the Nictus - Chance for Negative Energy Damage: Level 50 (40) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage: Level 30 (40) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 50 (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance of Damage(Lethal): Level 50

I've suggested that the T6 (for all Mastermind primaries) be replaced with something like a Recharge-Intensive Pet (not Henchman) that provides some sort of buff dependent on the primary, but including an Accuracy or +ToHit) which could also take the Global set bonuses. I agree that opting to add the Global pieces to an actual henchmen works against the idea that you can customize the henchmen with slotting of (non-Global) enhancements. I think the game already has assets that could be recycled (e.g. P2W "pet" toggles). I feel that all MMs could benefit from an extra power that helps the henchmen HIT once the level shift comes into play. I grok that the larger number of T1, T2 henchmen is supposed to make up for their lower chances to hit, but this is one of those things (like the endurance penalty) that ends up feeling like a double-whammy when you have to burn slots in the henchmen to add the global pieces. The "Equipment" from the T6 really should just be baked into the Henchmen upon summoning. It is silly to have to summon Henchmen at level 12 and 26 and have to apply a level 6 power to them! On Live, with the first Masterminds it felt really cool to be able to equip those first (T1) henchmen at level 6... but those days are long gone. I completely believe in keeping the level 32 "Upgrade" as is, I simply don't think there is enough content between level 1 and level 6 to worry about "game balance" being broken by giving the level 1 pet the extras provided by the level 6 equipment power. Alternatively, if we could slot the global enhancements in the existing level 6 or level 32 "Upgrade" powers, I'd be happy.

I just put my build here:

My Thugs MM is a "Sweet Little Old Lady" accompanied by her boys.

We've been running at standard settings, not trying for any special badges. If others want to run it and try for special badges (besides the defeats, thankfully this arc offers many enemies with defeat badges) I'll join. I like that it is a Redside arc, although it has the typical trouble getting players to join. Go ahead and judge, but we haven't been spending too much time on dialogue and we have the duration about right at just under 1 hour so far. It feels like there is slightly too much going on in the arc, but I have been enjoying the mix of enemies and the maps. The feeling is almost certainly due to being able to race through so much other content.

I noticed the reduced amount recently, I was surprised to get it (on a squishy) just after hitting level 50.

Hopefully the point everyone else made about recharge times in powers made sense. As for "all the extra damage", I tend to avoid slotting %damage pieces in AT that are already doing significant damage; the damage value from %procs is the same without respect to AT. Low scale AT are better served by %damage procs. Even so, I don't usually put %damage in Mastermind attacks, because that AT pays an extraordinary Endurance penalty to make attacks. I didn't see anyone mention this aspect of non-damage %procs: a %proc that applies an effect can be slotted in multiple attacks, but if triggered the effect is only extended in duration; magnitude is not increased. I believe this is another subtlety: If there is a %proc in an "autohit" power, the %proc still is treated as requiring a ToHit check.

What to say? I so rarely bother with seeking out incarnate powers and content anyway I don't think I can help you decide. My freshest level 50 has only done the first of the following items on my typical list: Slot an Alpha T3, to get a level shift and cover some aspect of the character. Slot a Lore pet (or T3), to help with some hard targets... (and get a level shift if I ever join Incarnate content) Slot a Judgement to have an extra AoE Slot a Destiny, usually for League Wide teleport, but also for the level shift Honestly, I just shrug off the need to max out Incarnates. I can totally see going for a +3 level shift to 'farm' incarnate drops.

I've had a few VEATS where I'd like to have an aura of scurrying tiny arachnobots at my feet.

We can haz Slow / Threat / Fear enhancement sets of PvP / Purple variety? ...So that we can boost them and have them work at all levels? For me, often it isn't even really the set bonuses, it's more like trying to stretch the most out of only a few slots. Fear can benefit from HO, and Slow is getting some love, but Threat/Taunt is the one that really stands out to me as deserving of a Purple (or PVP) treatment: The non-Epic classes defined by Taunt (as a power), as well as those that get Confront, all can take that power early enough that the level 20+ sets will cut out at the earliest levels. This may seem insignificant, but it is an annoying feature. Aside from maybe hoping for a Perfect Zinger %proc, does anyone actually slot pieces from Taunt sets in an aura? I find it weird that Mocking Beratement (the uncommon set) is my default choice for multi-slots in Taunt! The enhancement types for Taunt are almost identical... The Presence pool's Provoke could use more (or boostable) Accuracy. The 4th point above is what prompted this post, as folks are discussing the desire for different aspects of powers to be enhance-able. I don't play enough with many buff/debuff powers (with sets that also have the elements of 'sameness') , but those seem to be well served by Hami-Os when I want to play with fewer slots.

I've kept Psychic Scream... but it's because I like having a %proc cone (2x Centriole Damage/Range, %Terrorize ATO, 3x %damage)... although I agree that it could be turned into a more useful close-combat attack. I dropped Total Domination very early in my tweaking and never looked back. On paper, it seems like an AoE Hold (with all the %damage potential, or many set bonus potentials) looks like a good choice, but I found that I simply wasn't using it and the power pick (and slots) could be used in a more productive manner. My favorite Fortunata has kept BOTH confuse powers. I think there is a theoretical bias against the single-target Confuse, but with the Coercive Persuasion set slotted in it you get the following: Rapid firing, long-duration Confuse for the times when you really want it (including when chained with the PBAoE Aura of Confusion) Occasional %Contagious Confusion, which is much more valuable on the Single-Target than in the PBAoE. I am well aware of the camp that advocates for the %Contageous Confusion in the PBAoE Aura of Confusion for the chance of getting Magnitude confuse on Bosses, but frankly I'd rather just risk two 95% RNG chances involved with two Confuse attacks (with longer duration) or a combination of Aura of Confusion and Confuse than rely on the PBAoE hitting the "bosses" and the 90% ceiling of the %proc also hitting them. I also am a firm believer in having as much %damage in the PBAoE so that the Fortunata gets credit for "damage" if/when the mobs in the spawn defeat each other. My Fortunata is one of my more effective "farmers" for PVP and Superior recipe drops because of it. I must admit, I never chose TT: Vengeance. My build has (in my mind, keep in mind I enjoy the Presence pool! YMMV) one oddball power choice: Weaken Resolve. Even after the semi-nerf to it, I've kept it simply to have a dedicated mechanism to lower a target's Resistances and Defenses, as opposed to just boosting my teammates combat prowess. I also like the animation!

I like the above. I'd also appreciate the ability to recolor/tint/modify the visual effect of %procs from Enhancements. There are several of them that I really like for concept, but the colors don't match my power scheme. (Maybe they can be tinted and I am ignorant?) For example, the %Mag +2 Hold from the Lockdown set. I especially like seeing the ball of lightning around a held/levitated character during epic Soul Storm, but I dislike that the colors won't match unless I change the Soul Mastery powers to match the %proc.

Turbans. "Sopping Wet" Auras.

Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh Another lonely day With no one here but me, oh More loneliness than any man could bear Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh I'll send an SOS to the world I'll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my mezzage in a bottle...

I'd like to offer a THANK YOU to everyone running Frostfire that announces and opens that mission to invites: It is probably the most fun way to work on the Weatherman badge. Personally: I don't invite teammates outside of SF/TF/Ouro unless there is some sort of badge/unlock for participants, because I can be a complete slowpoke and casual player when I want to experience content.

I was going to write: Enhancement Converter: 70k

Maybe it is just the colors, but I didn't see either of the ATO globals. The %Toxic one is a source of extra damage on all (?) attacks, and the %Terrorize one provides an extra layer of mitigation (I use it in AoE attacks). I see what you are trying for with Mind Link, but with 3 slots I always recommend: Adjusted Targetting: Recharge Shield Wall Def/Recharge (boosted) LotG Def/Global Recharge and then I drop the Shield Wall Global +Res in it as well. Enhancement Diversification hits the recharge time really hard and IMHO more slots are better used elsewhere. I have 6 pieces of Reactive Defenses in Mask Presence; I like set bonuses and having the Endurance reduction enhancements in the toggle power. The power isn't all that hot on defense, but I didn't use the Fighting pool... you could try this in Weave. Here is a piece of rando advice to help with Endurance: if you like running with Sprint on constantly: you can slot the Stealth piece in one Sprint and an Endurance reduction IO (or HO!) in a Prestige Sprint. YMMV, but I find that in much of game play I want the speed and don't care much about Stealth from an enhancement, so I opt for the different toggles.

As I wrote elsewhere, I don't go into the Winter Pack area, but I did have a stash from past years that I had mostly forgot about. I revisited it to equip a new character with some Winter enhancements via RNG, roulette, and market... yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he brings the goodies (and Inf) via the AH.