tidge

I'm self-judging my participation on the topic of suggestions as hitting all points on this spectrum: I think some ideas are bad, often in a very selfish (or short-sighted) way: often these are of this sort: "hey I wanted to do this one thing, this one time, and it took me two clicks instead of one, plz change hmm 'kay?". If no one else is pointing out the short-sghtedness... I'll jump in and look like a negative nancy. If there are dozens of existing threads (ehem, Group Fly) there is nothing more for anyone to say on this topic, as no opinion has gone unstated. Every once in a while I end up engaging with another member when I think they are misunderstanding some fundamental part of the game, or are making grand pronouncements with limited experience or authority. I think some suggestions are ones I simply disagree with. They may get just a reaction, maybe some reply if I think there is nuance to my disagreement. There is a mirror version where I think some suggestions are good... maybe just a reaction, maybe some vocality is provided. Sometimes I really like a suggestion, and I want to share even more ideas related to the suggestion (ehem, rework the last of the original power pools) Sometimes I think a thread needs some memery to explore the topic ("The Homecunkening?"), especially when the pitch is right over the plate ("Dream/Idea Police living inside our head")

We had, not too long ago, an emphatic plea from one user asking other users to stop pointing out the drawbacks of their suggestion... and eventually a power-that-is weighed in repeating (in effect) the sum of all the already shared reasons why that suggestion wasn't going to be implemented ...and that's when things got ugly.

Repeated "suggestions" in the public forum don't really bother me... but I have been (emotionally) tested to NOT reply to the umpteenth time on the topic of something like "Group Fly". I haven't forgotten a semi-recent real-time meltdown in the suggestions forum that included an actual dev response "Not going to happen" (which was predicted by *many* forum regulars), at which point the member that wasn't going to get what they wanted began sealioning the devs.... which became a miserable experience for everyone. The suggestion forum is IMO best engaged as a chance to air out ideas, especially if the suggestion is made with an underlying assumption that "My suggestion is no better than half-right". It is a safe assumption that not everything has been considered as part of the assumption, and it is also a safe assumption that not everyone perceives an issue as having the same magnitude as the person making the suggestion. We should avoid blatant rudeness when replying to suggestions, but OPs should not have paper-thin skins either.

It is worth asking, unfortunately there appears to be a coding limitation that makes them unavailable for converter roulette (similar to how common IOs cannot be converted). I have no idea if that same limitation prevents them from being treated as fungible on the market. Common IOs are not fungible by either level or type. If the HO/DS were completely fungible, there would be some amount of market chaos, but it certainly would smooth out the value of the rando drops. There is a sort of double (or triple) whammy on Threat/Accuracy/Recharge... There are a LOT of non-threat powers that take both Accuracy and Recharge enhancements, but there are relatively few (in some powers) or no IO sets that can be slotted in such powers that have Accuracy/Recharge pieces... so there is not even a 50+5 option. On the threat side of things... the devs seem to have forgotten to provide options for more Accuracy... with only two set pieces (from different sets) that include Accuracy at all.... it is as if they forgot that there are powers that are not auto-hit as well as having forgotten about things like the aggro cap. The real miss in the Threat set realm is IMO the total lack of an Endurance reduction option.

My approach is basic: #1 - Low-level Blue Zones #2 - High-level Blue Zones #3 - Co-op Zones #4 - Red Zones #5 - Praetoria / Shadow Shard

I find /Traps on MMs to be incredibly powerful. In most team content (fighting packs of critters on large maps), it can be less obviously useful (especially if the team is fast-moving) than sets which buff allies or directly target opponents. Solo it is awesome. I suspect that the OP has allowed preconceptions to get in the way of seeing how Traps actually excels.

As long as none of the suggestion are made public, and everyone who makes a suggestion will accept that the suggestion will be discarded unread, this seems perfectly acceptable.

Live FREEM or Die.

This has basically been my strategy. I delayed the Sentinel until I was ready to start picking most of the /Elec powers... perhaps a P2W pet would do just as well.

FWIW, some badges/contact unlocks/accolades are often accomplished by fighting 'con grey' enemies in (relatively) open world low level zones.

Not that long ago...

Per the power icons, it looks like Faraday Cage adds a LOT of Static. I suspect I am going to take Defibrillate out of the build. Self-rezzes (and temp rez ally) powers/insps are too easy to come by to make this power worth investing a pick in, especially considering the mediocre enemy-affecting portion I'm thinking to keep Amp Up, and try to leverage it with the Catherine Wheel solo. It definitely looks more like a power that should be cast on a support ally.

If multi-boxing is mostly behind instanced doors and 'one player"... why wouldn't you multibox on a different server and just migrate?

Yeah, I've still got them installed... I miss the Deux Ex FPS we never got... IIRC there was a third 'new era' game planned when that studio closed up shop. I understand how the economics weren't there for it of course.

Re: Cloud Senses (x4) The "schedule" for debuffs is such that I find an attuned set of Cloud Senses (which normally caps at 30) offers very little noticeable difference compared to a set that normally caps at 50 (or higher, for HOs). Unless I'm skimping slots or frankenslotting a primary/secondary power: I a;ways opt for Cloud Senses. Brilliant Barrage isn't a good source of %proc for me, I'm guessing it's the 'nothing left after effect' (similar to Seeker Drones) and/or 'after' effects. I expect that I'll end up slotting this to get a set bonus, probably with some set that end up offering respectable recharge components. The multiple types of possible controls would seem to make this a good place for one of the ATOs. Hypnotizing Lights is a fine %damage attack for me (so far). Normally I'd take a power like this and lean into the Control aspect... and Purple control sets are good choices... but the deep sleep plus the confuse seem to be working against each other. A different sleep power/effect (that doesn't include deep sleep) can be used to 'break' deep sleep, but this is a PITA to work into an attack chain. For example, I can use /Elec Defibrillate to 'overwirte' Deep Sleep, but this isn't a sustainable (or particularly effective) strategy.

The tea leaves left after the HC rework of Energy Melee pretty much indicate that there won't be any changes to that set. From my PoV, the cone Power Crash was added explicitly because (a) "Where is all the AoE for Energy Melee?" and (b) "Who wants Stun, anyway?". The Energy Focus mechanic was added to try to add a little something-something to the single-target focus that EM had in the distant past... I half-suspect that the tie to the new cone was to make the new mechanic more 'relevant'. (Because 'combos' are the new 'fetch') Personally: I kinda like the EM updates, even though they aren't what I wanted and I have yet to respec or start a character to include Power Crash. For whatever reason (lingering resentment over EM from the first days of PvP on Live?) we were not going to get EM as the pinnacle of single-target DPS, plus a Disorient.

And the builds still don't satisfy you?

To quote Stuttering John to Ringo Starr: "What did you do with the money?"

FWIW I sell next to nothing on the market, once I've got the "sell 10" badges for each type... after those it is exclusively recipes I've crafted from drops, salvage (which just piles up) and prismatic aethers (which also drop). You seem to think *I* am persecuting you via the market, and if my posting stuff for 1 inf is the make-or-break for anyone...take that first mission and earn 100 inf from some rando DO drop. It's not like a character doesn't have powers because they aren't slotted(*). I can almost guarantee if you are repeating content ad nauseum, it is your choice. You can skip the intro missions. VEATs and HEATs can quickly change alignments. The market forces aren't dragging you into Tinpex over-and-over. There is a different set of weekly TFs each week that offer increased merit rewards. Each of them is available to your PLed level 50. If your characters can't hang on a PUG weekly TF then I think we are at the point it has become "blame the workman and not the tools". (*) ...and if it is something like desperately needing an ATO Fiery Orb/Energy Font or a %+2 Mag Hold that requires your precious character vision to be realized... OMGBecky, collect 100 merits from 20 zones.

I like this suggestion more than "Please only allow comments that agree with the OP, delete all others." I don't agree with either, but I have my preferences.

I only have Inf and Merits because the game made it so easy for me to accumulate them. If you enjoy planning and executing builds, and require beaucoup whatevers, Brainstorm is for you. If you are PL-ing up characters... you should be collecting drops along the way. If you are 'executing' characters at level 50, you should be collecting drops as you do so. How you cannot do any of this is a mystery to me. If you are turning over character after character... strip down the ones you are done with. Respecs are plentiful, and I guarantee you will have gotten at least one for free for those unloved level 50s. Correct, and also merits (for collecting all of the ones in most zones that have multiple exploration badges)

The option exists and is called Brainstorm. Oh, you don't like that option because you won't have anybody to show off your PWNZER-L33T build to. Nobody is laughing at anyone's PLed level 50s because they have neither backstories nor enhancements. Such characters get invited to PUGs just like everyone else. This is some arbitrary measure that you are self-applying... and you do this while putting down other players that don't complain about their own choices on how to equip (or not) their characters. You call those efforts grinding, the rest of us call it playing. That you can't recognize this means that you have got such tunnel vision on-top of a judgemental attitude that I can't imagine you having much fun in other aspects of life. City of X is one of the least zero-sum games that exists... because you literally need so little to enjoy it. That you have trouble enjoying even the content you confess to play is either because you are playing the wrong game or you are playing the game wrong.