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I have been observing the Assassin Strike not doing any damage as well. On my Spines/Bio Stalker (with Offensive Adaptation running) the log reads like this: You activated the Assassin's Impaler power. HIT Wolf Spider TacOps! Your Assassin's Impaler power had a 95.00% chance to hit, you rolled a 74.21. You hit Wolf Spider TacOps with your Offensive Adaptation for 22.81 points of Toxic damage. It is slotted with 5 pieces on Stalker's Guile (no Acc/Dam/End/Recharge piece).

I appreciate the defense of the T1 secondary immobilizes, but it will be rather extreme circumstances in which I will consider dropping extra slots into a T1 single-target secondary set immobilize just because it can take multiple %Damage procs. Every character I've played so far has had a better place to put those slots (by level 7). If I need the immobilize for 'hard content' I think boosted Accuracy (or Immobilize) is probably the better investment, because the hard content isn't falling to proc %damage by itself. Surely a Blaster has a better place to put a Very Rare %Damage proc like Apocalypse.

I want to highlight some of the parts of the previous post that earned my 'like' I appreciate that @Redlynne is emphasizing that play choices with Masterminds are a major contributing factor to DPS. I don't think there is another AT that so starkly invites radical play choices where players can 'easily' choose a set of powers (from a primary) which are going to result in uneven performance. Possibly HEATs? Some VEATs are are more effective than others, but a pet-less Mastermind strikes me as a Dominator who chooses not to use Domination. My own experience with Robots (definitely not a 'top tier' primary) is this: I didn't take personal attacks at all while leveling up, and after a lvl 50 respec (into a sort of Tankermind, albeit one without Provoke) I didn't start taking personal attacks until level 30. For reference, here is the slotting of the three personal attacks: I want to note that several of my secondary set powers also provide (AoE) -Res as well. I am under no illusion that my attacks are directly contributing enough Damage to drop enemies, but the control (Knockdown) and debuffing (-Res) is contributing to the defeat speed of the team. I was perfectly happy to play the build without the attacks, but for taking on GMs or farms by taking the attacks I improved performance. This is without Assault btw! (Heresy!) If there are choices about that particular build that I feel like I got 'backed into' it is the Endurance management. Across the build I had to make painful decisions about slotting powers and choosing IO sets simply to be able to run toggles and make direct attacks. I would have the same Endurance issues even if I didn't run with pets, no matter the damage scale of the AT.

Most annoying to my PBAoE toons: run into a mob of 16(?) enemies and toss a 'final chance to hit'=95% PBAoE. Two minions remain untouched. This means that at least two of the attack rolls was >95% in 16 tries (possibly only 14 tries because of Streakbreaker). Followup with ANOTHER FCtH=95% PBAoE and one of them is still untouched. That means that the ToHit roll was > 95% at least three times in 18 (possibly 15, again because of Streakbreaker) rolls.

These threads aren't crazy enough. Let's just imagine a different game where (at level 26): The T1 pet power lets you enslave up to 3 lower level (-2) player characters The T2 pet power lets you enslave up to 2 lower level (-1) player characters The T3 pet power lets you enslave up to 1 same level player character The enslaved PCs become exactly like the current pets; they lose all agency. Then you can be a true mastermind (until you get enslaved by another mastermind) and you can have all sorts of cool options for your henchmen. Masterminds can lure PCs by using costume contests.

After you start to edit, Use the '+' sign (as if multi-quoting) and then insert the new quote.

I'm all for updating the mission text to indicate when a mission is a defeat all: "Clear XXX of Baddies", "Stop All XXX". The non-identification of mission objectives (or stragglers) when there is more than one remaining is problematic, but I can see that being very complicated to fix. I've suffered my share of "where in the Orenbega/Office are those last hostages?" misery. One aspect of the "defeat all" missions that plague me: The maps which spawn wandering enemies. I hate having to wander all over previously cleared areas just to track down a minion-class or two. If there are more than one spawn, they won't show up as the red triangles. The maps that grief me the most on this point are the outdoor maps where the enemies wander around the treetops.

/agree. My experience has been that Endurance management is the biggest issue for 'classic' (pre-IO) Tankers. I was slightly disappointed how quickly Endurance improvements for Tankers were abandoned prior to the 'Tanker Patch'. The first two slots of each attack should be Accuracy and Endurance. I think slotting Endurance first is a better choice mathematically, but I won't fault anyone who goes with their gut for Accuracy first. At low levels, the primary Defense/Resist powers are not going to benefit from low-level enhancements; I would not be in a hurry to multi-slot these. At most I would slot two, depending on the nature of the power (Toggle or Auto? Size of Bonus? Endurance Cost? Secondary effects?), until spare slots start appearing.

I don't spend a lot of time in Incarnate content playing a Tanker (blecch BAF) but on my Tanks with (an always slotted) Taunt I've never felt like I was losing aggro. I can't speak to your circumstances (I wouldn't be surprised if the TinPex Battle Maiden was simply coded to ignore Taunts, given that mission), but I've often witnessed Brutes and Tankers lose aggro to DPS characters in the cases in which they were relying on a ToHit against the AV to be part of the Taunt. Allow me to take this opportunity to once again petition for a Very Rare or PVP set of enhancements for Taunt. Because of the coding mechanics for how Taunt works (and because Taunt IOs can be slotted in various powers) my preferred proc would be an unlikely to be implementable "Contagious Taunt". I'd accept something more straightforward like "% +Defense" or anything that synergized with the primary aspect of Taunt (e.g. grabbing aggro) or a desired secondary effect (e.g. temporarily improve defense of the caster, or debuffing damage of the targets). I'm only partially satisfied with the two existing lvl 20-50 6-piece Taunt sets, while I appreciate that each offers a different progression of set bonuses I'm less than thrilled with the lack of variety in those bonuses.

I vote no (specifically for Stalkers, which appears to be a red herring) for many reasons. If 'Inherent' It would have to be made a toggle power, otherwise the 'escort' missions would be dead ends for the solo player. As is, the Stalker T1 Hide is a perfect place to slot a Defense Global IO, which is pretty awesome. Between having a T1 power that Hides a toon, takes Defense IOs, and contributes to the playstyle of the AT... why would any Stalker ever skip Hide... As for the general point about certain T1 secondary powers being unloved (or unlovable)... I agree in principle, but for me: it isn't a significant number of them, and my feeling about such powers are a matter of my taste. I don't think I'll ever grow to love secondary T1 single-target immobilizes, but other players don't share my opinions and I can accept that.

On the subject of ignoring DfB and XP boosts as an old-school style of play, with a touch of 'navigational difficulties' thrown in... Here is something I hadn't previously noticed for starting redside characters: the Merit rewards for the low level arcs redside are sooo much better than any of the blueside arcs. I started a redside toon and was being very casual about play on Mercy Island and I noticed the Merit rewards piling up. A quick check of the Homecoming thread confirms that the Ouro rewards are also pretty good: I grok the reasons some folks avoid redside, and the siren's call of DfB and early XP is hard to resist... but playing through these stories felt very old school (post Mercy Island revamp, anyway).

I have an old "Unleash the Hero Within" bumper sticker on the back of one of my old HeroClix boxes! The Ghost Widow piece was the most used: 18 defense with Poison, and if you hit her you took a click of damage from the Team ability!

Heh. I'm cheap. I only gave away 20 MInf yesterday.

/agree. I don't really see the harm in this. I am often frustrated when my personal salvage is full, but right now it just means I have to take a breather to delete some common stacks (or dump them in the AH)... if I can't free up some slots by crafting enhancements mid-mission. Now if the portable workbench allowed us to craft empowerment buffs....

Who is "cheating" you? Sell your stuff to a vendor and be done with it. The market for common salvage has been way below the 'vendor' buy prices for a year, independent of if you were looking or not. Recipes and Enhancements get bucketed by type (not level) on the Auction House but the vendor 'buy' price for a recipe/enhancement depends on the level of the piece. Under this crazy proposal, I could list my lvl 10 recipe for little inf, and then someone can buy it as a lvl 50 recipe for "under the (proposed) cap". Wouldn't I still be "cheating" the lvl 50 recipe salesperson?

^This. In the context of CoH, "meta" could be applied to build concepts; i.e. "Slot a Panacea proc in Health" (because +health/+Endurance refills those tanks without thinking), timing power recharges specifically to trigger "procs". It could be about play decisions like "Run DfB until level 22" or "Please pass the star to a level 50" or even "WST, double merits!". It could be about using the SGPasscode to travel faster. One of the more meta-meta things to do is to be an iconoclast. See "Petless Mastermind".

Has anyone actually tried to sell a purple recipe at a vendor? I certainly can't do it at my base vendor. Congratulations on finding a solution for a problem that doesn't exist.

Is there a Lore explanation of the heavy Kheldian presence in the PPD?

I appreciate the Homecoming verteran levels. At a very gut level: on Live, I missed the "Level Up!" effects. More specific to the Live Incarnate system: I disliked having to slog through (only) Incarnate Trials just to get specific experience just to be better at slogging through Incarnate Trials. It is common for my 'new' level 50 toons to play out a significant amount of pre-Incarnate content before I even start slotting Incarnate slots. The unlocking of Incarnate slots as I'm playing non-Incarnate material is a welcome change, as I get to decide my approach to Incarnate content... when/if I get to it.

Perhaps someone else is ignorant that the Wentworth's badges come from selling items at the Auction House?

All in a day's work, I suppose. I'm a little surprised no one is taking credit for the price jump.

MMs have control of their pets. If the MM invites chaos, then on occasion chaos will accept the invitation. If a party forges ahead without me, I wouldn't feel obligated to chase after them if I'm not ready... unless I'm the Tanker (but Tankers should always be ready, #skippableT9). If a PUG is overextending, it is on them. No PUG members should expect a Mastermind to be acting as a "defender", except for the MMs pets. In the limited scenario you describe, I resummon the henchmen, put them on bodyguard and upgrade/buff them. If the PUG can handle the chaos that a MMs henchmen bring despite the henchmen getting wiped, there may be some evidence that the PUG doesn't need the MM to chase after them. In the case where the MM is acting as the Tank, the henchmen should not be on offense, as it is Bodygaurd mode that is allow the MM to Tank.

I'm with you on the crazy Endurance cost for MM primaries, but I don't understand your point? It sounds like you expect the Pet AT to also be a DPS AT...but without Pets? If this is a Whip thing, just say so and I'll understand. Have you tried playing a Controller that takes only pet powers and goes into combat with only the Fighting Pool and Air Superiority? If not, I'm dying to know how the Control sets can be improved for that style of play! Point me at the SME, resident or not! I have a lvl 50 Bots/Traps MM with 3 attacks (2 rifle, 1 mace). I have those attacks slotted for Knockdown and -Res to support my Bot attacks. I have no expectation that I could reslot those attacks and then go challenge +0/x8 content without pets. Now I do pause from my "attack chain" (such as it is) to leverage my secondary: Acid Mortar, Caltrops, Poison Trap. I'm not under any illusion that it is my toon individually dealing the damage (even if it is 'bots!) but my oddball slotting of the attacks does make a difference, as observed in even-level AE farm times.