tidge

I'm glad that the build is working for you, I just have a few minor suggestions that aren't overhauls: I would review the slotting of Call Reinforcements and Summon Striker. I believe that if you replace the 5-piece Call to Arms (lvl 10-30) set with a 4-piece Expedient Reinforcements (lvl 30-50) you will have improved recharge times such that the extra IO Recharges are not needed. You can still fit in the Call to Arms Defense Aura piece if you want. I have a slight criticism about using low-level IOs on pets you only get at high levels, especially if you say you are mostly only using them for AVs. My Crabbermind pet slotting (also with a 2-slot Hasten) is: Level 35: Summon Spiderlings -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg:50(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg:50(36), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), OvrFrc-Dam/KB:50(37), SlbAll-Build%:50(50) Level 38: Call Reinforcements -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg:50(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg:50(39), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), EdcoftheM-PetDef:40(40) Level 47: Summon Blaster -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg:50(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets):50(48) I skipped the Call to Arms defense aura because if I believe the 20' radius, I found it rare that these pets will be that close to me. My Crabbermind was tight on slots, or I would consider adding it. I would move one of the saved IO Recharge slots to Aim, as you will get a lot more damage from spamming Aim (with the %Build Up Proc in it). An extra %Damage proc in Venom Grenade or Frag Grenade could be considered (Frag Grenade accepts a Force Feedback +Recharge proc). *IF* you opt to get the Global Recharge bonus from the 3 summons, you can reconsider the 5-slotting of Tactical Training: Maneuvers, which has more slots of LotG than I usually consider. TT: Maneuvers is usually where I look to 6-slot the Reactive Defenses set, as TT:Maneuvers starts with a bigger base Defense boost than (Pool) Maneuvers. I would keep an eye on the Enhancement Diversification diminishing returns on the Defense buffs to find extra slots to steal. 6-slots of the Gaussian's set could very likely get you more (global) Defensive buffs than trying to eek out a few more fractional points of defense from the toggle powers. I think you might be able to get those slots from Weave and Maneuvers alone. EDIT: I want to note that when running Tactical Training: Leadership, the Gaussian's %Build Up will have improved chances to trigger based on your teammates and/or pets. The Build Up is for you, not your pets/allies. It's your call on if you want the %Build Up on demand (it should be 90% in Aim) or a bonus granted by RNGesus via the Leadership power. As I wrote above, I lean to 6-slotting it in Aim for the on-demand boosts (and the set bonuses), but mileage varies.

I like the idea of low-level accolades (that is, powers that only stay with a toon while at low levels), but that is what the Death from Below is offering... and spamming DfB is a major contributor to skipping so much of the low-level content. An alternative is temp powers, but that is what the Safeguard/Mayhem missions offer. I try to experience as much of the 'low level' (sub 30) content as possible, but unless XP is disabled almost any amount of teaming will mean that you miss some of it. I haven't had a character that didn't outlevel the Hollows arc since... I don't know when. Hero Zones like Faultline and Striga have decent arcs that have always felt level appropriate (less so Croatoa, which I find to be a slog)... but again, if a player is teaming through TFs it will be very easy to outlevel those zones. There are rewards for playing in those (newer) zones: temp powers, unlocked contacts (including Ouroboros), but as a practical matter nobody really needs to do those zone arcs to get most of the goodies. Pure Villainy makes it easier to do more low-level content. There are fewer folks to team with, and there are a variety of low-level contacts with very good merit rewards in Mercy Island. It's possible to do enough content in Mercy that you actually outlevel content in Port Oakes. Blue side, I find that the original contact chains will still insist that you take "defeat X" missions which are often not appropriate for your level (e.g. Hellions in Perez Park at lvl 6, CoT in Talos at level 21)... Why can't I just get the fun missions from those guys? (I can, using Ouroboros).

Thanks for criticizing my (explicitly expressed) personal play choices and trying to make some bigger point about how I've got it wrong. Not. I didn't describe how I 'play like an X', and since you didn't ask me what *I* meant, I'll elaborate my melee choices: I don't wade Stalkers into large spawns (unless teaming); Tanks and Scraps I will jump in (I don't really play Brutes). Blappers blap. For me, the main difference among the melee classes is the *desire* to have aggro. My Tanks want it; my Scappers accept (and often seek) it. My Stalker is designed to murder the opposition, not occupy their time. Dominators have everything locked down, Blasters have KOed everything. I happen to have a Spines/Bio Stalker because I wanted a Stalker that has AoE capabilities when teaming... but even so, when solo *I* don't bother with the x8 setting like I do with my VEAT, Blaster, Dominator or Bots MM... It's just not how I want to play my Stalker... even though I have explicitly chosen a primary and secondary that lets me do exactly that! (*1) With that being written, the missing piece for this conversation may be "what does this have to do with AoE?" If a player "feels that AoE" is missing, and their primary and secondary sets aren't providing it...given that they are already chosen an AT... Interface (every 2 mins) is better than nothing. They can pick PBAoE or targeted AoE. It's not a secret what types of attacks are available in any AT's primary/secondary before starting with the character. (*1) More about my play preferences: Some toons I like to solo against a huge number of opponents at once. It feels thematic and the rewards are improved with volume. When I do play this way, it is very rare that I will solo against large numbers of opponents until my toon is beyond lvl 32. Before then, some toons don't have the tools to survive against large numbers of opponents, some toons don't have the tools to quickly defeat a large number of opponents. Since (many) stalkers aren't going to get the AoE to quickly defeat a large numebr of opponents... my play style while levelling was to focus on survivability of the Stalker by Killing the highest threat first, and then focus on the minions, which is a perpendicular strategy to most AoE classes' approach of 'nuke the masses and clean up the bosses'.

My unscientific approach to the Purple/PVP/ATO/Winter/Overwhelming Force follows. I'm a Global Recharge junkie and an Ebil marketeer. Generally, the Very Rare / Purple benefits I'm chasing: Global Accuracy +15% at 4 pieces Global Recharge +10% at 5 pieces Better for %Damage procs (higher rates, higher damage) I appreciate the 'complete level scaling', as well as the typical boost to Endurance/Recovery Very Rare's often bring. Archetype IOs (ATO) are a mixed bag for me: I usually try to slot the 'good' proc(s) ASAP. If desired for end-build, I will usually try to slot the ATOs as well, under the theory that 'every little bit (of global bonus) helps'. What I look for in the PVPs (and Overwhelming Force) at lvl 10: Panacea proc in Health, ASAP. Shield Wall and Gladiator's Armor as soon as a power is available to take them. While leveling, PVP/OF are usually my choice as placeholder IOs in attacks (depending on ATO use) Because PVP IOs drop at all levels, my SG has plenty of attuned PVPs for use by low levels. I typically swap the attuned ones for level 50s in a level 50 respec. Winter IOs are very rarely used in my builds. The main reason I go for them is to fill a specific need for particular Resistance/Defense. Ice builds can make nice thematic use of the procs. There are plenty of excellent IO set bonuses to be had outside of the Purple/PVP/ATO/Winter/Overwhelming Force pieces. I am partial to: Preventive Medicine: An +Absorb proc, with global bonuses to Health, Endurance and Recharge. Gaussian's blah blah: A %Build Up proc, with global bonuses to Health, Recovery and Defense(s) Mocking Beratement: A nice recharge boost at 6-pieces, but lots of Defense boosts along the way Thunderstrike: Beefy Ranged/Energy/Negative Defense boosts The following sets have '1-piece wonders' which can be expanded to some other bonuses, once a power that takes them is chosen: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback resistance, with Defense boosts for extra pieces. Winter's Gift: Slow resistance Reactive Defenses: Scaling Damage Resistance, with Resistances/Defenses and a 8.75% recharge boost Unbreakable Guard: +Health, with an Endurance discount and Resistances/Defenses Kisment: Accuracy (really 'ToHit') Bonus Steadfast Protection (3% Defense Global) Other will discuss the Health/Stamina slotting with procs and/or global bonuses. Generally I favor slotting for Endurance/Recovery over Health/Regeneration, but mileage varies. I do suggest that players look at their Health/Regeneration numbers before blindly slotting a Regeneration bonus. The same goes for Endurance/Recovery (of course), but my experience is that for most content players 'spend' Endurance at a higher rate than enemies 'tax' Health.

Heresy! One reason to dual-spec a Mastermind is to experience the joy and terror that is a (semi-) petless Mastermind as well as having a full kit of pets. I don't recommend MMs without pets, but some players can't help themselves. Masterminds can play differently depending on the approach taken vis-a-vis primary attacks and secondary/pool choices. Using a second build with different choices can expand potential fun.

I agree that you are changing the end result, but the change has direct benefits relating to keeping enemies where they are (for AoE).

Generally: I don't play my Stalker like a Scrapper/Blapper because the offensive tools are different (although I play Spines/Bio, so AoE is available) but if you have gotten to level 50 with limited AoE, then I think the Judgement incarnate is where you need to look for a customizable AOE choice.

I think I witnessed this one.

On the general topic of Invulnerability, I agree with Sir Myshkin: Manage your expectations. Without using the Fighting Pool (or Combat Jumping, or Hover) the non-positional (and non-Psi) defenses can all sit at around 30%... without any +Defense enemy buffs from Invincibility. The same sort of build can casually have 50% - 70% resists to every typed damage. With extra HP I found that after a certain point in the game I could run this sort of build solo against a LOT of content without ever touching Dull Pain. It isn't handling uber-difficult settings and TFs meant for teams, but it is plenty durable. One thing I will caution about Invulnerability: It isn't necessary to go over-the-top with slotting for Resist Physical Damage/Elements/Energies or Temporary Invulnerability. The toggles are a perfectly satisfactory baseline. Assuming that Endurance is under control: the main reason to slot them is for specific IO set bonuses, typically typed Defenses and Resists. The Homecoming Tankers now provide and improved buffs for Leadership toggles, so Maneuvers should be (at the very least) considered for most Tankers.

On Tanks, I will occasionally have 2 sprints: The default slotted with a Stealth piece, and a prestige slotted with simple Run IO. If a team is sprinting through a large (crowded tunnel) map, sometimes I don't want to cluster all the mobs if I can help it.

I have had very bad experiences with Radeon cards, specifically the RX 560. I am using Windows 7, 64-bit. The software & drivers always seemed to 'want to do more' than I needed: whenever I had multiple tabs in a browser, or if I had any sort of media playing with audio (running Media Player, YouTube, Sound Recorder) the card would eventually crap out. Something as simple as running an instance of Civ V and playing an mp3 would cause issues. Homecoming CoX would play, but there was no reliable setting that would let me be in a zone with more than about 20 other players. I was never overclocking, but there was also something peculiar about the default settings for the Radeon card, as viewed in the Wattman & Afterburner utility: The default settings didn't have the fan come on until 70+. This should have been 'ok', but in practice I saw the video card crapping out before it got to that temp. I changed the default to have the fans on all the time, and that did reduce the time between crashes... but the GPU was still 'doing too much' for even limited things like web-browsing. I have never had problems with NVidia cards.

Street Justice is a melee set with a combo gimmick, but I find that it is pretty easy to ignore (or otherwise not worry about).

I find the Presence pool to be a synergistic choice on Defense-based melee characters (Scrappers, Arachnos Widows): The Provoke AoE is generally more useful than a primary single-target Taunt, Placate or Intimidate is useful when leveling when a breather is needed. The gem is Unrelenting (on a high-recharge build) for buffs or heals (or a rez). Invoke Panic is a very nice PBAoE control. The only wish I have for this set is that I could pick Unrelenting or Invoke Panic as the second choice of the set, as once I made my decision about the first power, the second required power choice is not as appreciated.

This is something that happens on Stalkers. I'm not sure why.

I take Brawl on all my toons.

I keep coming back to this complaint... If you take your villain 'all the way through' Red side (lvl 1 - 50), you will get a significant amount of NPC dialogue that is *very* respectful/fearful of your accomplishments. For example, finish the Lord Recluse SF and there are several Red side NPCs which congratulate you. I don't recall any dialogue kudos for having done the Statesmen/Ms. Liberty TF.

Shh... I use Recluse's Victory to collect the Iron Man/Woman (necessary for a Villain Accolade) and Time Traveler badges!

I think Body Mastery is a fine choice. I also agree with @Croax about trying to have as solid a build as possible before Epic/Patron pools are considered. Some builds need Epic/Patron less than others, mileage varies. I was going to post this in a different thread re: 'Having too many attacks; why bother with a Snipe?'. Aside from getting the bonus potential damage from the Snipe (+ToHit, Hidden status, slow Snipe bonus, %Damage): For my Stalker the (fast) Snipe 'flows' better in my attack chain Runners! (I especially don't like adjusting tactics when I've gone back into Hidden while chasing down the last runner from a spawn) Pulling (heresy perhaps, but sometimes teams require it) For high DPS characters (Stalkers, Scrappers) I prefer Soul Mastery over Mu Mastery mostly because I personally devalue (most) relatively low-damage attacks, immobilize and holds... my feeling is mostly motivated by worrying about investing 'too many' slots in level 35+ powers. Soul's second pick of Shadow Meld is a fine mule for Defense IOs (generally LotG +Recharge).

Oh, Triage Beacon; A spinning aura of what? Not Health but Regen. I definitely don't think Triage Beacon is even in the bottom three of Homecoming MM /Traps powers. It is not a good choice for fast-moving teams, but if a fight is going to stay in one place for a while, I find that shortening the time between healing tics is quite helpful. I have Preventive Medicine %Absorb slotted in Triage Beacon, but I never noticed a pet getting an Absorb layer from it. As I wrote elsewhere: I skipped Triage Beacon for the Medicine pool while leveling. While leveling I felt that the on-demand Healing was more useful than +Regen; but I reversed the decision at the level 50 respec. The only time I can say that I really missed not having Triage Beacon was on the Positron TF parts 1 & 2.

Allow me to echo... I can't write for others, but for me 'Crabbermind' is a more of a philosophy than an actual AT. It's a neat option, but the pets are more like an Epic pool add-on than a defining feature of the Crab sets. These pets only last for (max) 4 minutes, and it is possible to have the resummon (Disruptors and Patron) ready in less than that time with some effort.

I have Moonbeam as part of my Spines/Bio rotation. Hide is the mule for the Kismet +6% ToHit, and Build Up has the Gaussian proc (firing at 90%) for even more +ToHit. If you have waited long enough to go into Hidden, you should be ready for a slow snipe for even more damage. I have Moonbeam 6 slotted: 5xSting of the Manticore (w/ %Toxic) and a Gladiator's Javelin (%Toxic). The part I like best about having it is that streakbreaker forces Moonbeam to hit if the Assassin's Impaler misses, which takes a lot of the sting out of the initial miss. I even wrote a poem about it:

As opposed to Blue side, where the character 'agency' is constantly tracking down items stolen from M.A.G.I., if you aren't trouncing characters in DfB just to get early XP and boosts because you can't be bothered by Twinshot.

Does your build already have that bonus 5 times?

As much as I would appreciate Merits from Safeguard/Mayhem Missions, once the appropriate contact is unlocked it would be trivial to speed run these for Merits. Blue side I believe all the Safeguards are launched from a truck next to the contact; Red side involves more travel across Cap Au Diable (to submarines, ships) IIRC.