tidge

I used to worry about the storage of recipes (I used the auction house, and email) but after six months of Homecoming play I find I don't really need it. The market place basically takes care of everything you need, and converters allow players to (eventually) get to any pieces that are not on the market. Initially, I thought I'd want certain IO sets for certain builds. However, it turns out that buying (attuned) is much better for almost every build, excepting the lvl 50 pieces that you want to boost. Initially, I also considered 'donating' certain recipes to alts to be able to make items to sell on the market. However, sending INF between toons is trivial. Initially, I considered transferring 'standard' IO recipes to make it cheaper to get crafting badges. INF is so easy to make that it is more trouble than it is worth to avoid just buying the IO recipes at the workbench. Initially, I thought 'hording' low level recipes was going to save crafting INF (compared to lvl 50 recipes, where the crafting prices take a jump) but practically at level 50 I find I get enough INF from just selling standard IO recipes that it doesn't matter. I'm sympathetic to the original request, but I have found that lack of recipe storage (other than the Auction House or email) is only an issue if a player has a small number of toons and completely lacks the INF to leverage the market.

I was hoping the formal request was going to be for more descriptive thread titles.

Did the non-tipped character start a career as gold-side? I recall that there are a limited number of things gold characters cannot do.

My lvl 50s have only gotten tips in Peregrine Island and the RWZ. Is it possible you have been ToTing in PVP zone where you cannot be in costume? I've done some ToT in Siren's Call, but I didn't find a working door in Bloody Bay. edit: Have you ever done a tip mission? Are you pure villain/hero?

Lady Grey taught me everything I ever needed to know about starting from the end of a mission and working backwards.

I was under the impression that the market fills bids by matching the highest bid against the lowest price that is below the highest bid. If so, it is possible that you placed your sell price higher than other players. If multiple players have placed the same sell price I don't know if the bids are matched by FIFO, LIFO, or WTFO.

Here is a conflicting anecdote: last night I logged in to a lvl 50 and immediately ran a new instance of an Ouro mission (Heather Townsend, DA1) to get a couple of incarnate components. It was somewhat early in the arc that a catalyst dropped. However, after the flashback, I then went to another mission I had previously queued (in Cimerora) and got an early Catalyst drop in that mission as well. I didn't have much more time to play, so that is the extent of this anecdote.

Are there still changes planned to encourage Tanks to run with Leadership Pool toggles? If so, that may be a consideration before removing the +End boost completely.

Sigh, thanks.

I'm pretty sure this is still in the mix: Tanks are supposed to get an 'inflated' amount of Endurance as well. This (along with higher damage) ought to make soloing at lower levels a lot more tolerable. I subscribe to the classic 3-slot Stamina (Perf Shift proc+End, IO End) on my characters so I'm somewhat curious if any players have experimented with cutting down to just 2 slots in Stamina.

Here are the things that I think are keeping inflation down: Market seeding (not just salvage, but also Super/Winter packs) Current conversion rules Merit Vending (converters, catalysts, unslotters, recipes) Farming (AE, as well as Aspect/Ouro farming) Nothing 'new' to spend INF/Merits on I can't imagine that the Homecoming Devs making radical changes to any of the above. If there is anything that might threaten trying to store more than 2 billion Inf, it may be placing bids on 'impossible' IOs...just in case the Devs suddenly make them possible, a player may find some crazy bids suddenly filled! If anyone is really worried about not being able to buy future stuff with stored inf, follow the earlier advice in this thread and buy the items you are nearly sure a future alt will want.

I am casting my downvote from a pneumatically-powered difference engine using gears and levers hand-crafted from self-refined ores I mined from the bowels of the earth. I originally had an Amish partner but he didn't believe in the time-saving processes of metallurgy.

I vote NO on adding gimmicks to Energy Melee. (I would also vote NO to make any changes to the Stuns component in PvE). Energy Melee should be returned to the top tier of single-target attacks for generating (and keeping) THREAT. In my mind that means faster attacks (ehem Energy Transfer) to switch between targets if necessary and (generally) harder hitting single-target attacks at the expense of a mediocre (but not pathetic) AoE. If Energy Melee isn't going to end up at the top of single-target damage, it should at least be at or near the top in terms of achieving a reliable single-target attack chain that does respectable damage without having to resort to Hasten (or Incarnates).

Some suggestions for the low-level player: Visit P2W to pick up free attacks and free enhancements. Use purple & yellow inspirations. I realize that low level toons don't have many slots, so use 'em as you get 'em. Buy boosters (as suggested: offense). At lvl 7 you can slot lvl 10 IOs. Check the AH for cheapies if you can be gifted any from another character. For CoT and ToT you must alter your strategy, if you don't have the defences or boosts to deal with the debuffs. If your entire team was individually fighting in close combat and it wasn't working, did you try maybe have one character tank while others sniped?

My Invuln doesn't have the Fighting Power Pool either, and I'm not sure I'm missing it. I don't hit the "caps" when solo, but on a lot of teams I'm way past it. I also took Unstoppable, but only as a Mule. I removed it from my trays so that I don't accidentally use it!

Accolades have the biggest contribution to HP. I think the actual HP cap for Tanks is around 3.6K HPso you are not far off. Slotting a Health IO (not a proc) boosts Regeneration. IMHO once the baseline (non-Dull Pain boosted) HP is above 2K, and you have achieved some level of Defense, that Regeneration is more important than simply chasing HP. Obviously Regeneration is improved by the Dull Pain boost, but on my (endgame) Invulnerabilty tank I run through a lot of content without ever hitting Dull Pain.

I agree here. I just want to note that in my case most of the extra HP is coming from Accolades.

Dull Pain is useful, but I personally don't find Absorb to be useful on Tanks. Why propose a radical change to a power when folks can just slot an Absorb proc? EDIT: let me add this, in case it wasn't clear in my first post on this topic. My own experiences with Dull Pain (as a tank, as was described in the OP) is that the use of Dull Pain changes over the course of the character's advancement. Early in a career, before you have a lot of Inspiration slots and before you have coverage to most damage types (again, see Invuln and Stone Armor as described in the OP) and before you have many other powers, Dull Pain will get used a lot more than later in the career. Early in a career, it may seem like you are wasting a Tank's most important resource (HP) but my own practical experience is that this is not the case. Squishier toons have a different perspective on Absorb HP barriers, but that is not my experience with an Invuln tank. BTW, the IO HP bonuses on my toon were never the goal (except possibly for one 3rd LotG slot) as they just appear on the way to other bonuses. I would say that as a Tank, an HP bonus is one of the better side effects, as HP is what a Tank does best among the ATs.

I checked my lvl 50 tank. All toggles off, w/no incarnates contributing. I think this is the correct math for my toon. Base HP: 1874.08 HP from IOs and Accolades: 2600.27 (Reasonably well slotted with IOs, but not chasing HP boosts) Using Dull Pain, this toon hits the HP cap, but only a few hundred HP are 'wasted'. (~350 HP?) However, before Dull Pain, the regeneration is 25.67 hp/sec. With Dull Pain it is 34.89 hp/sec...so doesn't this mean that while DP is active it's only taking (on average) 10 seconds to 'regenerate' what would be the proposed 'Absorb' barrier? (again, there is some slotting contributing to Regeneration, but most of the extra is from slotting Health). Even if I was at a lower Regeneration rate, it isn't taking long (in tanker time) to recover whatever would be consumed by an Absorb field. From my PoV, this is a solution in search of a problem. Other ATs may view HP differently, but for my Invuln tank I just don't think about Absorb-ing damage as much as I think about regenerating the HP I'm spending by tanking.

The P2W (free) extra attacks go a long way towards helping with low-level content that hits with -Recharge. There is no analgesic for some of the dialogue, but you can get your revenge on Flambeaux in at least one Tip mission (as a Rogue, IIRC). I think she explicitly says she is trying to kill you in that mission! My personal peeve in terms of difficult (for your level) missions are the first contacts in Talos Island that ask you to defeat X Circle of Thorns. It may be just the characters I build, but that particular outdoor 'hunt' is one I never appreciate trying to solo as a fresh level 20. The CoT seem to be particularly mean at that point of n a hero's career.

My Mastermind takes Grant Invisibility early in the career to allow pets to 'stealth' through missions with him (after he takes Invisibility). I am appreciating the recent changes to Invisibility, especially the reduced End cost. I never take more than those two powers! Aside from also muling defense sets, I have never looked at this set as needing to be much more than a tool that provides an alternate approach to some game content.

My Invulnerabilty (tank) experiences follow: Early mid-game, before 'inherent' HP is really big and before resistances/defenses are swollen, I make frequent use of Dull Pain for both healing and as a sort of Absorption prior to specific, predictable encounters. 80/20 in terms of use. By endgame, Dull Pain is only (99.9/0.01) used as a heal (and as an HP buff to support Regeneration). Endgame (post-40, including Incarnate content) turning Dull Pain into Absorb would be a loss for me, as the extra Regeneration contributes more to my lasting through a tough fight than just having an extra layer of Absorb. Feel free to pass judgement: I also don't bother to try to make Dull Pain perma. I can see the appeal at lower levels, but after a certain point the HP boost is far less important than defense (and resistance) boosts that multi-slotting an IO set within it give you.

I've played quite a lot of bots (1-50+) and I wouldn't support these proposed changes. Pet melee is part of the flavor of being a MM. Yes it is annoying, but I have always found it to be something I could work with. I usually don't have Detonator (Traps) available in my builds, but using the melee-bot is a natural. The T1 pets can be resummoned quickly enough that this is not really a concern for me. This seems like an extraordinary ask, especially when you can already slot the attack for Accuracy and Disorient. If the power isn't working for you, I suggest looking at some of the other things you can slot in it, such as -Res. This is a power I often respec into late game specifically to have as an AoE under my control. Jumping ahead to the next snippet, this is the power I often have the Overwhelming Force KB->KD IO slotted in, just so that *I* can also knockdown enemies! I have always 'fixed' this via slotting IOs. I see this as part of the compromise between having pet AoE and ranged attacks. It is annoying to 'burn' a slot to turn KB->KD, but it adds a tremendous amount of control to the pets. Getting it for 'free' doesn't seem correct. This has never really bothered me. My late-game play style has always been for me to start with an AoE and then allow the bots to follow-up. I have no real opinion here but this seems like a preference rather than a problem. I never take the primary pool heal, so that should tell you something about how useless I find the Repair power. Early game (with fewer robots and smaller enemy group sizes) I use the Medicine pool to heal specific bots; by the late game I typically respec out of the Medicine pool because the number of inspirations is larger and the time to resummon robots is pretty short. Several secondaries offer alternatives to Repair as well. I understand where you are coming from, but these requests seem to have a hint of 'first world problems'. My list of wants for robotics has much the same flavor: The one thing I'd like to be able to do with my (Protector) Bots would be to be able to order them to put a Force Shield on a specific target...but that's just because sometimes *I* want the Force Shield first! Silly Robots will protect their own before thinking of their fleshbag master! (wink) Something I'd REALLY like to know how to do is to make them emote sparks, like they do when spawning/upgrading.

This is an observation that I have not been able to reliably test if it is a 'bug', especially as it involves a 'beta' feature: Power Recharge Indicators. I have observed that for longer recharge click powers (> 90 seconds) when I get a trigger from the Forced Feedback: Chance for +Recharge proc the Power Recharge indicator will jump (closer to zero) about 15 seconds, but then when the +Recharge proc ends that the Recharge Indicator jumps back to the original time of the indicator. I only began noticing this when I was able to work the attack with the +Recharge proc into a relatively quick/reliable attack chain but also had relatively slow (90 - 120 second) click powers. Edit: The power with the jumpy indicator is "Dark Consumption" (for Controllers)

I have toons that have multiple powers from the Presence pool. I can't write for why others don't take it, but I use the FEAR powers as a form of Control for certain Melee characters to mitigate/prevent cascading defense failures, or to help out squishy pets. The pool may not be everyone's cuppa, but it works fine for me as is. I have a big issue with Group Fly: I like it best for MMs and I like the level of control it brings (similar to Hover) but I resent having to take 2 Pool powers before being able to choose Group Fly... especially because it is otherwise so similar to Hover and Flight when 'solo'. Writing just for myself (as a player that prefers Flight as my travel power) I often find my (MMs) wanting to take GF at some point, but unable/unwilling to burn a second power choice from the Flight pool. I will add this thought about T5 Pool powers: I rarely take them, even on 'extra' builds or during 'burn a Respec' phases. This is primarily due to the cost (in terms of other power slots) with a little bit of the 'meh' nature of the options. I am disappointed that the pools have so few Auto powers... I find myself selecting powers that I may never click/toggle simply to mule an IO (ehem LotG, Universal Travel, etc.) If only some of the unloved T5 offered something similar.