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I rank the game's difficulty as 'just right'. I understand that it is possible to 'breeze through' the 'end-game' content with investment in certain builds, but that doesn't make me think the game is too easy. After all, we have many players asking for improvements in certain powersets and ATs! I think the challenge is where you look for it. When I'm feeling like one of my builds is having too easy of a time with certain missions, I will mix things up by using Ouroboros to solo some low-level missions with a large team size. Even without increasing difficulty or adding enemy buffs, low level content can be challenging without all the lvl 50 powers and the bonuses from the 20+ IO sets. There is more to the difficulty than just having tougher fights. It isn't easy to get folks on PUGs to coordinate for certain badges. I am also not a fan of simply making enemies more frustrating to defeat. I get bored with AV/GM fights that go on for 15+ minutes. I appreciate that such a challenge exists, but it isn't really for me.

I snipped a lot from this post, and decided to quote those two paragraphs because they remind me that there is a very wide spectrum of attitude towards the game, the rewards, the style of play and the 'market'. I appreciate the folks describing their play style and attitudes; I'm less impressed by the posts taking (and giving) offense and those predicting total meltdown for the game and its 'economy'. I suppose Page 5 is making both profits and prophets!

It could well be gone to the americans.

On my Crabbermind, none of the pets (Patron spider Blaster included) have a better perception than my toon (75 feet, running only a single TT:Leadership). That is to say, they only run away from me if I'm the enemies get close enough... usually because I have already opened fire on them. I don't think it is fair to say that the "pets are leading the charge". The enemies who primarily have short ranged attacks are ones that the Spiderlings will go for, because they have melee attacks. If the Spiderlings don't close for melee, you will be losing half of the damage (literally!) that they should be doing... and you are still going to have to account for AoE attacks against their lower (-2) level defenses. For those who want suggestion on keeping pets around longer, we have this thread in the sub-forums. Some of the performance issues may be with the build, some may be with play style. For example, if you outrun your pets, they will get straggler-aggro in addition to be far from any defensive bonuses you may provide. This is true of even MM pets (unless of course you planted them in a particular spot and intended to leave them in that spot). Boosting the Crab pet levels in iTrials doesn't seem outrageous to me. FWIW, the Spiderlings (at -2 levels to you) are always going to have problems avoiding being hit. The thread I linked discusses ways to boost the defensive and offensive attributes of the pets.

I grok your point, but my experience with Fire Imps (on a Dominator) is that the Fire Imps behave exactly the same way as the Spiderlings (and Fiery Orb). The suicidal behavior is simply less noticeable because the Dominator is explicitly running like crazy in-and-out of mobs and spamming controls left-and-right. If I played the Dom like a (ranged attach) Crab (with far less control) the pets would die just as quickly. I will grant that the recharge time for Fire Imps is much improved over Disruptors, but once PermaDom is achieved I almost never respawn Fire Imps in a mission except at the extreme levels of content. On large teams I seldom even worry about keeping 3 Imps out. The Crab pets don't appear to behave all that different than several Lore pets, or Patron pets. If a player takes on too big of a group, the melee pets will get in over their heads. The Disruptors (because of their ranged focus) are much better "behaved", but that is primarily because of their attack set. I don't doubt that (all) pets could be made better (Why won't the portable workbench follow me?! It's supposed to be portable!) I simply question if players recognize that these AT pets are supposed to fill a different role than other type of pets for different ATs. If you want to do more to help the (2-attack) Spiderlings survive, try looking at changing your behavior/build before asking the (lower level) Spiderlings to change! It is possible to roll up a Crabbermind with some semblance of control to help the pets survive (more like how Dominators do it): (AoE) powers can be slotted for Knockdown. Frag Grenade takes Sudden Acceleration. The Overwhelming Force %KD proc goes almost anywhere. (I gave it to the Spiderlings) The %Fear ATO (Soldier) proc added to an AoE can prevent enemies from taking action during combat The Winter ATOs all offer control options: Avalanche gives Knockdown (plus recharge, if you want it in the 15-minute-recharge critters) , others give Hold, Immobilize, etc. The Patron pools all offer a control attack, as an AoE attack. Although I don't recommend it for Crabs, the Presence pool has a ST and a PBAoE fear (and you can throw the %Disorient proc into Provoke) If you take the Mu Mastery Patron, you can add %Stun to all of the attacks, IIRC. My Crabbermind is only using options 1 (2x KD), 2 and (when I bother) 4. Yes the Spiderlings sometimes get in over their head, but a couple minutes later I get them all back. These aren't even the only offensive options, as the Melee attacks (Crab or Pet) can also be slotted with KD, Disorient, etc. It's not that hard to boost defenses/resists of the pets once you've unlocked incarnate content (which is probably when you will be facing the situations that kill your pets quickly, sure it happens at lower levels but how godly do you expect your Spiderlings to be at level 32?). I don't know if I've beaten the horse to death yet, but I think the Soldiers have bigger problems (sloooow Bane attacks) that could be addressed within only this AT without overstepping into a primary feature of other classes (Masterminds, plus Controllers, Dominators, Defenders, etc.)

No strong agreement or disagreement from me on the above point, but I wanted to mention that in the character AT chooser, the Arachnos Soldiers are the lowest rated of the "pet" Archetypes. I wouldn't want them to necessarily get advantages over the other pet ATs. My experience with the other ATs: Masterminds: Obviously the 'gold standard'. It should be obvious that the Arachnos Soldiers get greatly improved damage scaling relative to MMs (not sure about the pet's scaling) so bringing Crab pets up to the level of MMs (via control options) seems unbalancing. The Crab pets are obviously meant to fulfill a different role than MM pets; trying to make them more like MM pets seems to miss the point. Controllers: I have less experience with controller (and Defender) pets (Singularity, Fluffy), but I think the Dominator experience scales... Dominators: I've found the Dominator pets, even without MM control mechanisms, to generally be strong... but I think that is almost entirely due to controls being brought by the Dominator (or Controller). These AT are squishy, so the pets taking aggro/damage is a natural part of the utility. Crabs generally don't need the pets to take the aggro, and as was mentioned above Crabs lack an easy way to grab aggro. (*1 see note below) I am a fan of bringing Control to a fight, but the Soldier VEATs are not a class for which I find this style of play productive. I've run various toons with Lore and Temporary power pets, but so have others. I don't think I have any special insights to share... but I bet if we took a poll, folks would want them to recharge faster and to also be subject to MM controls! ----- I built my Crab specifically to be a Crabbermind, but it only recently occurred to me (thank you, this thread) that I could easily reconfigure the power selections to beef up his own offensive potential without the pets. I already play all my VEATs as multi-builds so using the (third, in this case) to try out a non-pet variant of the Crab appeals to me. (What's another 300 million Infamy for except to be spent on IOs?) For reference. My Crab's (three) pet slotting is simple: each gets 4 slots of Expedient Reinforcement emphasizing Recharge; one (the T3 patron) gets the Resist Aura. The T1 (Spiderlings) also get the Overwhelming Force (+Damage, %KD) and Soulbound Allegiance (%Build Up) procs for slots 5 and 6. The T2 (Disruptors) get a 5th slot for the Edict of the Master Defense Aura. As you may have gleaned from my responses in this thread, I'm not super committed to keeping my little soldiers alive. I do find that this slotting (along with the VEAT's ally-boosting powers) is all I need to get the performance I want from them. I can understand if folks are investing more slots into them that they expect bigger returns; my mileage varies. ----- *1 (note on aggro) Let's not speak of Omega Maneuver. Of course Crabs have their AoE attacks, and there is Provoke (as a T1 power pool pick). AoE (Crab) attacks as a means of getting aggro are literally hit-or-miss. I am a huge fan of the Presence pool for many ATs, but the Crab is one that (aside from Provoke) don't benefit from the controls (Intimidate, invoke Panic), and can't really use Pacify (because of the pets & AoE focus) and don't need Unrelenting (because of Serum, unless they want to double up). It's been my experience with many builds (but especially VEATs) that all four non-patron power pool choices are already spoken for... taking Provoke but having to give up a Defensive power mule may strike many as counter-productive. One thing I've written that I'd like to see in the (Homecoming) game are some new PVP (or Purple) IO sets for powers like Fear or Taunt... but I think that many different builds could benefit from a new damage set which has a 6th piece proc specifically for % Taunt, just like we have damage set procs that knockdown/immobilize/hold/disorient (assuming code is possible). It would be a hard choice for many characters to sacrifice a -Res or %Damage proc from an AoE, but in the specific case of a Crabbermind trying to keep pets alive (from single-target attacks anyway) I think I'd be tempted make the switch. EDIT: It suddenly occurs to me that one of the Spiderlings' purposes may actually be to take aggro from the Disruptors (and Patron) pets. One more reason to love the little scamps!

"Sorry bud, ya gotta call 'Nork the Stork' for all returns!"

A couple of (perhaps unremarkable) observations: Team play is different than solo play. Without true MM controls or Supremacy, a Crabbermind isn't going to be able to match a Mastermind in terms of team play w/ pets. If you expect the recharge to be like Dominator or Controller pets I can see how you can be disappointed, but I don't expect Crabs to be exactly where Masterminds (or Dominators, or Controllers) to be with the pet situation . I appreciate the damage (and control, with the right slotting) the pets add but I don't think they are meant to be 'perma' additions to Crab firepower given that they are in secondary power sets and aren't even available until lvl 35 (Spiderlings) and 38 (Disruptors)... and if you take them at that level, I think the earliest you can choose a Patron pet is level 47. This is very different (in several ways) than the situtation with other pet spawning ATs. The pets aren't going to easily survive +4 content. The Spiderlings IIRC only have two attacks (one melee, one range) so again, without MM controls they will do what they want. IIRC a Crab's Tactics will improve their perception as well, so if you are in the thick of it, they will be all over the place. You can buff them quite a bit (including with Incarnate powers), but they won't stay close, especially if you run at x8. I run even level x8, and I usually lose a few Spiderlings and all but one Disruptor/Patron before the recharge is up. My Mastermind has much more control but even he has to respawn pets on roughly the same cycle... the difference is that my Crab can take out those enemies by himself whereas the MM can barely do that.

With investment, it is possible to get the pet summons under 3 minutes. My only complaint about the summon is that IIRC any pets summoned (as a replacement for a fallen Spiderling) will expire with the original remaining pets.

Here is a hopefully helpful hint: If there a significant number of bids on the item but it has sold less than 5 copies on today's date with dozens of bids, there are almost certainly 'lowball' bids. That doesn't mean that there won't be more favorable (to seller) bids. I have some toons with outstanding IO bids far below the 'buy it now' price, but well above what the crafting cost would be at max level that remain unfulfilled. In some sense, those are lowball bids... but if I see that those IOs aren't selling in 24 hours, I have a sense that the posted prices are also probably too high. Also, look at how many of the item are for sale. I'm always surprised when I drop an IO in the AH and see 2000+ already for sale, and the last 5 sale prices are 2M or less. I suppose this could be the AH database issue, but more likely is that players honestly think (or thought when they listed) that the value of certain IOs is more than the market does.

For players, I recommend recoloring your primary/secondary as appropriate and updating your I.D. to explain your powers. As a 'victim' (or is it supposed to be 'beneficiary'?) of streakbreaker, I don't want to see any more 'luck' powers in the game. Seriously, how is it possible that every 20th of my 95% ToHit attacks is courtesy of streakbreaker? Where is the top-tier RNG love when it comes to Purple drops?

I have a both a Crab and a Bane (same character, using first two build slots). I like the Crab just fine, as using the backpack attacks comes across as a very fluid attack chain. I am less impressed with the Bane, as the Mace attacks are extremely slow, and switching between the rifle and the mace isn't what I want to do. Other can put up the numbers (they've been in the Archetype subforum), the activation and redraw times are painful. I was able to make the Bane incredible Defensive and Resistant, but with the slow attacks it feels much worse than any Tank. I suppose I should use the third build slot for more of Hunstman and give it a whirl... except that I'd like to *not* have the backpack.

On the surface, this is a wonderful suggestion. Unfortunately it would almost certainly have the side-effect of bypassing cooldown timers on powers which would be abusive.

I also participated in the Kickstarter, but I've yet to be impressed by anything I've seen. Honestly at this point I'm more interested in the development narrative (project management and software development) than I am interested in the game.

Go to Grandville last. It may be possible that you could hit level 2(*) by accumulating XP from the exploration badges. (*) assuming that you skipped the exploration badge and necessary missions in "Breakout".

Not good advice, and it doesn't particularly address the potential issue that the player may want to 'buy attuned IO sets' while in their SG base. The OP's request is a very natural one and it is unfortunate that this simple request can't be met because of technical limitations. It is also possible that some players are using the AH for storage. More inf can be made by crafting and converting dropped recipes (especially those below lvl 50) than by simply 'liquidating merits'. You certainly can just buy ingredients on the AH, but using some storage racks (and a vault, and a free crafting workstation) in a SG base to accumulate them is perfectly natural and viable thing to do. Writing only for myself: I find that my Purple/PVP recipe drops tend to go in cycles about which rare ingredients are needed; 2 racks for rares is all I need to keep the supply chain going. My SG base also has the racks for common/uncommon salvage just to make life easier. As described, my SG storage tables are storing some hand-me-down attuned sets, but for the most part they hold crafted Purple or PVP IOs. Inf isn't an issue for my toons, but it is so much nicer to have the pieces I want for lvl 50 builds just waiting for them.

Very unlikely to happen. The bases are 'instanced' just like door missions (and public zones); I seem to recall there was an explanation of how using the /AH has to be constructed for each instanced map it is used in, and that there simply aren't the resources to do this for every map. I'm not sure why AH doesn't work in the PVP zones,

I took a Dark Blast/Temporal Manipulation to 50. I was charmed by the power displays and animations! It is relatively weak on defenses, but was explicitly trying to build a toon with a different play style than most of my other ATs. I tried for plenty of Global Recharge, with the nice side effect that Chronos is an auto, providing a Build Up (via Gaussian's proc) every trigger. Slotting Chronos this way allowed me to delay picking Aim. Visible drawbacks: The %Toxic procs in Gloom, Arcane Bolt, and Moonbeam feel to be somewhat wasted slots, given the Recharge of the powers. The only other place I can think to recycle those slots would be to 6-slot Time Stop (w/ Gladiator's Net) instead of the 4-slot Basilisk's Gaze... or maybe a 2-Slot Aim with Adjusting Targeting (for 2% Damage buff?) The choice of Pool attacks (Arcane Bolt, Repulsion Bomb) was made to bring some variety to the damage types. Force Mastery is definitely not a top choice, but my concept of the character didn't lend itself to other pools. Repulsion Bomb is slow (on top of an already slow set), but I saw it as some more AoE (w/ Knockdown, Disorient and % -Res). I tried Time Shift while leveling, but I found it to be uneven. The build has more Recharge than I *really* need. Hasten is Perma (even without Chronos) but with Chronos on Auto, I need the extra time to remember to click Hasten. I'm not sure the "w" binds that keep cexecuting Hasten to are right for me. I dislike skipping both the T6 and T7 primaries, but I'm not sure if I'm missing much. I don't really want two single-target holds, and the short range of the Tentacles doesn't seem like so much fun, compared to Umbral Torrent's ability to seemingly knockdown enemies up to two rooms away! Here is what the build looks like at lvl 50. The leveling-up build was nearly identical to the final build, with the differences being using PVP and Overwhelming Force IOs in place of the Purples. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Dark / Time: Level 50 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Gloom (A) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage (3) Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime (3) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (5) Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (5) Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status (40) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 1: Time Wall (A) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing) Level 2: Umbral Torrent (A) Ragnarok - Damage (37) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge (46) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (48) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge (48) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance (46) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown Level 4: Mystic Flight (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 6: Time Stop (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold (7) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge (7) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold (9) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold Level 8: Moonbeam (A) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Damage (9) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance (11) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Interrupt/Recharge (13) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (13) Sting of the Manticore - Chance of Damage(Toxic) (39) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 10: Chronos (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff (11) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance (45) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 12: Arcane Bolt (A) Apocalypse - Damage (15) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge (40) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (40) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance (42) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative) (43) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 14: Kick (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge Level 16: End of Time (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (19) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (19) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (27) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage Level 18: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (42) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance Level 20: Temporal Healing (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal (21) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance (21) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime (23) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime (23) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance (25) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 22: Weave (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense (25) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance (27) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime (34) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime (36) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime (36) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage Level 24: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (45) Recharge Reduction IO Level 26: Life Drain (A) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage (29) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Recharge (29) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage/End/Rech (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 28: Future Pain (A) Hecatomb - Damage (37) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge (37) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (39) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance (39) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative) Level 30: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 32: Blackstar (A) Armageddon - Damage (33) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge (34) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage (34) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage Level 35: Personal Force Field (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (36) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 38: Time Lord (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 41: Rune of Protection (A) Recharge Reduction IO (42) Recharge Reduction IO Level 44: Repulsion Bomb (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge (50) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range (50) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy) (50) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff Level 47: Aim (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 49: Temp Invulnerability (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Prestige Power Dash Data link:

If I'm not giving Inf to PUGmates who lack mission teleport powers, I'm equipping alts (either new characters, or 2nd/3rd builds) with (often) 'pricey' (**) IOs to try out new concepts. Many times my concepts are somewhat far from maximum efficiency, but with the right sets they become quite enjoyable. These days: my market efforts barely qualify as such. The SG base has tables of the commonly used IOs, as well as a generous supply of catalysts, PVP and Purple pieces. When I'm starting a new concept, one of the alts will fund/buy/convert the ATO (and rarely Winter) pieces I want for the new toon and then drop 200M inf to the toon to use as it levels up. By the time that new toon has hit 50, it will have plenty of Inf to support the next one in the cycle. I've found that 200M has been enough 'seed money' to buy the desired P2W powers and also be immune to concerns about auxiliary costs like the AH listing costs, crafting fees, costume updates. It is certainly possible to start with much less and AH yourself to much more, although the increase in uncommon salvage prices (by 10x) has slowed down efforts on new toons to craft their way to wealth. (**) 'Pricey' is a relative term. Converters (as well as Auction House attuning/pooling, merit/recipe/salvage drops, etc.) have made it very easy to acquire pieces which were far out-of-reach on Live.

I'll chime in on this point: Once you get to level 47+ you should only go with 2 slots in Hasten, each with a lvl 50 IO Recharge, boosted. I believe you only have to boost each of them to 50+4 to get as much self-slotted recharge in Hasten as mathematically possible (barring planning for Slow/-Recharge effects, I suppose) given Enhancement Diversification. I have two approaches to (perma) Hasten. I either go for it, or I don't. 😛 Given the ATs I play, it is actually somewhat rare that I build for perma-Hasten. Dominators are the AT that have benefited the most (for perma-Dom), with a Crabbermind (for spawning pets and attacks) the next AT that benefit from perma-Hasten. Any toon that spams a lot of attacks certainly can appreciate more (global) Recharge. If I'm close to Perma-Hasten, I will try to get past the point of Perma just to avoid the Endurance crash...assuming that the build can re-trigger Hasten before the crash. Mileage varies of course.

I'll add my perspective. I generally use the mouse to select powers other than my primary attack chain. I occasionally find myself dragging powers unexpectedly or 'upvoting' a tray because I hit the selector arrow. I avoid 'locking the trays' for the following reasons: I intentionally 'upvote/downvote' trays because I keep specific powers in certain trays, These are powers that I only seldomly use such as Rest, or Summons (portable workbench, temporary Pets). I intentionally drag certain powers depending on circumstances. The most-dragged power in my builds is P2W Envenomed Daggers. There are a few classes of enemies who need that power spammed in order to counter their +Regen, and I want that power as part of my attack chain in those limited circumstances. Other P2W powers that fall into a 'backup' tray include the Prestige attacks (useful at low levels or during extreme -Recharge circumstances, but otherwise unloved for builds which don't need them) I play Kheldians, and I explicitly rely on tray swapping macros for multi-form builds. My default setup is to have four trays. The first three are generally: Row 3: Defenses / Resists / Travel Row 2: Controls / Specials / (Sprint/Ninja Run) Row 1: Attacks (and Incarnate clicks) One extra tray is used for the quicky travel options (Teleport to mission, Assemble the Team, Ouro, Base Jumping), Reveal, and P2W Self/Ally buffs. Masterminds use the 4th visible tray for the pet command macros, and have another dedicated 'standby' tray for click versions of the summons and buffs (when I forget the binds).

Imma no. All about me: It is rare that I find myself looking for a 6th (Power + Epic/Patron) Pool choice. The only circumstances I can think of when I seriously felt frustrated would have been Mastermind builds in which I feel like skipping the Primary attacks and am tempted to dip into (even more) Power pools for (even more) play variety. There have been times of less serious frustration when I felt like I wanted "just a little more" Global Recharge/Positional Defense and longingly eyed one or more powers to mule IOs. I simply adapted my builds to live without the "moar betta" and had fun playing the character AT I chose. The Homecoming team has opened up a large variety of temp powers via P2W, including boosts (including defense), travel (including Assemble the Team, 2 teleport to mission, jumping, flight, running) as well as a variety of attacks. It is possible to craft temporary bonuses (including Recharge, Recovery and Resists) using salvage. Playing the game gets temporary powers as well. The Incarnate system allows 6 extra bonuses/powers, including an AoE attack and Pets. Life is full of choices, I believe the Homecoming environment has given us plenty... even without considering the 1000 alternate character slots per account.

I just checked Support Total Core Hybrid and it adds 8.00% Defense to everything except Ranged & Psionic (as advertised). It is also boosting Damage and Accuracy. My build is really tight with both slots and powers, but I am tempted to respec out of my lvl 49 power (Invisibility, with a LotG +Recharge mule) for pool Tactics to boost the ToHit of the pets by another 13%. I like having Invisibility on demand, but aside from some occasional sneaking I'm not convinced it is getting me much.

I don't have to do any more testing, as I ran Crimson's arc(s) and got the Monkeywrencher from all the Herc's that combined for me!

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Hercules -> Zeus. As near as I can tell, the following have to happen for them to combine: Both Hercules must be in the same spawn group. I think this requires a x3 setting, not sure. You can't drag one Herc to another and get them to combine. The Hercs AI has to be at the correct part of the algorithm. Hercs will always open with their long-range missiles. Don't kill them too fast. If they aren't close (because one is running away, or trying to run towards players) there will not be a merger. At least one Herc must have 'significant' damage. Unverified: I believe the second Herc must have some damage (i.e. not 100% Health). I was trying to see if I could trigger a merging this past weekend (using snipes, and single-target attacks) but I was being sloppy. I saw at least one merger where the second Herc had miniscule damage. I'm happy with the badge system. I enjoy the badges that just sort of crop up during play, such as healing, dealing damage, etc. I think the exploration badges are fine, with the only caveat being those that require Echos/Ouroboros to collect seem odd. There are a few villain groups/types which don't have 'defeat X' badges, but seem like they should (Hydra). My biggest complaint about the badge system involves the badges with misleading (or missing) text describing how to get the badges. The "Defeat 100 Circle of Thorn bosses" is the one that comes to mind.