tidge

This is a somewhat narrow perspective. I've seen plenty of suggestions labeled as "Quality of Life" improvements that were more like "radically change the game to suit *me*", some that address specific individual pet peeves, and some that focus exclusively on things like the User Interface are are agnostic to powers and play styles.

There are probably a half-a-dozen things relating to MMs and 'nearby' henchmen that don't work 100% as expected... and it is practically impossible for a player to figure out what is going on. Client-side v. server-side is probably playing a role. For example: If I drag henchmen on bodyguard mode "far enough" towards something like a Giant Monster, it is somewhat common that the GM gets of an attack that hits nearly all of the henchmen despite what their defense values ought to be based on Supremacy, MM toggles, auras, etc. I'm convinced that it is related to the henchmen code (and the 'aura' effects like Supremacy), because it is very rare that the MM takes any damage (so it isn't bodyguard transfer) this simply doesn't happen to Lore pets dragged along as well.

I honestly can't recall... I have a vague recollection that the Shadow Shard zone names show up in mauve, but that is probably the Mandela affect

I'd like to see the zone names color coded (blue/red/yellow/coop) on all zone transport options (e.g. Ouro)

I am not a fan of the Controller Energy Font... I consider it to be the worst of the ATO procs. One of the things I dislike about it most is that there is almost always another, better choice of set (PVP, Purple, or even Winter), including the other Controller ATO set. I'll use pieces of the Overwhelming Presence set while leveling (it is convenient), but the only time I'll consider it is if there is a second Controller power that has multiple different types of controls and also takes Controller ATOs.... because the 'control' aspect works to boost multiple types of controls.

This part stirs a variety of feels. I remember the earliest days of Live when I'd pick content/street sweep just to get DOs that maybe I could combine with other pieces to help my characters avoid having red-level enhancements... so with that specific 20-year-old feel in place, heck yes I feel like helping new players with a little scratch has a tiny bit of appeal to me. However... ...The Homecoming version of the game absolutely sidesteps ever having to have those feels... unless a player is absolutely unwilling to engage with the game. In no particular order: It is trivial to burn through early (pre-22) levels (DFB, AE whatever) After level 22, a player may as well slot IOs... and because of lvl 25/30 crafting badges, those are readily available on the market (plus 1 for free from the University) IO recipes just *drop*. Certainly by level 50 I am always cleaning out Endurance/Recharge Reductions, Accuracy and Damage IOs. I'm somewhat certain that giving out wealth leads to inflation. It's not as if lack of enhancements is equivalent to hungry and poorly clothed children.

I got to this point, and then I thought about it, and I've judged that this is an argument with very little weight. I certainly feel like I've "mastered" certain sets and ATs such that I *know* what powers I want to take and how they will be slotted... and I feel that there is very little room for "more learning".. so there are two questions I have to answer for myself: Why am I essentially re-rolling a character? Is it important that I get *this* character to insta-50 with a full kit? If I must insta-kit, am I able to insta-kit this character? #1: Sometimes I have a concept character that inspires me to make a new version of an existing character... but it takes very little effort to "reserve a name". #2: "holding" a name takes very little effort. Peram-holds (@50) require no slotting. If I've already "learned the game"... that holds true for all 50+ content too! If I want to play with friends... do they care if I am loaded with Purples? Is there level-50 solo content that demands I be full-kit? #3: If I'm smart enough to have solved the game... I'm smart enough to know the answer to this question. If I played the game enough to have gotten to the point I know I want to insta-kit... I know how to insta-kit. The *one* solo activity that I can imagine demands insta-50s with insta-kits is AFK farming for Empyrian merits, since there is a cap on Empyrian merits from levels.

Others have explained the slotting and use of AS, I want to >*BAMF*< in and write that I LOVE Combat Teleport on melee characters. Escaping with Combat Teleport is not really that important... I used to set up a bind and macro to escape on every CT character, but there is very little content that benefits melee characters. It is also incredibly useful to select a teammate to pop next to.

These are the parts of the post that resonate deepest with me. I understand playing characters up to level 50... I don't understand churning out level 50 after level 50 and also wanting each of them to have full-kits of Purples, Hami-Os, etc... while complaining that this self-made choice isn't trivial. The level 50+ content isn't going away... and *if* there is content that requires specific enhancement sets... I can guarantee that such content is better served by a player who listens and pays attention and understands their character more than anything else. I tend to plot out my characters' power picks up from 1-49, as well as what I think the final slotting might look like... but I am test driving the character as it levels. Playing through low level content gives me a better feel for what powers to have when, and sometimes a power that looks good in theory simply doesn't perform to my expectations. There are a handful of powers that I see folks recommend that are IMO pretty inferior choices, there are some powers & sets that I feel really only work for a full-kit build, and there are some powers that work really well when leveling but aren't needed on a full-kit final build. Jumping straight to 50 is IMO not just skipping most of the game's fun times, but also skipping out on a lot of the learning.

I've never taken the Mace pool on a Stalker... but here is some other info you may find useful about Snipes "Quick" Snipes get a damage bonus based on the character's +ToHit, up to +22%. IIRC, at this cap it makes Quick snipes do as much damage as a Slow snipe. There are a few ways to boost ToHit (the Kismet piece can contribute +6%) and the Experienced Marksman piece will make the Snipes be always quick. In practice, I've found this to be a good option for any character that can sit close to the +22% ToHit value... but generally I can't get Stalkers there... so I tolerate the Slow Snipe. The range of the slow snipe is better FWIW, but once engaged I like Stalkers to have the ranged attack option.

The T2 and T3 act as a pool of HP for the MM, no matter the scaling. Obviously they have a harder time staying alive if they are taking fire directly. This is just one more piece of the puzzle for playing MMs well. After VEATs, I personally rank MMs as the AT most likely to benefit from multiple builds. If taking on +4 content, there has to be some effort put into keeping the henches alive and keeping aggro on the MM. This is a good strategy for all content, but I've seen some MM builds that fall short on those scores... part of what the player brings is making good decisions for the content they want to play. Like @Rudra, I find solo +4 to be a real slog for MMs... more so than the typical +4xMany slog I feel when playing all the other solo ATs.

Don't ignore the players who've "won" via MIDS, know every Purple, Winter and Hami-O enhancement, and have figured out how to PL via multiboxing in the AE, but want to complain about the AH. I think it was my first HC character that leveraged the market to make staggering amount of Inf... something like 250MInf (/s)... that was invested in future characters... and after I started using a SG base to store "commonly used" pieces the amount of Inf I'd pass to the next character got smaller and smaller... and eventually I stopped even trying to rebuild the 'kitty' for the next character. I still dump things into the AH (so the purse gets reloaded) but those funds are basically covering scratch fees for crafting, temp powers, etc. For many years now... I've been exclusively relying on Merits to get most everything for characters... either directly (Merit Vendors for recipes/pieces) or indirectly via Converters (for crafted drops). This is highly inefficient (from a Merits -> Inf -> AH perspective) The content I play yields more merits than Inf... I can switch my content of course, but merits roll in without having to do anything but play.

One the one hand: Since Homecoming has embraced (or chosen, or reinforced, you pick the word) "top tier" powers and performance of ATs across a much wider (and earlier levels of) content... I'm also surprised that MM henchmen scaling hasn't been eliminated outside of Incarnate content. OTOH: Because of how much easier the game is across wider (and lower levels of) content (for example: higher tier primary/secondary powers being selectable earlier than on Live), and the improvements made to MM henchmen summoning times and power effects... my personal opinion is I don't think we need to eliminate henchmen scaling outside of Incarnate content. Incarnate content is IMO a different matter, mostly because the Incarnate content felt like there would have been an extra gate for MMs to cross. On HC, I'd go so far as to say that a LOT of Incarnate content wouldn't even be gated if the level shift was still a thing.

The game offers alternative ways (via merit purchases) for every enhancement (or recipe... including purple sets) except the HO/DO/Titans/whatever. The AH makes almost everything fungible, All these keep the game's economy from 'spiraling out of control'. The game's market has been incredibly stable (and somewhat deflationary) for six years.

The Supergroup Base Flight Speed enhancement bonus is the easiest/most efficient way to boost flight speed, IMO.

There are badges for selling items. I routinely dump white/yellow salvage on the AH just to clear out my inventory while I'm flying between points. Some of my characters have a LOT of AH storage/bid space filled with items, and the price difference between vendoring salvage and posting on the AH is dust.

Lurv you @Rudra but you must realize that you are making multiple posts in a thread explaining why you are staying out of the discussion while not staying out of the discussion.

"last 5 items" database issue EDIT: I suppose it is possible that some items get quick-listed for 1 Inf, but usually when I see multiple winning bids for relatively low amounts... I believe display bug before someone being ultra-casual about listing useful pieces. It has happened before, when players rage-quit over reward changes... but it hasn't appeared to be common.

If we are throwing out crazy ideas... (iii) give every power a %Knockback, and then all players would get used to the effect.

TBH, this is how a lot of the enemy-affecting %debuffs feel to me... and extends to the "10 second" mezz effects as well. And if I'm being honest: FF %+Recharge usually only gets into builds with Domination (to mitigate slows on perma-dom) or on armor-set click powers that are needed for survival.

The most "efficient" play is almost certainly solo play.

For me: Brainstorms are something of a meh salvage drop. I've only ever used them to craft rare salvage, and there isn't a huge need to do that IMO considering the rare salvage drop rate + fungible salvage on the AH.