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I don't know where we stand on getting new 'mission' content, but I think it might be fun to have Mayhem (and Safeguard I suppose) missions set in the Rogue Isles. We'd need to have some instanced maps based on Rogue Isle zones, and the maps would have to be populated with objects... but for the most part the core ideas of the existing Safeguard/Mayhem missions could be ported over. Personally my Villains just want to blow up stuff in the Rogue Isles, but if they had to do some minor 'heroic' stuff I guess it would be ok... for a price! I'm not sure the Heroes should commit to destroying things....

I've fooled around with a Soldier build that mimics a Tank: aggro-grabber, high resists+, team buffs... but I didn't enjoy playing that version of the character at all. This was an alternate build used on a Crab that I already had at lvl 50. Even taking this toon through lower level content I found it unsatisfactory. The damage output was terrible, and it wasn't particularly good at 'tanking'. I found that the original other builds I had were better at protecting squishy teammates and clearing rooms solo. Full disclosure so folks can understand what the 'last straw' was for that particular build: It was a Citadel TF. From my PoV, there are two ways a 'tank' (exemplared) can work those missions on a team of 8. The first is more 'classic': advance with the slow-moving part of the team, keep aggro in those multi-spawn rooms. The second is that full-kit tank can survive dashing past all the spawns to get to the objectives, and either defeat the spawns near the objectives or hold off those spawns so that another stealthy character can complete them. I found that my build was far inferior to other ATs at each of those approaches.

While I miss the days of bringing islands of Rikti Monkeys to Portal Court, I am fine with the aggro cap as is. I will note that I am an 'active tanker', relying more on Taunts and changing targets than relying on Auras to control aggro. I admit to have a personality flaw where I don't understand if a tank 'leaving bosses behind' to be cleaned up is a good thing or a bad thing. Generally I'm of the mind that for 90%+ of the content the DPS classes should be able to take care of the bosses. If a team doesn't have DPS, by all means a Tank should stay close to the team. Otherwise a Tank collecting a group of enemies for AoE (not a whole map, just a spawn) and holding aggro for that spawn seems like a better use of a Tank's time. Eventually a teammate is going to throw an AoE (attack, control) that will draw more attention than desired. I will also admit I don't see why I'd want a game that had a different aggro cap for Tankers than for other ATs, unless the job of the tank is to be the panic button for other ATs that get in over their head.

Good luck! There are a lot of different options for fun builds. I have both Confuse and Aura of Confusion in one of my builds. Taking potential set bonuses out of the picture: I am not sure that the Coercive Persuasion Contagious Confusion proc in the PBAoE is as important as simply emphasizing Recharge or alternate %Damage procs. You can invest a lot in recharge and not have it affect %Proc chances. Personally, because it is PBAoE I would slot at least one of the Confuse %Damage procs (Malaise's Illusions for Psi or Cacophony for Energy) over Contagious Confusion for two reasons: MOAR AoE Damage! Getting a 'hit' with damage on targets of an PBAoE confuse puts you in the running to score a drop when a damaged opponent is defeated, even if it is defeated by a confused ally. With added damage from procs, Aura of Confusion becomes an extra attack, as opposed to simply being a method of control. You can even use it to 'nuke' objects in mayhem missions! Confuse becomes less relevant (than just dealing damage) for some content at high levels, although I find myself occasionally casting it when I want some 'help', or to slow down a particularly tough opponent. I have the Contagious Confusion proc in the single-target Confuse.

If I have the option, I try to mix up damage types (from procs), but don't PVP procs use the same scale as the Purple procs? The damage from a Purple proc is 1.49 greater than a regular %damage proc.

As the other half of the 'Rebo & Zooty' Fortunata whisperers, here are my comments. The core of my build is here: The build I linked to does not use either the Speed or Fighting Pools. In practice, I only found Hasten to be helping with Psychic Wail and Mind Link; there is room for Hasten in the build by dropping Weaken Resolve (at level 47), and stealing a slot from somewhere for extra recharge if you want it 'perma'. Personally, I very rarely take Hasten so early in a build. At low levels I don't have powers that need to cycle quickly. If you want more 'constant attacks' use the P2W freebies. I love the Presence pool on Fortunatas, and I would recommend leaning into heavily if you actually want a 'controller' feel. Unrelenting should be your third pick as it is (if Recharge is low) it is a good panic button or as a damage boost (if recharge is ok). Unrelenting takes the Preventive Medicine Pool and can be used much more frequently than Tactical Training: Vengence. The build I linked doesn't multi-slot Provoke, but I like end-set bonuses from Mocking Beratement better than Perfect Zinger. Invoke Panic is a great PBAoE control power, as is Aura of Confusion. I think you have over-slotted Mind Link. YMMV, but my experience is that Mind Link really only needs 3 slots, focusing on Recharge. Adjusted Targetting: Recharge LotG: Defense/Recharge LotG: Def/Global Recharge (assuming you use this power to hold one of five LotG Global recharge pieces) I accept that if you want even more Defense from it, you can add a 4th slot for even more Defense, but I think that puts you past the point of Enhancement Diversification. I would encourage you to look at the effects of your slots in Health. You may not need the Numina proc. Once you have the accolades which boost Health and Endurance, you may find that extra Regeneration isn't helping you that much (especially for a Defensive build). IIRC the formulae for Health recovery is: (Total HP) / 120 = How much HP you recover per 'tick' 12 seconds / Regeneration Rate = Time between ticks A similar calculation can be done for Endurance/Recovery, but since we always spend Endurance I'm less fussy about pouring extras into Endurance Recovery.

The 'event' freaks will always con as even level to you. You can't just drag any old freak into the area; it is necessary to find the ones originally spawned as part of the event. This is very noticeable if you take a level 50 to the zone.

Don't forget, you get three different builds on each character, so play away! The main issue with Crab Spiders is that once you have the backpack on build you have it on all of them.

Thanks for the link. The notes make it sound like any ToHit buff above 22% is no longer contributing to increasing damage.

That's fine with me; my blaster uses the snipe as part of the regular attack chain. Do we know how the scaling works? I'm particularly curious if I'm 'wasting' ToHit buffs because I'm already at the Damage cap.

I'm trying to think over my builds... I can speak to a few points: Tactics: When I take Tactics, if I have a choice of powers I will only put the Gaussian's proc here if I have pets or if I'm a tanker. Otherwise I simply can't guarantee that for mission content I'm actually going to be buffing that many friendlies. I'm not referring to RWZ Mothership bowl squatting... even then Tanks shouldn't be sitting in the bowl. Tactics also tends to be a late addition to any build, so it isn't like I'm using it much in combat. Aim (for my characters that have it) often gets turned into another late-build addition, as I favor the 'Build Up' powers. Because I tend to take it very late, it doesn't get many slots and I don't put the Gaussian's proc there because I won't have the power (or the proc) for lower level content. My preference is to take the Build Up (or equivalent) ASAP. I would minimally slot it with the Guassian's proc and Recharge (at level) but typically I 6-slot the Gaussian's for the full suite of set bonuses as each one is better than the one before. IIRC I have a /Time Blaster where Chronos is ready every 21 seconds, and the proc is still at the 90% ceiling for firing. That toon keeps Chronos on auto-fire, which means neither the players who want the Gaussian's proc in Tactics think I'm dumb while the ones who want 'on demand' use of a Build Up think I'm wasting it. One thing I haven't seen discussed is the effect of ToHit on Snipes. While I don't know exactly how the scaling works (or what limits may be present), I believe that in Homecoming both the Fast and Slow Snipes have a Damage boost based upon the attacker's ToHit bonus. If Snipes are part of an attack chain, if there is a damage boost as described it is worthwhile to at least consider all sources of ToHit. Note that the Kismet +6% 'accuracy' (really ToHit) must be in an auto power or an active power to contribute its bonus.

Echoing much of what has been said: Invuln's T9 (Unstoppable) : I took it once to use as a mule, but after analyzing bonuses I respec-ed away from it. It is from another, very different game era. Even in the earliest days of the game it was skipped in order to get Stamina. Willpower's T9 (Strength of Will): I don't take this. The Resist Bonuses are nice, but not at all worth the crash. Recovery and status should be taken care of by the time you can take a T9. Bio's T9 (Parasitic Aura): I take this, but I don't have extra slots for it so it just gets Recharge. Aside from the initial END cost, it really has no downsides. The +Absorb barrier is very welcome. The boosts to Recovery/Regeneration are fine, but in my builds I'm often at the point where extra Regeneration is rarely doing that much, and my builds will shoot for a constant net Recovery so I don't fret about click powers. As was written above: If an Inspiration (blue, green, purple, orange) is as good or better than a T9 power, then why bother with the T9?

I've run my Bots/Traps through comiccon. I can't recall the total time for 5 missions, but I have a sense that it was around 30 minutes to complete the arc. That toon has a lot of knockdown (2 rifle attacks, 1 mace attack, 2 of 3 bots), slows and holds... along with distinct enemy debuffs. I would also bring out the Lore Pets whenever possible: this was how I can recall that the full run was usually under 30 minutes. One major problem with Bots is that they are terrible on single target damage; while the map is loaded with enemies this is less noticeable. The new pet behavior helps on maps like this, as the bots used to run off and get themselves busted. AE missions like Comiccon farms are a place where I'll always drop a Triage Beacon, since I can usually draw opponents where I want them. EDIT: I should clarify, my comiccon farm runs were at even level as it was drops I was interested in, not XP or Inf.

I'll add my practices/thoughts on the issue of "buy converters or use merits to make converters?" TL;DR: As long as I'm not losing inf, I'm not stressed. I will typically buy converters, at low 70K each. On average, I spend far less than 10 converters (2 to get to rare, leaving 8-more to jump around) but I stop when I hit 2MInf piece. Hitting the higher value pieces improves profits. Only rarely will I convert within a set (3 converters): Usually this is because I ended up in a set with unbalanced values among pieces. Note that I'm not currently working specific niches such that specific sets are purchased to specifically get into a specific set, nor am I using packs (ATOs, Winters) as a source of income. My market activities are pretty much (better than steady state) to fund Alts. When I was building the fortune I started by converting merits to converters, as the Inf was used for purchasing recipes and paying fees (crafting, listing). I typically spend my Merits on Boosters (and sometimes Catalysts, if I'm being lazy or otherwise I'm in a hurry). There have been a few instances where I've made the (market) sin of buying recipes because the market was in an odd space (and I didn't have anything to play converter roulette with). I didn't even spend merits on anniversary badges!

My bots/traps MM took Mace Mastery because he's a tech junkie. He was very disappointed to learn how the Malta bots work. Mace Mastery is necessary for Crabberminds to get a full suite of Spiderbots.

I don't add procs to toggles. I can't think of an example where the math would have worked in my favor. My builds will either opt for a set bonus or straight boost (possibly a HamiO) instead of hoping for a proc to fire. Often the slot itself can be better invested in an attack, if the desire is to see the proc at work. YMMV.

I would take non-generic IO recipes out of consideration for 'farming inf'. I agree that crafting and converting (at least uncommons) will increase Inf, but as that relies on the market I feel that those players who see the Farm and the Market as non-intersecting are unlikely to factor any aspect of the Market into their Inf paychecks. The analysis does drive home the point about NOT turning off common recipes at lvl 50. If nothing else, vendoring those recipes will pay for crafting fees for uncommon recipes.

If you have a build that is specifically looking for a Winter IO set, and you have the Inf, buying Winter packs and playing converter roulette isn't a bad way to get a significant fraction of any given set. I don't often use Winter sets in my builds, but it has been more cost effective than placing near-BIN bids for entire sets. You do have to have a level of comfort with buying multiple packs, converting, and relisting extras to get the "full savings" of course. The same strategy applies to the ATO from the other packs, but my experience with Winter packs has been that they will (on average) yield more IOs. Also note that the IOs from packs will not be catalyzed, although packs occasionally contain catalysts.

I think I saw my VEAT clone from Posi 1 summon spiders... very surprising.

"Percy Winkley has benn added to your contacts"

Confuse the Generators (or the Engineers, before they spawn the Generator) for extra bubbles! Me trying to decide which Engineer is going to spawn the Generator and should be my primary target:

I recently ran these arcs with a "Duo" character with not just alternate powers but with alternate costumes/body forms. It was a hoot fighting one build with the powers of the other build!

In the broad category of (perhaps) unintended consequences: Health (Fitness): The inherent boost (without slotting) to Regeneration is nice, but as far as I can tell it does help many character builds hit the point of diminishing returns quickly. Could this use a revisit? YMMV. I'm less concerned with Recovery from Unslotted Stamina, because many of us remember how bad Endurance burn was back-in-the-day. Some specific thoughts, with no real proposals: Conditioning (Soldiers of Arachnos): Seems underwhelming. I never really noticed it helping at low levels. At high levels I run a lot of toggles, which I suppose isn't different than many other characters... except that I feel like my VEATs have slightly more Endurance issues than other ATs, so I suppose those issues might be even worse without Conditioning? See my above comments on the Regeneration bonus from Health. Domination (Dominators): I'm in the camp that that this works great, as long as you build to Perma-Dom. I don't want to rehash any of those threads (or invite rehashing), but having read those many many threads, I never saw any of the several detailed proposals that I thought were an improvement over what we have now. No need to change. Kheldians (Particularly Peacebringers): Very underwhelming, especially since Cysts have been eliminated/restricted in Homecoming. Fury (Brutes): I have nothing to say about the performance, except that I 100% oppose porting a Fury-like mechanic to anything else (especially Domination). Scourge (Corruptors): With so many alpha-strikes in the game, it feels (to me) like this is in the category of 'may not be doing much' but I can't say for myself. Defiance (Blasters): I'd put this in the category of 'working absolutely fine'. This is a pretty good design as it provides a counterweight to a typical blaster weakness, and it stays useful in all content levels without ever becoming too weak or too powerful. Assassination/Critical Strikes: Too good to ever take away from us! Ninja/Beast Run: I understand why these will detoggle other powers, but I'm not crazy about this effect.

There should be more power available at night because no one else is using the sun.

I can offer a little encouragement for folks frustrated by the Brickstown event. Every so often when I find it 'stuck' (because the Freaks have wandered off) it is possible to find the (even level) Freaks just outside the 'event area'. I usually draw them back into the area to defeat them; I'm not sure what would happen if they are defeated out of the area. I think the record number I was able to (eventually) track down this way was 3 missing Freaks. It does take some searching to track them down... I've found the fliers hovering between the towers to the south and 'jumpers' hopping around near the warehouses to the south and the prison yards to the north.