tidge

July 18

July 18

Tar Patch is very nearly the L1 pick that all other sets wish they could take.

July 18

Lots of good stuff I agree with:

15 hours ago, WumpusRat said:

The cooldowns are long, but proper slotting can bring the recharge down a LONG way. On my trappers, most of my powers are on 30-40s recharge (and that's without using hasten), simply because of how easy it is to stack recharge on Homecoming, particularly on a mastermind (you can split Superior Mark of Supremacy into three sets of two and get 30% global recharge right there).

As for detonator, I never take it. Even now, when your henchies can be resummoned quickly it's kind of a waste. Back on live it was HORRIBLE, since the recharge on the pet summoning powers was something like 30/60/90s, so losing even a tier-1 could mean a good bit before you could summon it again, and losing your tier-3 meant you had to run away for a while to regroup.

I also skip Hasten on MMs... Global Recharge is easy to come by, and MMs have a hefty Endurance tax on all their powers, so spamming powers isn't always a good thing.

I also have not implemented Detonator. It is probably more palatable on HC (vs. Live) for reasons stated, but for most of the content I play, and the way I leverage the primary/secondary sets it would be too much of a disruption to plan to resummon a henchmen.

One of the things I like about /traps on MM is that I can skip Web Grenade, Triage Beacon, Trip Mine, and Detonator. Seeker drones only gets taken to hold a pair of globals that otherwise have to go into a henchman.

July 18

38 minutes ago, skoryy said:

Incarnate content was the devs' answer to raids and raid gear, so it had to provide some benefit outside of raids. Otherwise, why raid? Raid gear was still useful outside of raids, so, sure, why not incarnates in regular content 45-50. Also remember that the only way to get incarnate salvage and unlocks at first was through incarnate raids. Dark Astoria came later for soloing. It wasn't meant to be this easy to achieve. The issue here is not a matter of incarnates being available at 45-50, its that now you can get raid-level stuff without doing raid-level content.

100%. I certainly had reasons to dislike the Incarnate system on Live... it's more that HC's (good, well-motivated) efforts to open the gates to easy Incarnates that has IMO diluted the experience of 45-50 content. Writing for myself: I find doing content like a Maria Jenkins or finishing a Patron arc to be much more enjoyable solo before I've gotten any Incarnates, and definitely without teaming with Incarnates.

I also have something of a bête noire when it comes to Incarnate Lore pets: I can't get over folks that summon multiple instances (often with their multi-box accounts) to deal with something like an Adamastor summons... that second Lore will reduce time, but by no more than 1 minute (unless the player is a klutz) ... and the kicker is when those same players then complain that so-and-so didn't wait long enough for everyone to get into the zone before the GM was defeated. Um... you popped your multi-box Lores right on the GM...

July 18

8 hours ago, Luminara said:

So did HC's changes "break the game"? No, not really. Easier access to converters/catalysts, bucketing in the market, these things definitely made IOs significantly more accessible, but all they really did was remove the hyperinflation barrier that kept most players from using them. And they were right to do so, because as I said, this was always the plan. We weren't supposed to be at the mercy of flippers who kept driving prices upward on cornered IOs and recipes. Character growth wasn't supposed to be restricted to the wealthiest or luckiest. Unchecked inflation wasn't supposed to be a control on IO accessibility.

The greatest success in HC is IMO the easy availability of enhancements to all players, including the attention paid to keeping the market vibrant. The HO/DS portion is still subject to 'peculiarities', but between seeding and merit conversions we've got a really nice, anti-inflationary ability to acquire just about everything else. 20 merits for a Steadfast Protection recipe? Thanks!

Early in HC it seemed like folks were carrying over some ideas from Live w.r.t. Enhancements (gotta make farmers! gotta have Fire/Cold bonuses!)... IMO the real advantage of the IO pieces is that many ATs can improve their solo performance, making the game much more enjoyable. I used to hate leveling up Controllers/Defenders solo... but with easy access to %damage procs I can complete mission arcs in less than several hours.

4 hours ago, Wavicle said:

Allowing incarnate powers in non-incarnate content, and in below level 50 content, has been a much bigger problem for the game than IOs in my opinion.

probably only the alpha slot should apply from level 45 through level 49, the other incarnate powers should only be available in level 50+ content, and maybe even only in incarnate content.

I definitely agree that Incarnate powers shouldn't be available in level 45-50 content... and I'd include the Alpha slot too (although I agree it is less of a big deal, since we can change difficulty settings). I can understand why they sneak in (we don't have 45-49 only content), but anyone who has done 45-50 arcs with Incarnates can see just how much the Incarnate system breaks the risk/reward part of the core game.

July 18

8 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Here's a real question for anyone whose posted in this sub thread - how many posters have shared an idea or suggestion and actually agreed with other posters who point out the flaws or criticisms of that? What a crazy world to think one's ideas are without flaw.

I'm self-judging my participation on the topic of suggestions as hitting all points on this spectrum:

I think some ideas are bad, often in a very selfish (or short-sighted) way: often these are of this sort: "hey I wanted to do this one thing, this one time, and it took me two clicks instead of one, plz change hmm 'kay?". If no one else is pointing out the short-sghtedness... I'll jump in and look like a negative nancy. If there are dozens of existing threads (ehem, Group Fly) there is nothing more for anyone to say on this topic, as no opinion has gone unstated. Every once in a while I end up engaging with another member when I think they are misunderstanding some fundamental part of the game, or are making grand pronouncements with limited experience or authority.

I think some suggestions are ones I simply disagree with. They may get just a reaction, maybe some reply if I think there is nuance to my disagreement.

There is a mirror version where I think some suggestions are good... maybe just a reaction, maybe some vocality is provided.

Sometimes I really like a suggestion, and I want to share even more ideas related to the suggestion (ehem, rework the last of the original power pools)

Sometimes I think a thread needs some memery to explore the topic ("The Homecunkening?"), especially when the pitch is right over the plate ("Dream/Idea Police living inside our head")

July 17

We had, not too long ago, an emphatic plea from one user asking other users to stop pointing out the drawbacks of their suggestion... and eventually a power-that-is weighed in repeating (in effect) the sum of all the already shared reasons why that suggestion wasn't going to be implemented ...and that's when things got ugly.

July 17

Repeated "suggestions" in the public forum don't really bother me... but I have been (emotionally) tested to NOT reply to the umpteenth time on the topic of something like "Group Fly".

On 7/16/2025 at 4:20 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

What I would really love is some sort of input or direction from those who command. If someone makes a suggestion that is blatantly self-serving, some sort of comment like, "We will take that under advisement, but it doesn't seem to advance our goals at this time." If it's a really good interesting idea, how about, "That is an interesting idea." If it is technologically unfeasible, how about, "That is currently technically unfeasible." Or even a plain /jranger from a bolded name, so we know it's a non-starter and we can move on with our lives.

I haven't forgotten a semi-recent real-time meltdown in the suggestions forum that included an actual dev response "Not going to happen" (which was predicted by *many* forum regulars), at which point the member that wasn't going to get what they wanted began sealioning the devs.... which became a miserable experience for everyone.

The suggestion forum is IMO best engaged as a chance to air out ideas, especially if the suggestion is made with an underlying assumption that "My suggestion is no better than half-right". It is a safe assumption that not everything has been considered as part of the assumption, and it is also a safe assumption that not everyone perceives an issue as having the same magnitude as the person making the suggestion. We should avoid blatant rudeness when replying to suggestions, but OPs should not have paper-thin skins either.

July 17

July 17

3 minutes ago, Ukase said:

So, is this worth asking for? Will it ruin someone's life or experience by taking the one part of the game that's not fungible in the way that other enhancements are, and making them convertible via enhancement converters?

It is worth asking, unfortunately there appears to be a coding limitation that makes them unavailable for converter roulette (similar to how common IOs cannot be converted).

I have no idea if that same limitation prevents them from being treated as fungible on the market. Common IOs are not fungible by either level or type. If the HO/DS were completely fungible, there would be some amount of market chaos, but it certainly would smooth out the value of the rando drops.

11 minutes ago, Ukase said:

Right now, I'll tip my hand and say I'd like to get my hands on about 20 Acc/Dam HO/D-sync (whatever form they come in, all in the same pool, doesn't matter) and another 20 acc/threat/rec.

There is a sort of double (or triple) whammy on Threat/Accuracy/Recharge... There are a LOT of non-threat powers that take both Accuracy and Recharge enhancements, but there are relatively few (in some powers) or no IO sets that can be slotted in such powers that have Accuracy/Recharge pieces... so there is not even a 50+5 option. On the threat side of things... the devs seem to have forgotten to provide options for more Accuracy... with only two set pieces (from different sets) that include Accuracy at all.... it is as if they forgot that there are powers that are not auto-hit as well as having forgotten about things like the aggro cap. The real miss in the Threat set realm is IMO the total lack of an Endurance reduction option.

July 17

My approach is basic:

#1 - Low-level Blue Zones

#2 - High-level Blue Zones

#3 - Co-op Zones

#4 - Red Zones

#5 - Praetoria / Shadow Shard

July 17

17 minutes ago, Ukase said:

The irony of confusing people with a confused reaction is almost funny.

July 17

I find /Traps on MMs to be incredibly powerful. In most team content (fighting packs of critters on large maps), it can be less obviously useful (especially if the team is fast-moving) than sets which buff allies or directly target opponents. Solo it is awesome.

I suspect that the OP has allowed preconceptions to get in the way of seeing how Traps actually excels.

July 17

18 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

When I think of the name Suggestions Forum, I think of a Suggestions Box where people anonymously suggest ideas that are examined by management. Sometimes the slot in the box leads directly to a shredder, but at least the people who post feel some level of agency.

As long as none of the suggestion are made public, and everyone who makes a suggestion will accept that the suggestion will be discarded unread, this seems perfectly acceptable.

July 17

8 hours ago, FupDup said:

I'm not one of the "make the game harder" people, but the part of the Council buffs that got complained about was how tanky/spongey they became, especially considering some of them could rez after you finally whittled down their health bars. Bullet sponges aren't challenging, just tedious and annoying.

Live FREEM or Die.

July 16

3 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Galvanic Sentinel can be kinda clunky and can be eliminated from a build if desired. My Dark/ElecAff does not use it because my wolf pet is more reliable for chaining off of. And dumping it was advice I was given here on the forums at the time, not sure if this has changed since then (it's been like a year at this point I think).

This has basically been my strategy. I delayed the Sentinel until I was ready to start picking most of the /Elec powers... perhaps a P2W pet would do just as well.

July 16

FWIW, some badges/contact unlocks/accolades are often accomplished by fighting 'con grey' enemies in (relatively) open world low level zones.

July 16

Not that long ago...

July 16

22 hours ago, Uun said:

The thing to keep in mind with Elec Affinity is that the number of targets your chains hit is determined by how many stacks of Static you have. Without any stacks of Static the chains only have a target cap of 4. Each stack of Static increases that by 3. Because of this, you'll end up spamming your buffs before they've expired in order to maintain Static. (The buff durations for Empowering Circuit and Insulating Circuit are much longer than their recharges.)

Per the power icons, it looks like Faraday Cage adds a LOT of Static.

I suspect I am going to take Defibrillate out of the build. Self-rezzes (and temp rez ally) powers/insps are too easy to come by to make this power worth investing a pick in, especially considering the mediocre enemy-affecting portion

I'm thinking to keep Amp Up, and try to leverage it with the Catherine Wheel solo. It definitely looks more like a power that should be cast on a support ally.

July 15

If multi-boxing is mostly behind instanced doors and 'one player"... why wouldn't you multibox on a different server and just migrate?

July 15

46 minutes ago, Kyksie said:

You can still play these, at least the main game. The online part is gone now that they shut down the servers, but it was never good.

Yeah, I've still got them installed... I miss the Deux Ex FPS we never got... IIRC there was a third 'new era' game planned when that studio closed up shop. I understand how the economics weren't there for it of course.

July 15

Re: Cloud Senses (x4)

On 6/18/2025 at 8:02 PM, Psyonico said:

If you’ve got the slots for it, probably. I’m not sure if Glittering Column’s to-hit debuff requires a to-hit roll, if it does, I’d probably go 4x the lower level accurate tohit debuff set (cloud senses?) since that gives recharge.

On 6/19/2025 at 4:02 PM, BZRKR said:

Yeah, 4xCloud Senses all the way.

The "schedule" for debuffs is such that I find an attuned set of Cloud Senses (which normally caps at 30) offers very little noticeable difference compared to a set that normally caps at 50 (or higher, for HOs). Unless I'm skimping slots or frankenslotting a primary/secondary power: I a;ways opt for Cloud Senses.

On 6/22/2025 at 12:07 AM, SeraphimKensai said:

I just leveled a pyro/time to 50 earlier today, and the build I made did skip brilliant barrage for hypnotizing lights mainly due to wanting to slot contagious confusion.

On 6/23/2025 at 11:08 AM, twozerofoxtrot said:

My take is that Hypnotizing Lights is best used like a proc-shotgun:

Edit: Goofed around a bit with Brilliant Barrage and wasn't very impressed. Not scoring double procs (my assumption is the internal CD on procs is keeping this from happening) and the longer CD on this power makes it less useful as a proc'd out damage/control option than Hypnotizing Lights.

Brilliant Barrage isn't a good source of %proc for me, I'm guessing it's the 'nothing left after effect' (similar to Seeker Drones) and/or 'after' effects. I expect that I'll end up slotting this to get a set bonus, probably with some set that end up offering respectable recharge components. The multiple types of possible controls would seem to make this a good place for one of the ATOs.

Hypnotizing Lights is a fine %damage attack for me (so far). Normally I'd take a power like this and lean into the Control aspect... and Purple control sets are good choices... but the deep sleep plus the confuse seem to be working against each other. A different sleep power/effect (that doesn't include deep sleep) can be used to 'break' deep sleep, but this is a PITA to work into an attack chain. For example, I can use /Elec Defibrillate to 'overwirte' Deep Sleep, but this isn't a sustainable (or particularly effective) strategy.

July 15

The tea leaves left after the HC rework of Energy Melee pretty much indicate that there won't be any changes to that set. From my PoV, the cone Power Crash was added explicitly because (a) "Where is all the AoE for Energy Melee?" and (b) "Who wants Stun, anyway?". The Energy Focus mechanic was added to try to add a little something-something to the single-target focus that EM had in the distant past... I half-suspect that the tie to the new cone was to make the new mechanic more 'relevant'. (Because 'combos' are the new 'fetch')

Personally: I kinda like the EM updates, even though they aren't what I wanted and I have yet to respec or start a character to include Power Crash. For whatever reason (lingering resentment over EM from the first days of PvP on Live?) we were not going to get EM as the pinnacle of single-target DPS, plus a Disorient.

July 14

July 14

1 hour ago, tidge said:

To quote Stuttering John to Ringo Starr: "What did you do with the money?"

26 minutes ago, battlewraith said:

Used it for new builds, as it says in the part you quoted,

And the builds still don't satisfy you?

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