tidge

CoX definitely did not fit the Korean mold (at the time, I cannot speak to *now*): The game didn't require/drive the type of all-day farming that was typical for that market. Also: Standard subscriber rewards were pretty generous, and in-game purchases weren't necessary for the most part. I got the sense that the game was more than paying for itself (including development) just that it wasn't going to show the sorts of crazy growth that NCSoft wanted. While I *hated* seeing the game sunset, I didn't like what the Live team was doing with the Lore at the end... specifically driving development on the Incarnate path. I know many players were tempted by the siren song of MOAR POWA, but getting new primary/secondary sets and sub-Incarnate content were IMO a much better thing to focus on for an engaged player base.

Only rarely do I mix IOs and pieces from Enhancement sets. There are occasions, but when I do, it is usually because there is only one attribute I want boosted and there is no set that offers more than one piece that only boosts the same attribute. For example, if I want to only boost the defense of something like a Force Field Generator, I may start with the Global recharge piece from LotG, but after that the set only has one Defense (only) piece. I may as well use only a IO Defense piece. For attacks, generally a mix of Accuracy, Damage and Endurance is important. MMV depending on the inherent Recharge time of a power. Sets let you get those, plus bonuses. Another thing: sometimes the only way to increase the attribute of a power is with a set. Mind Link/Link Minds will not take recharge reduction IOs, but you can slot the Recharge piece from the ToHit set to improve recharge times. (Hami-O/Dsyncs that include a recharge reduction can be slotted, but they don't improve the recharge times, because they act like IOs)

As I noted in one of my long-ago posts in this very thread, I'm not a huge fan of heals-for-others powers, but it is silly to come down hard on another player that clearly has a different opinion.

I have an Energy Blast / Time Manipulation Corruptor that is a "faux Peacebringer". The final build is posted below, but it was plenty of fun leveling up.

I haven't found a Stalker combination that I didn't like. One thing about building Stalkers that stands out to me: I almost always see a single pick from and Epic/Patron pool at level 35 that can well-supplement whatever I'm wanting to do with the Stalker... but nothing is necessary to make the Stalker play well... as opposed to other ATs where an Epic pool is usually needed for a resistance/defense toggle. Even though there is the overlap between Scrappers/Stalkers at the Epic level, something always makes me think the Stalker has a light edge (in terms of how to leverage Epics/Patrons).

Many good points were in the responses, but the walls of text make it hard for me to quote out what I think are the key points: 1) Enhancement sets (with multiple attributes per enhancement) help to reach and/or avoid the point at which Enhancement Diversification would make using non-set pieces a losing game... at least in terms of slot investment. Fewer slots to get similar goals means that there are more slots to go around. 2) Set bonuses *do* add up. Mileage varies on which bonuses to pursue. For example: I typically find that for non-Tanker/Brute (i.e. low HP) characters, chasing Regeneration doesn't make much sense. In contrast: +MaxHP almost always makes sense. Most characters can benefit from more Recovery, Global Endurance Discounts, and MaxEnd. Getting global Accuracy bonuses means that when facing those +4 enemies that also happen to debuff you, you aren't near the floor of ToHit chances.

At low levels, I don't find much of a reason to slot, or activate resistance powers. The percentages simply aren't there to make a difference. I suppose we can quibble about their value above level 15 or so (since the DFB boosts can last beyond that point), but at 10+ there are IO options to boost defense and resistance. I can believe someone could try to make a sincere case for a DfB/DiB resistance boost... but I think it would be such small potatoes considering the larger picture of The levels/time duration at which the boosts stop What else is a player doing if they have also planned to run DfB and/or DiB many multiple times? For players with other characters: selling a single level 50 recipe to a vendor is enough to get a level 1 or 2 rather significant 8-hour boosts from the P2W/START, plus some utility powers.

Rando comments: Takeoff is pretty great as part of the Force of Will set's Mighty Leap. It's fine as a joke-y sort of combat move, and it jives well with the Leaping. I almost always get to where I want to be PDQ. My one complaint about Afterburner is the longish down-time. I rarely get to where I want to be with it toggled on, even with Evasive Manuevers. Look elsewhere for my bad feels about the 4 (+1) toggles in the Flight Pool. I agree that Double Jump is kind of clunky. It's used exclusively when my Jump isn't quite getting me to where I want to be (or a suitable landing spot is not close by)... so I sort of see the point of the OP. Super Jump was my favorite travel power on Live, so I'm pretty satisfied with the relatively quick Mighty Leap (from Force of Will). My general suggestion when it comes to Legacy Day 0 power pools (so not just the Travels, but also Presence, Medicine) is this: Like the Fighting pool, there probably should be some inherent boosting of most of the power choices for taking more than one power in the pool. Folks can look elsewhere for my suggestions for Presence and Medicine, but for travel pools I think the most obvious things would be something like boosts to speed/range to the dedicated travel power.

I agree with 2-slots of LotG being a generally inferior choice, but I went with it because the build does take damage, so the little bit more Regeneration (even though it is paltry, and sort of past the point of diminishing returns) was an easy lean (because of the Global Recharge slotting). I simply didn't feel like putting Cyto's in this build. Endurance isn't much of an issue with well-used Energy Drain. I don't have tons of fun in Incarnate content (the Live experience really soured it for me) so I'm generally playing 1-50 content, mostly below 40. It's a common theme with my builds that I Don't consider Incarnates I want a reasonably complete character suitable for all lower-level content I typically consider late power choices for mules and don't consider them as "requirement" powers to make my builds awesome sauce. One of the things I like best about Energy Aura is that it is a very non-intrusive (graphically, except for idling with Energy Cloak) armor set... so it allows costumes to be shown off. Re: The Fighting pool and Rune of Protection... much like Hasten, I have come to actively look for ways to avoid making these choices. I'm motivated mostly by being iconoclastic, partially because I don't like giving up flavorful power choices for (generally) passive powers that don't directly affect enemies, and partially because I don't appreciate the (in my view) restrictive build choices I'm left with after pursuing two of those three common choices. I don't mind playing with my characters on the edge of knife. I do still make builds with those powers, but when I choose them it is typically either for theme or to cover an obvious gap and less to make the character moar betta. Not all my characters have to stand toe-to-toe solo against Lord Recluse! Don't get hung up on Maneuvers, as I wrote above, it's a mule and Infiltration can be used instead to be able to swap in a Winter's Gift slow resistance instead.

Hey... somebody dropped this list of stuff that does next-to-nothing at levels below 10. Imma leave it at the lost-and-found. Less sarcastically: The Recovery Enhancer is going to do more for the sorts of things on that list used by players at low levels than a +15% would.

There is no need to add merits to DFB. New players can hop around the starting zone to collect 5 merits.

El riesgo siempre vive.

On Energy Aura, I always skip worrying about Positional defenses.. whatever "OH $#!+" defense boosts usually cover everything. I also wouldn't build a Sentinel to be a "Hover Blaster", that seems like such (way) old school thinking. I think of Sentinels as Scrappers that happen to have ranged attacks, MMV.

Ah yes, that is a Scirocco's Dervish %Lethal. Normally I don't recommend going %damage heavy on Scrappers' primaries... but I wasn't thrilled about Savage's damage being so much damage-over-time. The %procs are to 'front load' damage. The pool cone attack Wall of Force is low damage anyway, so that was always going to get %damage for melee. Even though I almost never use Project Will as an attack (despite the slot investment in it) I think that Wall of Force should be the power that is reconsidered, either for alternate slot choices (set bonuses) or as a different power pick (like Hemorrhage, for ATOs). One of the reasons I think this combination might be better on a Brute is because IIRC Fury boosts the damage-over-time, whereas the Scrapper's CRITICAL is only on the initial hit. My initial Brute thoughts are to drop Wall of Force for Taunt (6x Mocking Beratement). The odd thing (for me anyway) is that the Brute ATOs are kinda meh, IMO... but I'd want to try to boost MaxHP as much as possible, so two 3x Brute's Fury is on the table... but that set has the 5x global recharge bonus. On the negative side, I don't think Energy Aura is a great pick for a Brute, but that is because I don't see a way to easily leverage it to quasi-passively boost +MaxHP. During leveling, I was boosting Range on Savage Leap, and I rather liked this! With a different choice of secondary (where perhaps fewer picks are necessary) I'd 100% add Combat Teleport to the build as well.

My Build has some serious issues solo against +1x8 Talons of Vengeance, so maybe the Fighting pool is a good idea! It doesn't quite have enough defense (minus Incarnates) for them in Dark Astoria. I feel you on slow resists. I may swap out the last LotG for Infiltration to add the 20% unique... but this build has that weird Entropic Aura effect. I can see the timers jumping around! I often use only a 50+5 Accuracy on heavy %proc attacks. The extra range on the cone is me spoiling myself on this melee character. Same on Weaken Resolve, an Accuracy is generally all that is needed, but I had some Lyso's just sitting around. I like your comment on Unleash Potential: I either use it to 6-slot a Defense or Healing set, but I have one character that needed neither of my preferred set bonuses (for that power) so I completely franken-slotted it with Shield Walls, D-Sync Reconstruction, a LotG, and a Preventive Medicine Global.

Of course, Terrify is also a level 22 pick with a lower base accuracy than the level 8 Seeds of Confusion. I can sort of see what the Live Devs were trying for with Plant Control(*1), as a set... yet it doesn't mean I'm still not shocked that a single power (Seeds) it is superior (effectively, IMO) to both the level 8 Confuse (more targets, same base duration, albeit with lower base accuracy and a higher endurance cost) and the level 26 Mass Confusion. Don't forget that prior to I27p5, the T9 power picks came even later for everybody (level 32 on primaries). (*1) and I'm not ignoring this was a subscribe-or-buy power set. As noted by @Psyonico, Seeds is 100% mitigation, and also a means of delivering damage (when multiple targets are hit) to clear spawns faster.

I think it is unlikely that Seeds of Confusion would ever be modified in any meaningful way. It was a solid reason to "buy" Plant Control on live, and I just don't know that anyone can make a cogent argument for actually hitting it with a nerf bat. The set has maintained its status as one of the strongest for so long... I think it is only by looking at the other Control powers and trying to decide if they still make sense (AoE range/radius, accuracy, endurance cost, recharge time, magnitude, duration, etc.) given the context of the entire game. I don't mean to invoke a discussion of "What is the role of a Controller in ____ content?", but it is hard to look out the (now, long existing) current state of something like AoE damaging powers (the "nukes", which wouldn't be nerfed, I'm sure) and not wonder why the base attributes of the high-tier control powers were not re-examined. As I wrote above, I'm sensitive about giving the AoE controls inherently shorter recharge times... even if I can absolutely see the appeal to that potential solution. And I think I could argue for it, but I'd rather someone else think through a more rapid-firing AoE control's effect on game balance! I'd prefer to avoid having a powers dev try to spreadsheet a reduction in control durations just because the base recharge changed (which AFAIK something similar goes into 'balance passes' of attacks). I suggest base Accuracy as a quick fix (a benefit with no added drawback) because I think it is easier to see from a "game balance without IOs" perspective that: A level 8 power that needs minimal accuracy slotting, when first available, is compared with A similar level 26 that needs accuracy slotting (and recharge, at least to approach the utility of Seeds) The point I'm trying to make is that a low level 8 character using Seeds of Confusion doesn't have to make any slot investments in it (at least not right away), whereas a fresh level 26 with Mass Confusion is going to need at least two slots to approach getting a similar utility as an unenhanced Seeds of Confusion. Eventually the slots start becoming available, but between 8 and 26+ there is a LOT of game content. I also kinda think that "base accuracy" is enough of a 'hidden' stat that improving it on a marquee power would be palatable.

I came to the thread to post exactly this. Spore Cloud is one of the better debuffs IMO. To re-emphasize the 'fighting trash' comment: if the enemies are already having trouble hitting the team, unless there are some big bags of HP involved I probably won't use it that much.

A few days after the end of ToT and the market price is around 1.3M per aether. This is me trying to guesstimate demand: When I see players using an obviously non-temp costume, it is pretty much always mini-mode. I suppose some players can be using effects that I don't notice. I know a handful of players that run certain characters always using a specific costume. On my one character that I specifically wanted to have mini-mode, I ended up not liking the way the collision box worked... I think the mechanic is fine, it was simply too disorienting for me. With the name release, I expect a slight uptick in characters that use costume toggles, but I expect (in my imagination) most of those would be Tier 1 costumes. I see regular Labyrinth runs on another (less populated) server. As near as I can tell based only on participants, it is a sort of farming exercise for players' characters that would otherwise be 99% engaged with things like ToT/April Fools leagues, periodic Giant Monster Hunts and the like. It seems as if it is mostly something to do while waiting for one of the multiple daily Hamidon raids. No judgement, and no way to tell what if anything makes it to the market from any of those. I'm still hoarding my Aethers... mostly because I wanted to see how long it would take me to earn over 1500. I'd sold some along the way, burned a few more but otherwise they feel like a nest egg that will never be hatched.

Do we all still agree that Seeds of Confusion is the elephant in the room? Setting aside the level at which Seeds of Confusion can be taken (it isn't a T9!), differences in cast/arcana time, Endurance cost, etc. the base accuracy of 1.0 compared to Mass Confusion's 0.8 really sticks out like a sore (green) thumb. Even Terrify doesn't get a 1.0 base accuracy! +1. I'll repeat/clarify: I'm mostly ok with the balance among the higher-tier AoE controls (when only looking at the higher-tier controls), but as soon as I look at Seeds of Confusion, or the recharge times, base accuracies and (potential) secondary effects of t9 nukes (plus damage, natch), I kinda wonder why the higher tier controls still have such mediocre values. With T9 nukes having base accuracies above 1.0, I see no reason to keep the slower-recharging T9 controls to have accuracies below 1.0. I'm not an automatic advocate for reducing recharge times, only because it's hard to know what the effect would be (blah blah game balance). It's clear that the game has an underlying philosophy that all enemies (PvE certainly) in a spawn shouldn't be 100% controlled 100% of the time (using IOs).

I found Energy Aura to be surprisingly good on Sentinels, but I don't think of it as "easy mode". Bio on a Sentinel looks to be somewhat set-and-forget (compared to other ATs) but I think it probably has more clicks (plus adaptation) than I'd recommend for a no-brainer armor. I think Super Reflexes, Willpower and Invulnerability are good choices for (mostly) set-and-forget. Super Reflexes has a click that I'd probably eventually put on auto (working on an early level SR Sentinel now), Willpower will need some thinking about slotting of the toggles. Invulnerability's Dull Pain is probably a power that wouldn't necessarily need to be used all that often. I'd still take it, and probably eventually 6-slot it. FWIW, My #1 Sentinel is (with accolades) is one of the few characters I have that passively sits at the maximum health for its AT. That's the Energy Aura with the (auto) Power Armor.

I *think* what the request should be (for maximum chance of being implemented) is: The "below the knee" of Monstrous Legs should be experimented with as "Boots", since Boots can exist with skirts/shorts, and The "Bottom" texture of Skirt/Shorts needs to exist to match whatever ends up as "Boots" The obvious problem is that the current Monstrous Legs have 'Feet' connect at an angle different from how 'Boots' connect to the upper legs. EDIT: I recognize that this would not like NOT give the "tippie toes" leg art, but it would probably allow more variety than simply adding one or two skirts/shorts to Monstrous Legs. In the meantime, the only option I've found to have something like a skirt for Monstrous legs is via the various 'Belt' choices on the 'Upper Body'. In a similar vein, I find it annoying that 'Monstrous Fur' isn't more available with 'classic tops'; I've had to use 'Chest Details' on top of Monstrous Fur... often I can get a look that kinda works (for me), but the choices always feel weirdly limited.

But Moe, I've never observed Sally drop her mini-pet recipe!

I had two (older) level 1 characters with names I was pretty much just sitting on, and after the name release policy I got two names I had wanted for specific concepts that I hadn't yet played. On a whim, I wanted to minimize any stress over potentially "losing" those names; I took each of these four through either blue or red play, with no XP boosts. Three of the four used only minimal P2W/START purchases (1-hour booster buffs, a travel, 3 prestige attacks). I played the tutorial and then did the starter arcs (Hasby, Kalinda and whatever came next). The longest it took me to get a character to level 6 was something like 50 minutes... that was a redside Stalker... but 50 minutes was about what it took for the others that didn't have Day Job/Patrol XP, A fifth (new, level 1) character for a concept I am somewhat excited to try went through blue-side to level 7 in about 30 minutes, despite spending time to get the Isolator badge in Outbreak. That character did have 2XP, and I was also careful to pace myself and grab Patrol XP from the exploration badges (Atlas Park, Ouroborous, Echo Galaxy City) to maximize XP returns as needed. I only complete Hasby's arc, started the next one but got to level 7 by street sweeping in Echo Galaxy City. TL;DR: go ahead and play that character a little.

I haven't PvPed with a Tanker since Live (pre-Incarnates), although I have PvPed against Tankers on Homecoming. These experiences are minimal; my Tanker held off an entire team (that I don't think was playing smartly), I slew opposing solo Tankers. My solo Tanker was Invulnerability, and it wasn't a ton of fun to play in Live PvP... but it didn't have anything like the enhancements we can have on Homecoming. There was occasional retreating because incoming fire from ranged attacks would eventually wear it down. On Homecoming, my Tanker slayer was a Stalker...Bio Armor was more than enough of an armor set to stand toe-to-toe with a couple of Tankers (one was Rad) and the damage was enough to get them to retreat (and/or defeat them if they had poor recharge on a key power). I don't know that Bio's tricks would be enough for a Tanker... it would almost certainly do better 1-on-1 against a melee opponent. My instinct tells me that if a player wants to have a nigh-unkillable (in one-on-one, or maybe one-or-more-than-one) Tanker in PvP, an absolute must will have to be a reliable, fast-recharging self-heal and maximized health. Boosting Regeneration will certainly help (if HP are near max), but mostly because there will be no way to avoid taking damage. Defense values won't count for nothing, but those "(near) softcap" numbers shouldn't mean much against an opponent who has well-slotted their bread & butter attacks with sets. You will want that Scaling Resistance piece for sure! You'll need "complete" resistance/protection to controls, including knockback. You'll need to have Endurance spending and Recovery under control, because if the wrong toggle drops it will likely be game-over. From my limited PvP experience on Homecoming, its kinda dull to 1-on-1 with most any AT, because it is pretty much always possible to run away (if the players are prepared to have to do so). Ganging up on a solo player in a PvP zone has no appeal (to me) unless the solo player is explicitly trying to fight more-than-one at once. The last thing I'd add, and this is just (hopefully informed) speculation: Any PvP Tanker should probably have a build specifically for PVP. The sorts of choices commonly made for PvE (franken-slotting for %damage, skipping/minimizing Taunt) are not going to well-serve a player in PvP. Extra attacks from Epic/Patron/Pool powers are highly unlikely to be valuable (beyond set bonuses from slotting). This is not so much advice to "boost everything", but make wiser choices of powers and slots that will benefit the PvP play.