tidge

October 2, 2023

Anything will work. If you really intend to cruise on -1x0 I would avoid (for play reasons, not because they are weak):

Brutes: The Fury mechanic is something you are unlikely to notice.

Dominators: As with Fury, you will be unlikely to notice it, until it Domination is up and then you will want to have Domination up all the time which requires build choices.

Hero Epics (HEAT): These offer different play-styles, but mastering swapping between forms (and making slotting choices) may be confusing.

VEATs: You should have a plan going in, as you will have to respec and make some choices.

Masterminds: You'll be rolling over -1x0 content and probably not pickup on the different considerations.

October 2, 2023

The Power Transfer %Heal piece should work just fine in a toggle. I don't think this one relies on having any enemies to hit; that is... I feel like it should do its thing "on cast".

This piece did/does have a few things odd about it. It may be possible to test by standing in some lava/fire and monitor Healing Received.

I often make the "mistake" of slotting this piece into a long recharge power (as a mule) forgetting that it isn't a global. If it was going to require its own slot (in a power that wouldn't otherwise be active or part of a set bonus) I'll put the slot in Stamina.

October 2, 2023

I had missed that I was tagged on this thread...

I found that on my favorite Fortunata, the biggest issue (not really a "hole") was Endurance. I addressed it through Cardiac (Core, for MOAR). Players who simplify their attack strategy can probably go another route.

For the Crabs/Hunstmen I will simply Alpha = Musculature.

I usually don't put much thought into the other Incarnate abilities. Of them, I usually craft multiple options for Destiny and just switch depending on content. Ageless is probably the best choice (for Debuff resistance) but I have several "panic buttons" so my Fortunata doesn't usually have this slotted.

Judgement is almost always Ionic, because it is relatively easy to use and there are only a handful of enemies that can "defeat" it (e.g. Intangible Carnies)

Interface is almost always Degenerative (Radial), simply because I *like* the %-HP more than other effects but I don't really need it (so I take the %75 DoT Radial path)

Lore is whatever I feel like.

I treat Hybrid like Destiny... I usually craft multiples and alternate among them. Crabberminds start with Support, everyone else starts with Assault (for simplicity). I rather like combining the Support Destiny in addition to the other "Leadership" types of powers on VEATs to further buff teammates.

October 2, 2023

I've only played Energy Melee (from all eras, Day 1 thru Homecoming today) on a Tanker... on Homecoming, I find Energy Melee to be a very satisfying offensive set. There is always a possibility of "corpse punching", but the fast/focused attacks mitigate this rather well. The Total Focus mechanic/ i27 revamp isn't what I wanted, but it was a good set of changes.

Any HP cost from Energy Transfer is rather meaningless IMO. Have the Reactive Defenses %Scaling Damage Resistance piece slotted (in addition to %+HP pieces) and you will never notice.

October 2, 2023

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

If you go to the Homecoming wiki and look at the city map, you'll see it's badly out of date, too — not only is The Hollows still marked as a hazard zone, but so is Peregrine Island, and it still shows the RWZ with the borders of the old RCS, along with its entry being from the west end of Crey's Folly. Lots of outdated information.

I believe it is still possible to enter the RWZ from Crey's Folly (as well as through the Vanguard Base). I feel like some fraction of my exploration badge runs progress directly from that corner of CF to the RWZ.

October 2, 2023

I've observed this: the Maintenance Drone appears to sometimes be "stunned/held" or "knocked back". Occasionally my Robotics MM ends up behaving the same, and it is always when under some status effect (while Hovering). FWIW The Maintenance Drone is a LOT better about staying close to the MM than the Force Field Generator.

September 30, 2023

3 hours ago, Solarverse said:

If the Devs were concerned with the current system (big if) then it would seem the obvious logical choice is to tie those to NPCs killed rather than length of Task Force. A system that calculates how many NPCs the team wiped out in the Task Force and hands out Merits accordingly?

A rando observation.

Gathering Prismatic Aether Particles favor speedy conclusion to as many missions as possible in as short a period as possible; (Recipe) Drops favor as many defeats as possible... so these two types of rewards. It does seem like the current devs are implementing something.

I do like the TFs that offer opportunities to defeat more "named" NPCs, particularly those that lead to badges(*1)... and I like when it is possible to collect extra rewards "inside" a TF/SF.

Complete aside: (*1) I wish that more "villains" in blue side missions offered progress on Villain Disruptor; I'm always peeved when I have to keep repeating the PI Bank/PD station to complete that one. I'm less bothered by Hero Slayer because of the ease at picking up Bloody Hands... although it would make some sense for those badges be similarly easier for Villains to collect organically.

September 30, 2023

2 hours ago, kelika2 said:

Confuse kills should reward full exp. between all the other ways to get levels fast the old "low risk low reward" mentality does not feel needed anymore.

and we just wont know until someone does a "confuse only challenge" run to get to 50+3

With %damage in the AoE Confuse, the Controller gets in the drop pool for every hit enemy. The XP is worth far less than the drops, and the "cost" of losing XP from a confused enemy is much less than one might naively think.

September 30, 2023

For my Corruptors, I usually have done this slotting(*1):

Malice of the Corruptor: 6-slot in the attack taken at Level 1

Scourging Blast: I split this into two 3-slots, occasionally this is a single 6-slot.. depending on what other set bonuses the build will have. The three pieces with Recharge tend to go into a lower-level power, unless a long base-recharge AoE is a better fit(*2) . The other three non-Recharge pieces tend to go into an AoE power that I will add %damage procs to.

(*1) This is at final build, often I do things sightly differently with the ATO while leveling up.

(*2) Long base recharge is inherently better for %damage, as are AoE attacks. The early attacks tend to have high base recharge, so slotting pieces that grant set bonuses while boosting the recharge component of an already fast power makes those early powers a "good fit" for more complete enhancement sets IMO. The Corruptor melee/ranged damage scales are IIRC only at 0.75, so I tend to consider the larger AoE powers first when considering %damage on Corrs. Mileage varies depending on available powers, other build choices, etc.

The Scourging Blast's %+End is more important early than it will (probably be) later... I try to keep that in an attack I will have relatively early, but I don't specifically try to include that in a long-recharge power. I take the hit on %proc rates, because I'd rather have a low chance in an already low-damage attack I am likely to be spamming.

September 30, 2023

13 hours ago, Panache said:

For me, I usually only take the ST immob if I’m interested in soloing AVs with that character.

This is probably the best "late game" reason to have/use a single-target immobilize. I almost never take ST-immobs (if I have the choice); AVs and GMs are pretty much the only content where I miss having such a power.

As an aside: I think ST-immobilize is one of the most useful (for certain fights, see above) powers that isn't available from P2W. There are a handful of temp attacks that can be earned through various missions but AFAIK that is it. I'm always somewhat amazed that we can buy Envenomed Daggers but not Web Grenades from P2W. Flooring an GM's regeneration doesn't strike me as being radically different than getting them to stay in place (even for a short time).

14 hours ago, rksr9997 said:

The question is does this ability on controllers equate to good single target DPS for controllers? ... I am asking in terms of a character I will play all the game content on so down to lower levels as well.

I wouldn't try to get DPS out of a ST-immobilize. The damage scale is not kind to Controllers. I definitely would not slot for %damage, as @Uun notes the high-base-recharge powers have pretty bad %proc rates. I'd dedicate no more than 2 slots (Acc and Mezz) and then switch to a single Boosted or HamiO piece in a final build.

September 30, 2023

18 hours ago, Rudra said:

I'm not sure where you're coming from with this part though. There are powers and a power set I find obnoxious as all Hell (looking at you, Electrical Affinity), but I'm not seeing the power customizations as cluttering the screen any more than the regular power animations did.

I agree with this. Any effect of power customizations is minuscule compared to (some of) the regular animations, especially those that generate a bajillion 'particles'

September 30, 2023

I find Mind Control on Controllers to be pretty powerful. I can understand why some folks could look at it and say "but why no summonable pet?"; I don't think it needs one. It's got some of the most effective controls in the game! In terms of slotting choices, it is exceptionally well-positioned to take multiple kinds of sets (for example: lots of Gloabl reacharge options available) and can make some strong %damage builds.

The only issue I have with Mind Control (as a primary) is that the early levels more-or-less require P2W attacks to be able to solo low-level content at a reasonable pace... but this is by design and is easily mitigated (as I wrote, P2W attacks). It's not really a bad design choice IMO, more like a feature.

September 30, 2023

I appreciate the discussion on Patron/Epic Cones... I won't be taking any of them on my Beam Rifle Sentinel!

As I've written (or hinted at): I won't have the slots... or would have to make sacrifices on several powers... to be able to meaningfully slot another attack. It's not impossible (cut back on the Travel slotting, give up 6th pieces) but I rather like the QoL I'm getting from the existing choices.

Frankly: The main issue in my head is that I'm pretty disappointed with the cones (arcs, ranges, max number of targets) in Sentinels. Of course Beam Rifle's Piercing Shot is a special case... I don't blame it for what it is, but it doesn't help the feels. In play, I find I want the next AoE when I am surrounded (i.e. targets are not positioned for a cone) so a PBAoE (or a targeted AoE) would be a better fit for my play style.

Not specific to Sentinels: When I find myself thinking about trying to put a Cone attack into a build (any AT) I almost always consider a version of the character where I can work Wall of Force (ideally before level 20) from the Force of Will pool into the character. The arc is huge; the power accepts some decent %damage. I have many characters where a cone attacks was a primary reason for taking the Epic/Patron, in many cases I prefer getting the cone attack much earlier!

September 29, 2023

15 hours ago, A Cat said:

Are things that easy to get for your Average Joe Man? I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people simply don't play the market. There are still plenty of types of enhancements that are pretty expensive. A fully built and fully sick character is still in the ballpark of a half billion for me.

There is a LOT that I think is straightforward (and easy) but I don't know what Average Joe Man is and isn't doing in game.

(non-superior) ATO and Winter pieces are available from Merit Vendors for 100 merits each. (I think the Summer Blockbuster pieces are in there as well, but it has been a while since I've checked). Merits can be acquired any number of ways. A brisk (2xp) journey to level 50 usually averages me about 600 merits without really trying. If a player wants gobs more merits, it is relative easy to earn more with some cooperation from other players.

An Enhancement Catalyst will drop about once every 24 hours for a level 50 character after defeating something like 50-100 even+ level mobs. Catalysts (and Boosters) can also be bought through the Merit Vendors.

PVP enhancement recipes also can be purchased for 100 merits each. Note that the recipes will be +3 to the level of the character buying them, max 50. These have to be crafted. I use attuned ones for levels 7-49, then typically I will switch to boosted 50s when I can. This is not something I expect Average Joe Man to do.

It may or may not be more cost-efficient to acquire those pieces from the marketplace, but there is an alternative to "waiting for a drop" or "buy it now".

As for other pieces: There are two strategies for acquisition that I think are available to Average Joe Man.

1) AJM can wait for recipe drops, craft them and play converter roulette. Converters can be bought with merits.

2) AJM can put in bids at the AH with Inf.

I recommend the second. I don't think this is "playing the market".

Many commonly used enhancements (attuned!) are 2 MInf on average for "Buy it Now". What we think of as "common" IOs can be had for much cheaper... folks chase crafting badges and so a LOT of IOs end up on the market. Things like Enhancement Converters (from Merit conversion) can be put on the AH for sale... it has been a LONG time since I saw one of those go for less than 50K. Yellow salvage is fetching around 10K, Orange Salvage is 440K to 500K.

Regular vendors will buy stuff. Level 50 common IO recipes average 100K each.

I can believe that someone might pull up one of my builds and convince themselves that it is a "half-a-billion Inf" build... but I never come close to spending that much Inf(*1)... I am either recycling enhancements(*2) from the SG base or using Merits to "buy direct"... it depends on my mood. I don't equate spending Merits/Catalysts that were earned through regular play with AE farming or "playing the market"... I'm not passing judgement, I believe AJM can pretty much do whatever he wants to get pieces he may want. Some folks might look at a 6x slotted Superior Winter set and see an outlay of 150+ MInf. I see five days (or fewer, with multiple characters!) of Hamidon raids and a possible 6th day for the last catalyst (if only a single character was played).

(*1) I could convert the merits to other things and earn inf by selling those things, and sometimes the market is too attractive to NOT do that.

(*2) Between converter roulette and catalysts falling from the sky (and a couple of other shenanigans) I maintain a stockpile of Enhancement pieces that I know I will almost certainly be using in some future build.... just as I have some very favorable (to me) bids placed for certain items on the AH.

EDIT: I completely neglected to mention that the Very Rare recipes are also only 100 Merits each at the Merit Vendors.

September 29, 2023

19 hours ago, JackDaniels said:

everyone plays' their character like they are invincible and everyone's a tank.

It needs to get back to where every class is needed to be an efficient group.

right now gone are the days of seeing in global or group chats "Looking for tank" "Looking for Healer" etc. make it harder so playing the game takes a bit more thought and not just every person in the team running around the map nuking everything on their own and force everyone to play "as a team should."

1) I cannot speak for other players: I have several characters that play like they are invincible and they absolutely are not invincible. Setting aside the self-rez insps and temps, I have a couple of rather "soft" characters that have relatively fast-recharging self-rez powers. If those characters never fell, I'd never get a chance to use those powers! The Health bar is a resource to be leveraged, it is not supposed to be "never touched"!

2) "That's like, your opinion man"

3) I still see requests for Tankers... and often I'm actually confused why there would be such a request for that specific content. I love Tankers, and I want to believe I know what they can do better than other ATs... and I believe just surviving isn't tanking.... but I appreciate that the game is flexible enough that for almost all content: no specific AT (or Team!) is required.

September 29, 2023

I really HATE missing attacks. Beyond having ToHit and Accuracy, the only thing I find that assuages the bad feels around RNG are multiple, large (area, number of targets) AoE attacks. The 'flat' RNG is absolutely going to bite, so I may as well be hitting something.

My personal favorite (internal) manifestation of perception bias w.r.t. ToHit/RNG: it ends up that every missed followup single-target attack against a critter in a spawn also wasn't hit by the opening AoE. This results in a verbal "oh FF". That is: in order to miss the second attack against a critter, I have to miss the first attack. Not a deep thought, but one I often have.

September 29, 2023

7 minutes ago, Uun said:

For those unaware, Martial Combat has Burst of Speed, a self-teleport (+ AoE attack) that can be used 3 times before it needs to recharge.

I have a /Martial Combat Blaster, but I haven't played it very much (it was fun for what I was doing, at low levels).

September 29, 2023

IMO, the most important powers for "Blapping" ("Jousting" is IMO from another era of the game when characters could expect to have base 0% defenses (*1) across almost all content) are:

The powers in the secondary (as mentioned by @Frozen Burn)
A "teleport into/out of combat power"

For the latter, I prefer Combat Teleport, but other powers can do in a pinch (if toggled on), like Speed of Sound, Mystic Flight... The three macros/bins I try to have on "Blappers" are (shown for Combat Teleport, pick your own macro image to flavor):

/bind shift+lbutton "powexec_name Combat Teleport"

This is a mousebind used to help move me around maps/rooms... often when I am 'stuck' somewhere or just want to get around some sort of obstacle/geometry.

/macro_image "DevouringEarthSeed_Hematic_Seedbuff" "BAMF" "powexec_location target Combat Teleport"

This is used to appear adjacent to a target, for melee or PBAoE.

/macro_image "DevouringEarthSeed_Hematic_seedblood" "Back" "powexec_location Back:25 Combat Teleport"

This is used to move back from a cluster, usually to cast a cone attack.

My Blapping is to usually open with (ranged) AoE, and then directly engage clumps of survivors and/or hard targets. I don't rely on single-target controls for Blapping. Of the Blasters with which I have played a LOT of (a wide variety of content) I can offer these opinions on the secondaries:

Atomic: The "Blappiest" of the ones I've played, all powers in the secondary taken except for Electron Shackles and Positron Cell.

Fire: Something of a classic, but I have this character built less like a Blapper and play it more like it can wade in when necessary.

Time: As used on my character, this is NOT a Blapper. I like the secondary, but it feels (to me) much less Blappy.

(*1) Re; Jousting. Not only is it easy to get IOs that boost global defenses, but the game has a large number of available "boosts", especially for low level characters. IMO the actual content (and debt limits!) make it less likely that a no-extra-defenses character is going to be stuck with something like a "Hunt dozens of +3 level baddies in a Hazard Zone" mission. Mid and late game solo players are likely to face single enemies that simply will not melt to a couple of button clicks, but I always associate 'jousting' as a survival mechanism for taking on large, +level spawns without defenses.

September 28, 2023

I agree that it is easier (and more straightforward) to craft/acquire Invention pieces. I disagree that this is somehow "breaking the game".

I'm sure we can dig up a thread that makes the argument that Prismatic Aether Particles have "broken the game" where the game is "costume design."

Oh there it is.

September 28, 2023

With the realization that (with accolades) my Beam/Energy Aura Sentinel was above the HP cap, I moved the 6th slot from Power Armor to Cutting Beam. This became the 6th piece of the Ragnarok set (%Knockdown) for extra Toxic/Psi/Mezz Resistance. Usually I don't sweat that specific bonus; in this case:

Toxic/Psi Defenses were the weakest, and Positionals are also not good for this build
The AoE of Cutting Beam is among a few reasons why using a %damage piece wouldn't help in that power
With the power choices... I didn't have another place where I could get a set bonus that I felt would make as much impact.

For the last point, the two other options I had considered with that Enhancement slot:

Add it to a travel power, for the Winter's Gift Slow Resist (to go from 20% to 40%)
Add it to Health, for the Numina's 10% Recovery/20% Regeneration.
Add a Recharge IO piece to Overload ~~Overcharge~~.

If I really wanted more Regeneration, I could have 2-slotted the Numina's set with a Heal/Absorb plus the Global... for this build, in Power Armor... this is a build choice I often make with Tankers. I just wasn't feeling the need. The times when I probably could use more Regeneration are usually the times when I'd pop Overload ~~Overcharge~~, and then have to watch the timers for both duration and recharge. I am having trouble seeing how boosting either of those two features would noticeably change my playstyle.

There were other options of course, but I felt that these were the top contenders to the additional Toxic/Psi/Mezz resistances.

Spoiler

Primary Power Set: Beam Rifle

Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura

Power Pool: Flight

Power Pool: Leadership

Ancillary Pool: Leaping

------------

Level 1: Kinetic Shield

(A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 30

(*) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)

(*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

(*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5

Level 1: Single Shot

(A) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Accuracy/Damage

(*) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Damage/Recharge

(*) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

(*) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Superior Sentinel’s Ward - Recharge/Chance of Absorb

Level 2: Cutting Beam

(A) Ragnarok - Damage: Level 50+5

(*) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5

(*) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50+5

(*) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

(*) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge Level 50+5

(*) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown: Level 50

Level 4: Flight

(A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

(*) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

(*) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range

Level 6: Disintegrate

(A) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Damage/Recharge

(*) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

(*) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage

(*) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

(*) Superior Opportunity Strikes - Recharge/Chance of Opportunity

Level 8: Aim

(A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff

(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge

(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance

(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance

(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance

(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance of Build Up

Level 10: Energize

(A) Preventive Medicine - Heal

(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance

(*) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/Recharge

(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Recharge

(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Recharge/Endurance

(*) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb

Level 12: Power Shield

(A) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5

(*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5

Level 14: Lancer Shot

(A) Apocalypse - Damage: Level 50+5

(*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50

(*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50

(*) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5

(*) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50

(*) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage (Negative): Level 50

Level 16: Entropy Shield

(A) IO Endurance: Level 50+5

Level 18: Refractor Beam

(A) Hami-O Centriole (Damage/Range): Level 53

(*) D-Sync Guidance (Accuracy/Range): Level 53

(*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage (Lethal)

(*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage (Fire)

(*) Shield Breaker - Chance of Damage (Lethal)

(*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance of Damage (Negative)

Level 20: Power Armor

(A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance

(*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance

(*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Recharge

(*) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP

(*) IO Health: Level 50+5

Level 22: Piercing Beam

(A) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage

(*) Annihilation - Damage/Recharge

(*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

(*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

(*) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Annihilation - Chance of Res Debuff

Level 24: Repelling Force

(A) IO Defense: Level 50+5

(*) IO Defense: Level 50+5

Level 26: Overcharge

(A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Javelin Volley - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50+5

(*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage (Lethal)

(*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage (Fire)

(*) Shield Breaker - Chance of Damage (Lethal)

(*) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance of Damage (Negative)

Level 28: Kinetic Damping

(A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

(*) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance: Level 50+5

(*) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

(*) Aegis - 5% Psi Resist / 20% Mezz Resist

Level 30: Maneuvers

(A) Reactive Defenses - Defense

(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance

(*) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/Recharge

(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Recharge

(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

(*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage

Level 32: Power Drain

(A) IO EndMod: Level 50+5

Level 35: Combat Jumping