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I'm not buying what your selling, but I have a different perspective about Controls (hard/soft) and a different imagination about how the Live devs perceived them. Originally, on Live it definitely seemed to me as if the devs thought that players being able to control mobile enemies was something like an "auto win". So many control powers had recharge times, accuracy, endurance costs, levels of availability, etc. baked into them... mostly ignoring that controlling enemies wasn't the same as defeating enemies. Pre-ED kinda was a way around this... but I think this was just one more thing that motivated ED. There was another round of dev panic when PvP was introduced, because some 'controls' that had been mostly ignored turned out to be PDGood in PvP (Stuns).... I write this just to point out that in-game, controls have always been viewed from many perspectives. On the flip side... and this is where I think my perspective is somewhat unusual... some of the players felt that their characters were too easily victimized by enemies with controls, and so later in the game's life certain ATs ended up getting (IMO, disproportionate) attention to make playing those ATs easier... specifically Blasters, which can cast T1/T2 attacks while controlled, plus all have sustains for endurance, plus have much improved nukes (over Launch). I sorta feel that if Blasters didn't have it so relatively easy (compared to other ATs) and the original toggly/inherent ways for certain armors to shrug off controls (and keep in mind, players no longer detoggle most powers when controlled) , then there would be a more even appreciation of what is happening with critter controls. I write the above to explain my opinion is not that the Homecoming Devs are specifically trying to drive a sort of "trinity" style play in Hard Mode, it's more that they've got an uphill battle to make a hard mode given what exixts in the game (ToHit, Damage, Healing, Controls). I don't think it would make sense (or be popular) to remove status protection from armors, or strip Blasters of their inherents, or nerf the effects of Domination. There are enough different things here to parse that I'm not sure I could dive in... if Homecoming didn't make it so easy for so many players to get enemies to the point where many of the enemies only hit players 5% of the time, I'd be more open for more of the squishy ATs to get some of the love that Blasters got (either T1/T2 casts while controlled, improved "nukes", but these are slippery slopes). Homecoming also made it easy for players to get powers like Rune of Protection... a power that had to get 'nerfed' because it was simply too good.

I'm referring to the player that TAKES Group Fly, not an ally affected by it. No other toggles (aside from Group Fly) is needed to achieve lift-off.

It would be my mistake if it doesn't need a ToHit roll!

I skipped Soothing Wave, considered adding it as a late-build power, considered adding it to a second build, and I still don't have it. Generally: I find Ally Heals to be a somewhat mixed bag for 2024 CoX. I don't want to yuck on anyone's yum or explore the precision calculus of role-diversity for hard mode, so please recognize this is my general attitude. However: I feel that enemy debuffs always deserve a look! Reducing enemy damage by 12% should be pretty good! However, it needs to hit enemies, and the duration is 10 seconds, with a similar short base recharge time. I can believe there is an opportunity for some clever slotting (especially if any %procs can help teammates), but I'm thinking minimal Accuracy/Heal and pass on trying to get juicy healing set bonuses from it. I considered taking it late, but I didn't really have slots for it and my 32+ powers were pretty much dedicated to mules for enhancements. The easy change from my Controller build would be to swap out the level 41 Unleash Potential (2 slots) but I selfishly want that power because the modern 2024 game is so unpredictable in getting healing or buffs (from other players)! Ironic or not, you decide! I can see arguments for having Soothing Wave, but I haven't seen one to convince me to take it.. except as part of a "total support" build.

The "complete alignment" requirement would either make it very difficult, very wasteful, or both.

I don't understand this point. Currently IIRC Group Fly already allows a player character Flight. (It's not great, but it does) Before I proceed, I want to note that I have no problems with the way Group Fly works. I am unconvinced that there is any measurable amount of suggestions to change it that don't derive from a player who either didn't know how to turn it off (via Null the Gull), didn't remember to turn it off (if it upsets them) or resented having to turn it off. Frankly, the three powers that all offer some form of "flight", plus a power that adds "control" and "speed" is one of the things that I find odd about the Flight pool. From a historical context, I can understand why the pool is the way it is, but that doesn't mean I feel good about it it. I think the issue with the Flight pool is more subtle than players feeling griefed about Group Fly. My understanding of the historical context is that the original Devs were worried that if Fly was "too good" that there would be a very strong preference among players to take the Flight pool over all other travel powers. Part of this is simply navigating zones, part of this is a concern that "hover-blasting" would make the game "too easy". As a result, side from a somewhat common circumstance of including an attack power in the pool (Air Superiority), the first available flying power (Hover, a toggle) is pretty much most valuable on instanced maps as it is generally harder to "hover blast" on typical maps, and the complete lack of flying speed is less noticeable. Fly (another toggle) was established as the set's "travel power", with the (my choice of words) gimping of "control" (unless Hover is also toggled on) and travel speed (see original compromise/fear among travel pool options above). Group Fly is yet another toggle... it hasn't been helpful to (other) PCs for a long time (travel powers can be picked sooner, temp flight powers have long existed) but remains useful for henchmen/pet ATs. Evasive Maneuvers is a fourth toggle that mitigates (somewhat) the gimping (my word) of Fly (one of those other toggles) in terms of control and speed. TL;DR: Four toggles is too many! As a practical matter, if a player is running the flight pool (with or without Group Fly) at least three powers must be toggled on to get the full benefits of what Flight offers, with a fourth toggle for Group Fly. On the surface this may not seem completely unreasonable, but with so many other travel powers offering combinations of travel effects (superspeed, teleport, flying) with a single toggle... it strikes me as lackluster that Flight requires as many as four toggles and all it gets is an occasional Afterburner. These toggles take up shelf space in the trays! My own suggestion? Make Evasive Manuevers an auto power (no endurance cost), and make it selectable starting at level 20.

It is going to vary based on the AT, the power choices, and the content you intend to play. I can disclose some personal biases: I try to avoid using Hasten, preferring instead to have global Recharge bonuses from enhancements. A dedicated "min-maxxer" will likely have only enough (hardest hitting) attacks to maintain a single attack chain, often by leveraging global recharge (with Hasten) and attacks like T9s. I often build with a variety of attacks to get set bonuses and not sweat about exemplaring or mixing up attack chains. I try to build for AoE fighting against x8 I like reward drops, so I try to "maximize defeats". Generally this means I run solo only at +0/+1, and so I'm not trying to maxmize the "even level defense soft cap of 45%". and so... I typically try to build ATs with multiple "survival mechanisms" so I can stay in the fight against x8/+4 This will depend on the AT, and what tools they have available. For squishier ATs, I consider a self-rez to be a survival mechanism! I'm the kind of player that absolutely does not mind "spending the green bar" to finish content in as little time as possible. I have a few Tanker builds that could have MOAR of something (resistance, defense)... so not maximized"... but if I'm mentally engaged those characters never get to 0 HP. Was this me "minimizing" something? Maybe my investement in slots... but other players may prefer to "minimize" how much attention they want to spend in combat.

Fair point! It certainly seems to me that the OP wants to face a very limited amount of content (AVs, GMs) without using anything like strategy (e.g. Imma take a Defender into melee against an AV, and stay there) solo or in teams, and possibly without consideration for building and/or slotting their character. As other players are perfectly able to team their under-build ATs against the same content on teams without face-planting, and other players are able to solo that sort of content, the original post strikes me as the sort of proposal that literally has no lower limit on the ask to "make this game easier, hmmokay?" as players could always try to play worse and/or against all sorts of other content.

Hot Take: Min-Maxing "Stats" and using %damage procs are somewhat in opposition, as set bonuses are generally the way to hit "stat caps", and franken-slotting with %damage procs is the way for many (but not all!) ATs to maximize damage. There are common globals uniques (some of them are non-damage %procs) that will be recommended by most everyone, some fraction of those are better for some ATs than they are for other ATs. I know other folks like listing them, so I'll leave it to them. Within ATs, there are different things that are work "maximizing for the minimum"... especially when it comes to the Armor primary/secondaries.

AFAIK: Accurate Healing sets can only be slotted into sets that require ToHit checks, whereas (I believe) Healing set pieces can be slotted more liberally. You have sussed it out: when you want a power to succeed in hitting an opponent, Accuracy will be desired. Slotted accuracy is also important for %proc chances, and as Dark is a very Endurance hungry armor, I recommend the Theft of Essence piece as well. If you will be tanking against significantly higher-level enemies, it might not be a bad idea to replace (from my suggestion) one of the %damage pieces with a level 50+5 Multi-Strike Accuracy/Endurance piece. The game won't allow you to slot more than one of any "unique" piece. I often have the %-Res from Fury of the Gladiator in an attack to improve damage done by allies (against enemies that I am tanking). PVP, Winter, ATO and Very Rare sets will keep whatever set bonuses they offer no matter how low (well, as low as level 7 I think) a player scales down. Generally I find the the Very Rare/Purple set bonuses better than set bonuses offered by other choices, but not always. Winter and ATO can be made into a "superior" set, which offers better set bonuses than non-superiod versions. The enhancement of attribute values of Superior ATO and Superior Winters is IIRC the same as a boosted level 50+5 version from any other set. A single Superior Winter ATO for Accuracy/Damage (for example) offers the same benefits as an uncommon Accuracy/Damage piece at a boosted 50+5. Non-combined Hamidon/D-syncs (level 50) are roughly at the level of a 50+5, combined (levels 51 thru 53) exceed 50+5s. This might explain my recommended slotting for Cloak of Fear (which has a terrible base Accuracy) should you decide you want it... I only take it for flavor, as it is one of the more obvious Dark Armor toggles... but most builds are perfectly fine without it, and possibly better depending on which other power is taken and how the extra slot is used.

I'll apply Shifting Tides to allies (or melee henchmen) but it detoggles if the caster is far from the recipient, such as by going through an elevator. I tried this slotting. The nature of the power is such that I expected that it might proc on cast, but once it is on a target I don't think it will ever affect the caster. I never observed the Build Up on my caster... and after seeing how Whitecap has a slightly wonky timing with %damage, animation, and subsequent effects I wouldn't be surprised if Shifting Tides won't ever trigger the Build Up for the caster. I meant to do some testing on a pet (I have a Plant/Marine Controller) to see if a pet (or ally) with Shifting Tides applied would occasionally get the Build Up, but I never got around to it, as my single pet would not benefit that much from it and I found dedicating slots to %damage was working reliably enough that occasional Build Ups on the Fly Trap would do nothing for my clear times.

I have used both the primary and secondary, but not together. For Dark, I suggest building for 14 points of KB protection via set bonuses and uniques. You could probably get 13 with Axe, which would be fine for most content. I recommend 3-pieces of Gladiator's Armor (for 3 points) 3-pieces of Fury of the Gladiator (3 points, this is a set you could slot in both Death Shroud and Axe Cyclone) and then uniques. If you went all in and got over 20 points (3+3+3+4+4+4), you wouldn't have to worry about FREEM!. I don't think Death Shroud will be as impressive as you hope, you will have to judge. As for pools, I would not pick either Sorcery nor Speed. I like Force of Will for Tankers: Excellent travel power single-target debuff (resistance, defense, ToHit) that requires minimal slotting AoE Cone that likes %damage (good for Tankers) You should not need Unleash Potential, but if you want a backup survival tool that doesn't rely on enemies it might be a good idea (depending on what you intend to tank) I'll cut and paste from two different tankers to give you an idea of how I would start this build... making adjustments for slots and uniques as necessary. The Dark slotting from one of my Tankers: My /Battle Axe slotting (offense and Force of Will) My thoughts on Health/Stamina slotting for Dark Tankers There won't be many slots left to do much "clever" with epic/patron pools. I'd just go for Defense Mules (Concealment) to hold the Karma KB protection piece and/or LotG Def/Recharge uniques.

I feel like the "self-defeating tactics" doesn't get enough air time.

Your blue-side contacts won't talk to you if you are rogue, but you can join others.

This again? Can't we at least mix up Hopkins in the Manticore TF for Jurassik in the Numina TF?

On my Controller, when I'm thinking about a setup, I will typically: Drop a Tide Pool under a Boss Shifting Tides that Boss (I have %damage in Shifting Tides), this is my "anchor" Whitecap into the Boss (I also have %damage in Whitecap) Start applying Brine as necessary/mixing up the debuffs/controls/damage.

What is your planned play style? I wouldn't skip Shoal Rush, as it is a good debuff, works with Tide Pool, and is Marine Affinity's version of Infrigidate for a T1 %damage power.

Because no one asked, I'll share what I typically do with my blue-siders vis-a-vis alignment switching! I try to do some blue alignments in the level 20-30 range, as they offer a variety of badges (including Desdemona and Maelstrom) I'll usually wait until level 35+ (most often 40+) before switching to redside to Unlock Patrons (and if 45+ unlock LRSF) Collect High Pain Threshold accolade ("Unbroken Spirit" is trivial if the character has Life Insurance from level 41-44 Safeguard/Mayhem) Do the tip to unlock Mortimer Kal as a contact Collect some badges (e.g. "Shady") necessary for "Portal Jockey" accolade Occasionally, if I have prepped "Bloody Hands" I'll do the "Invader" accolade arc There is a lot of fun red-side content of course! There are a variety of red-side alignment missions that offer a variety of critters necessary for defeat badges (just like blue side, but some variety)

The Cimerorans are often how players get introduced to the idea of Defense Debuffs and "Cascading Defense Failures". I can't quite recall what I did with my Bio Stalker in Cimerora, except that I was leaning hard on the Bio Armor's PBAoE for offense, in addition to the more classic things like Absorb.

Generally, for my MMs, I 4-slot Command of the Mastermind, and 2-slot (three times) Mark of Supremacy. This give 4 of 5 allowable 10% global Recharge bonuses for MMs (for the superior versions)... and they are decent buffs (equivalent to 50+5 IIRC) for the henchmen. After this, as @Maelwys wrote: the "aura" uniques for boosting the nearby henchmen's defense (especially, but resistance can be good too) are important. Expedient Reinforcement is a bit of an outlier for MMs IMO. The unique is a resist aura, which may or may not be useful for some henchmen. I write this only because for some MM primaries (and secondary choices) the henchmen may already be at resistance caps, and so exceeding the caps yields marginal improvements for almost all content. The 4-slot bonus for Expedient Reinforcement is another global recharge bonus, albiet only 6.25% for levels 25+, and there are two /Recharge pieces in the set... so a power like Gang War could take 4-pieces of this set I suppose. As for other ATs besides MMs... I typically use some of the ATO in all classes (I don't play Brutes, but some of the Brute pieces are less than useful). I don't go out of my way on Controllers to use Overpowering Presence because (a) the set bonuses are mediocre, MMV and (b) usually I can find an alternative piece (like a Hami/DO or Purple) that enhances whatever power better... this really depends on what I am doing with a Controller build. Some ATs don't get as many powers that can accept ATOs as others. For example, Blasters can typically slot ATO in most of (both) their primary and secondary attacks. ATs that only get attacks in the primary or secondary have fewer options.

Sad but true.

My Plant/Marine has made it to level 50, here is the build, first an attempt at plain text: Saved Build: build-Plant-Marine.txt WARNING! This is a selfish, %proctastic build for solo play! I think this build may have the most %damage I've ever put into a single build. It plays just fine for teams, but I'll reconfigure a second build for better team support. There are a couple of team powers (healing!) missing, and I'd want different slotting for almost all the powers. I'd likely also move Combat Jumping up in the build.

I'm fearing the day we get an enemy group that uses Marine Affinity. <- Fears were manifested during a Positron 1.

My opinion is that unless the Blaster is soloing (as an individual, or as a member of a "team" that is off by itself) +3 or +4 content, that it is completely reasonable to not focus on individual defense values (greater than 20%-ish) for x8 content... provided there are a few other "survival" tricks in the build.... basically other powers that act as Inspirations. Even a self-rez power like Rise of the Phoenix can go a long way to improving map clear times.

What I have learned about Shifting Tides (on a Controller) is that it is a decent (but not awesome) %proc toggle, if it has accuracy slotting. (Global Accuracy doesn't help %procs, just the power they are slotted in.) For Masterminds, I would not recommend the Gaussian's set for the standard reason that the %Build Up isn't improving net DPS very much... because the MM's attacks simply aren't that much compared to the henchmen. My recommendation for a 6-slot of Shifting Tides would be 6x Annihilation, as it has a %-Res piece (keep reading) and set bonuses are pretty good for MMs. What I like about the Annihilation %-Res is that this piece can be slotted into several other attacks, and while the -Resistance (from the same %proc source) doesn't stack, it will extend the duration of any -Resistance from that %proc source. Normally I don't like %-Res for most AT because of the short 10 second duration, but the MM henchmen will be making a lot of attacks during those 10 seconds. With Shifting Tides up, it is possible to get good recharge times on Brine, without worrying about slotting Brine for recharge. Marine affinity should be melting opposing critters in ways that other sets wish they could.