tidge

I start a new character when I have an inspiration for one, because of power combinations, costume, name, whatever. Until then I play existing ones. The existing ones get played to: Accumulate Inf/Merits/Drops/whatever for new/future characters Play on 'themey' teams self-accumulate Incarnate components I'm not a great fan of the Incarnate system... especially since we can choose powers earlier, and have easier access to all enhancements. Generally I find the Incarnate powers boring, and I have the feeling that its existence, and the way it can explicitly provide powers that characters otherwise would not have (for the AT), drives many players to a boring sort of focus on 45+ content. Luckily, Homecoming hasn't forced players into a grindy Incarnate system, so players can max themselves out without doing any of the Incarnate content. I should disclose: I usually almost have a post-50 build planned, so I'll respec into that and then give it a whirl through varied content to try it out. I'm not a complete iconoclast, I do try to make sure all my 50s slot an Alpha ability (because Tin Mage/Apex is popular) to +1 level shift, but I find myself making all sorts of oddball choices when I do slot Incarnate powers because there seem to be obvious 'defaults' and they bore me.

I don't like MIDS myself(*1), for reasons that are not relevant to this discussion. It is important that players get a basic understanding of: Enhancement Diversification Basic Attributes of Powers (like Accuracy, Endurance Costs, etc.) Later, it is possible to look into Enhancement Sets and Bonuses. Specifically for Endurance issues, it is probably useful to understand how Recovery works, and for players who spend the green bar: Regeneration. I'm not trying to provide a comprehensive set of links to explain all of the games mechanics (notice no links for how combat/damage works), just the general ones that are applicable to all builds. (*1) I don't use MIDS. From experience, I have a general idea of which sets I want to use (set bonuses are my primary consideration) and how many slots to dedicate to which attributes of a power, depending on the nature of the power. I use an electronic spreadsheet to keep track of slots, and to track the set bonuses I want.

Generally: 1) Unique Enhancements for +Endurance, and Recovery. 2) Accolades for +MaxEnd 3) Set bonuses for +MaxEnd Masterminds... pay an endurance tax for their attacks. Slow down. Also Hasten has an Endurance tax, try to play with out it (I didn't look at the build).

I've been kicking around a concept for a Psychic Blast and/or Mental Manipulation character, with a like preference for Blaster. The drive for those sets is that I don't want the character to use weapons, gadgets or obvious elemental-type powers. I also already have /Martial, which I generally find to be a solid secondary for similar concept characters. I have nothing against the Sentinel AT, it's as I already have a Fortunata and I probably want something else from the secondary besides survivability <- read this as me being 'mostly bored' with the Psychic Blast attacks, I have nothing against Sentinel survivability I just feel like a Sentinal might end up playing too much like my ranged Fortunata. I'm aware of how the Psi damage is a really mixed bag... and as I kick Psy/Mental around, I can think of two potential paths for my concept. KBe aware that my personal preference is to have characters have their attack chains not use Epic/Patron powers (i.e. before level 32) Lean into secondary effects/controls more than usual (for me, for Blasters) Lean into %damage (not unusual for me, but unusual for my Blasters) For the first, it looks like Disorient is the way to go. (I won't take the Alcove of Confusion) Weirdly, I almost wish Flurry had a better Disorient aspect to add to the arsenal. It looks like all the other "controls" are single-target.. and I've got another concept character that uses the Fears from Presence, so I want to take that off the table. For the second, I kinda hate planning to use %damage in a Blaster, but there are certain enemy groups that are painfully slow to solo at x8 when using Psi. I also like that Blasters can leverage enhancement set bonuses better than most other ATs. Anybody want to talk me through this? Point out (subtle, obvious) things I am missing?

My Bots Main has 6xPreventive Maintenance in the Maintenance Drone. I think that is an important set (for bonuses) for MMs, and I think it is important to have the Drone's recharge time to be reduced as much as possible. Power of the Depths appreciates MOAR Recharge as well, and is worth taking IMO for a Mastermind. If there wasn't some other set you wanted in it, I would probably Franken-slot with something like 2-slots using a single EndMod/Recharge + Healing/Recharge, both D-Syncs at 53. 3-slots (if I wanted some 2-piece set bonus from Panacea using two 50+5 pieces of that set. My recollection from other, similar powers is that it is hard to see effectively observable improvements in the recharge time after (if the build also has Global +Recharge) so with a third slot it is possible to consider using pieces which enhance more than two attributes and you won't notice much difference. I want to say I have a build somewhere that has something like a 3-slot that uses at least one Healing/EndReduction/Recharge piece in a similar power. Most Interesting (to me anyway) is that Masterminds (and their henchman) will almost certainly benefit more (than other ATs) from both +MaxHP and +MaxEnd. *IF* Endurance/MaxEnd/Recovery is already under control for the MM, simply leaning into Healing/Recharge would probably be fine, even using other attuned Healing sets (but not the %procs, since they won't contribute to attribute enhancements, unless you are trying to get clever with the %procs themselves) [The Maintenance Drone can't be healed, but I don't know if it can benefit from +MaxHP] Personally? The powers I'd also be experimenting with for Robotics/Marines are: Toroidal Bubble, making sure I'm not pushing the henchmen past certain limits, balanced against using it as a mule (Slow Resistance included) Barrier Reef, I feel like I'd start with 4 slots: LotG Def/Global (attuned), an attuned LotG Def, a 50+5 IO Defense, a 50+5 IO Healing... I'd want to see what I could do with the Absorb for the Henchmen. I definitely would not sacrifice Brine (2x D-Sync Siphon is all it needs, or go budget Accuracy and Healing while you save up), and I'd probably 3-slot Whitecap with Fury of the Gladiator (if I had the slots) or maybe 5/6-slots with Superior Avalanche to boost survivability, and get more sweet -Resistance.

Here is mine: This is my post-"Fate Sealed" build. It is a little slow-ish (because Psychic) and it leans hard into "controls".

It's worth testing, but my guess is for a lot of content it could be (at best) a wash. What I like: All(?) of the Soldier attacks will have a chance to trigger the %-Res There are three Soldiers, so more attacks What is probably neutral: You will probably have to make sure the henchmen are focusing fire to get maximum utility from the %proc What I don't like: T1 henchmen need enhancements more than %procs (level shift!) Almost all of the attacks are single-target, IIRC only one of the attacks that could trigger it is an AoE The individual %proc chances don't look to be that good I like the Soulbound Allegiance %BuildUp, and/or the Overwhelming Force KD more than any other %proc for the T1 henchmen. Each of those %procs have a chance to fire on every attack made by the henchmen. The cool thing about %procs in Shifting Tides is that they will still %proc (in the AoE) until the anchor body de-rezzes. A Tide Pool can help to keep enemies huddled.

Yes it is possible to have debuffs from different sources stack, but only for the overlap period. Keep in mind that the %-Res is: Only once per source (and the source is the %proc, not player or power) Only 10 seconds (barring extensions) duration ... so better for MMs than other solo ATs Subject to the %proc rate and accuracy of the %proc "Resistance resists resistable resistance debuffs" (so maybe an off-flavor %damage would be better, like Negative or Smashing) My own opinion is that the Annihilation set typically offers more useful set bonuses, and power attribute enhancements (Schedule A) for the powers that take it. My personal practical experience has been that the Achilles' Heel %-Resistance is less useful that the Annihilation %-Resistance (or %damage), except for a few corner cases. The factors that I have found work against the Achilles' Heel piece (in practice) involve the nature of the power that would take it: Single-Target v. AoE (AoE have generally lower %proc chances, but more -Res on a single target may be wasted) Accuracy (for %proc ToHit) and Recharge Time (for %proc chance) Does the power already apply -Resistance? (if so, a %damage might be better) What else those powers could slot instead, or could the slot be better used somewhere else in the build Are there enough powers that could reliably apply the Achilles' Heel %proc to extend its duration? (Range AoE are generally more common, and often %proc friendly) I was surprised how little effect the Achilles' Heel piece had (for clear times) in various Rad builds! One of the corner cases that I will use the Achilles' Heel %-Res piece is on Tankers in Weaken Resolve... I like the Force of Will set, so that power is an easy pre-requisite pick that I can also slot for Accuracy and doesn't take many slots. Tankers can use the power against (single) hard targets that they are holding anyway for their teammates to capitalize on.

I've casually mentioned it, but this sort of issue is IMO similar to the pathing issue for the Arachnos Flier which occasionally gets "stuck" in invulnerable mode when flying between landing points. I can imagine a variety of potential solutions, but I've never seen the event fail to end (via zone announcements) when the rave is at the southernmost point, so I see this as a minor issue at best.

Since I have been avoiding DFB, I usually pop over to Skyway to fight Supa Trolls, at (or just below) level. Decent XP and good low level drops.

I have some notes. If the rave is at the southernmost point, there will be spawns of Trolls destined for the Rave that cannot make the jump to get to the rave from where they spawn. This limits the Supa spawns. When Supas spawn, they travel to (effectively) three different spawn points. Two are near the north train station, the third is near the gate to the Hollows. The Supas will wait there to be defeated. I believe that the event ends when 50 Supas have been defeated (in the zone). I think the event will finally decide to time itself out.

Steam Spray is the off-flavor Damage type, It's a good power to use the Annihilation set in (%-Res), or it is a good attack for just %procs.

If there is a question of how to hit MaxHP for a Stalker: I know that my Energy Aura Sentinel (an AT which IIRC has the same MaxHP as Stalker) was able to passively hit MaxHP once the accolades which boost Health were achieved. I bring this up only because Energy Aura requires as slightly different approach to building Defenses than other Armors and there was something about the way I used set bonuses that got to the MaxHP... not something I usually achieve (because of build compromises). I may have other characters passively at MaxHP and simply not realize it! I'm guessing that other Stalker armor set (Bio Armor?) could also get to Stalker MaxHP passively, and if committed to using a power like Dull Pain (from Invulnerability) you should be able to hit MaxHP whenever the power is in use. There isn't much content that really requires MaxHP (especially with Invulnerability) IMO. Obviously things like Scaling Damage Resistance and Regeneration rates come into play.

I remember the discussions about Detonator... my play style is mostly GM hunting with my Traps MM, so for a "finishing" move it might work, but otherwise I simply don't have enough mental bandwidth to do the mental-math to optimize when/which henchman to go boom and juggle the bodyguard mode demands. My build is also super-tight in terms of chosen powers (see comments above about skipping so many Traps powers). I have one power I'd happily sacrifice, but it is a pre-req for the Fighting pool and there simply isn't another option (in my build) for Tough.

Specific to %procs: I always check the AH before listing them. There are quite a few %procs that (some) sellers appear to list incredibly high, despite the observation that very few builds could use those pieces and/or very few shared builds opt to use those pieces. This was true years ago, and it is still true. Trap of the Hunter %Lethal, I'm calling you out! There are a few others that used to have relatively large imbalances in for-sales and open bids, and everytime I check those the circumstances haven't changed. There are a few other things that I believe impact %proc sales, including new power sets and/or changes to existing powers/ATs. One example is this (my perception): Powers that don't do Knockback against even-or-higher level mobiles are less likely to "need" a Sudden Acceleration KB->KD piece... and it isn't like a lot of the new sets are adding multiple powers that do Knockback, so a single Overwhelming Force may be all that some players need... if they care at all! Obliteration and Bombardment are IMO an interesting case study in how the available level (30-50) is probably working against their desirability, because prior to level 27 (or 30) there are multiple options for other %damage pieces to be added to powers. The %Fire from Bombardment is IMO a nice mixed damage type for most of my characters, but the %Smashing from Obliteration is slightly more meh.

I have no issues with the "take a knee" animation. As @Jacke notes: the Pseudopets need to be slotted with Accuracy. I'm ok with this, because if they had a better base Accuracy most of them would become insanely powerful %proc bombs. I feel like this is just "one of those things" that Traps players need to learn, or need to accept from other players willing to explain it to them. My attitude on Triage Beacon is that this is the sort of power to take while leveling up, especially if the player can't afford enhancements for Defense or doesn't understand how to manage Regeneration. I think it is probably the worst of the low-level "healing" powers, but my opinion is that the current (2024-era) game deprioritizes all such powers. I'd only suggest a slight change: if Triage Beacon also boosted Recovery, I think it would be better (the blue bar is spent more commonly than the green bar) and I don't think it would be game breaking. (I still don't think I'd take it, but I can see a stronger case being made for taking it.) My personal perception of Traps is this: I like it because I can skip so many powers in it. On my MM, I've skipped: T1 Web Grenade (fine for a ST immobilize, but such powers have such a limited utility compared to what other powers can do) T3 Triage Beacon, because it is a fast-moving world, and who takes damage at a rate such that more +Regeneration is an important consideration? T7 Seeker Drones (I feel that the "fire-and-forget" aspect of them works against both the Stun and the -ToHit) T8 Trip Mine (Personally I feel that trying to commit to a stationary potential source of damage narrows strategic options, also it takes slots better used elsewhere for MMs) T9 Detonator (I didn't take it before it was Detonator... I understand it was improved but it just doesn't fit my play style of "debuff and kill")

While I am not specifically looking for Supremacy, I am monitoring The buffs affecting my henchmen The distance to my henchmen The first is mostly because occasionally henchmen decide to stop traveling; they end up far from me. Generally once I've engaged I want to know if anyone has gotten out of position. The second is not something I do that much (for henchmen), it is more a side effect of monitoring distance to target (a habit formed with /Traps) and playing the game for a long enough time. Again, I want to know which henchmen and pets are getting everything I want them to get.

IMO what sets Plant Control apart from other sets are the "fire and forget" powers that have the practical effect (for me) that I have to pay very little attention to most of the enemies in a spawn. Those powers are: Seeds of Confusion (level 😎 (*1), which becomes insanely good with the Coercive Persuasion set. Specifically, the %Contagious Confusion seems to pick up nearly all the targets that may have been missed on an initial attack. Carrion Creepers (level 22), which is practically a self-regenerating AoE 'nuke' With just those two powers, for a lot of content I find that I have plenty of time to figure out how to do whatever else I want to do with the character. (*1) It is insane comparing Seeds of Confusion with Mind Control's T9 Mass Confusion. I still don't know what the Live Devs were thinking, beyond subscriptions.

Moonfire TF is mostly Council, so it is certainly the FREEM! that is getting you. You need 20+ points of KB protection for FREEM! FWIW, 10 points of KB is IMO borderline... Once over 4, I figure you may as well go for 12 (or 13, depending on how you achieve it). The SG base buff can get you another 10 points.

What @Erratic1 wrote. It's a top-tier set that is somewhat "active" and requires paying attention. Smarter slotting choices can alleviate how much attention has to be paid to most content. The lack of Defense Debuff Resistance in Bio Armor is probably the most glaring issue and can be the biggest surprise.

I used to turn off the rare recipes, for precisely the reasons mentioned (costs, return). However... keep in mind I am only a casual marketer... I stopped doing this except for my "explicitly poor" characters. The primary reasons for doing this are: Generally, I build/slot characters with whatever I have around, and I keep pieces I am pretty sure I will use. This is wasteful once a character is "rich enough", but it is now a habit for me. Occasionally, I really want 50+5 pieces instead of attuned pieces. These cost the same on the AH of course, but see my note above about my habit to self-build. I'm lazy about turning these sorts of things off-and-on at S.T.A.R.T. !

Sure. I've seen that. The same thing will occasionally happen with a Slow Snipe (in my experience).

I use the common recipe drops (while leveling) to get the "sell 50 recipes" badge. My experience has been that I don't get that many until I can turn up the spawn sizes.

I thought September was the time to try to corner the market on uncommon salvage?

I believe the Assassin's Strike effect is the same as the Slow Snipe effect, and that each is distinct from the the PBAoE sometimes being out of range.