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I don't think there is anything wrong with using a respec before level 50; on the contrary there are often powers that can be taken for "test drives" (even with minimal slotting, as you level). Specific to Tankers: My experience has often been that early tier primary powers (defense/resistance toggles) often do very little (even with slotting, modulo Global IO pieces) for the Tanker at low levels... so I wouldn't fault anyone for downplaying primary power choices and concentrating more on the secondary(*1)... later when you feel like you have a better performing attack chain (in my experience: mostly this comes from slotting) ... then maybe a player will want to respec (in the mid 20s?) to have a more "classic" looking set of power selections?(*2) (*1) I feel that some players of Tankers skip or delay Taunt because t can feel like a dangerous choice for a newbie Tanker: why not take an Attack or something Defensively instead of something that is not going to do damage and will also draw more aggro? I can excuse this, but only to a point. Let me simply write that I believe that Taunt (as opposed to Confront or Provoke) is crucially important to being the best possible Tanker, and if its choice was delayed until the mid 20s (or later), it's worth using a respec to get it back into the build as early as possible. (*2) Again, strictly from my experience... which is based a LOT on playing different ATs through content for XP (as opposed to power-levelng dozens of levels at a time) is that while leveling I often taken powers that won't be in a final build or I take powers in a different order than I want in the final build. The former could be because some sort of pool power is offering me something I wouldn't otherwise have until an epic power level; an example of the latter is taking powers early explicitly as mules for IOs... in a final build I usually delay mules until the final power choices, but sometimes I want those global IOs ASAP.

Along the lines of "abstract mission givers" I have often felt that the Potted Plant model could be leveraged as a sort of nutty mission contact. As for potential TF givers: Blue side, I think it would be cool to have one of the Newsboys (often situated near train stations) to offer some sort of arc/TF.

My Robotics MM's primary slotting is: My MM is Robotics/Traps, which has one HUGE difference from any potential Robotics/Cold build: I can skip the last three powers in the Traps secondary (Seeker Drones, Trip Mine, Detonator) and suffer no performance issues, with Cold Domination I suspect that a majority of the performance would be tied to the use of the final three powers in the secondary (Benumb, Sleet, Heat Loss). I suspect that if I were to theory craft a Robotics/Cold build, I'd be obligated to add Hasten (for recharge time on Heat Loss). My own experience for Robotic Henchmen is that for most content Defense is more important than Resistance... so I'd probably frankenslot those Shields. This is almost painful to write: I'd probably skip Infrigidate (on a final build), as I just don't think I'd have the power picks or slots to do anything clever with it. It would come back in on a "One Big Robot" build, but that would be a niche design. If folks haven't seen my writings on my approach to Robotics/Traps, one of the performance enhancers for my build is cramming the same (here Annihilation) Chance for Res Debuff into as many powers as possible in an effort to keep as many different AoE powers as possible triggering/extending the Resistance debuff. Robots shine in AoE.

A single Healing IO 50+5 is almost certainly a better choice than a single level 53 Golgi in Upgrade Robot. The Endurance discount from the Golgi is doing next-to-nothing for a Mastermind.

Maintenance Drone says "whirr"

I don't use Hasten on my Grav/Kin Controller. My general thoughts on Hasten follow, YMMV. If I don't have powers with (a) extremely long recharge times, (b) a minimized attack chain that relies on precise timing, or (c) a specific power (usually defensive, or something like Domination) that relies on an auto-fire before expiry, I usually never think twice about excluding Hasten. A second or two of baseline recharge (modulo enemy slows, etc.) almost never motivates me... I could be combining inspirations or doing something in those seconds other than button mashing (picking targets, whatever) instead. FWIW. I try to build perma-Doms such that Hasten isn't needed. I dislike that committing (in my feels) to Hasten implies that I'm going to want to invest a second slot in it. In build-crafting, I dislike that I have to figure out where in the build (level-wise power pick) to put Hasten so that it offers meaningful returns on the powers I want it for. Since Homecoming has made higher-level (aka signature) powers available earlier in builds, I simply have less room for Hasten than before. As an aside: Homecoming has made it much easier to get enhancement set bonuses that improve global Recharge passively, almost all of these scale down to level 20 (some scale lower, some scale higher). I never take Hasten below level 10, and rarely before level 20. Specialty builds (such as Incarnate only) have varying mileage of course. I dislike the Endurance drop when Hasten expires. I know that this can be ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , but if I have to slow down button mashing, or re-toggle powers that have dropped, I feel that I've basically sabotaged the reason for taking Hasten in the first place. I prefer to have travel powers; Super Speed (from the Speed pool) is ok, but I prefer other travel powers (including those that are akin to Super Speed). Other power pools tend to offer me more of what I am looking for in a build... either straight-up with powers that will improve the play experience or as mules for Enhancement pieces/sets. TL;DR: I have to be strongly persuaded to put Hasten in a build.

Herding huge numbers of Rikti Monkeys (less so Giant Monsters) on Peregrine Island was fun (for some definitions of the word), but it isn't the kind of thing I feel like we need to bring back. I am almost never bothered by the current "aggro cap". I am much more annoyed by the secondary effects of enemy AI and mission objectives, for example: when enemies run (so far) away that they essentially never re-engage with a player... and the mission completion is somehow tied to 'defeat all'... either on the map or in certain spawns. Similarly, I am non-plussed when enemy mobiles need to be defeated in order to reset events, but those also fall into the category of 'pay attention and you won't have an issue'. I see no need to make radical changes for minor peeves when I am feeling lazy.

To a certain extent this is how Tips/Alignment missions work. There are some that will send you to a specific/different zone, but for the most part (at least blueside) you can run them in any non-Hazard zone.

I see this quite a bit in Croatoa, not just with Fir Bolg. I typically see it on characters that have a power that a targeting macro is commonly used for. There are a handful of other maps with areas where this happens, but Croatoa is the most common (for me).

I can put the Kismet piece in whatever defensive toggle, at that point I call it quits. Not every ranged character has a Snipe, and if I have to keep Tactics on (another toggle) I end up paying the full Endurance cost for whatever part of my attack chain is using a Fast Snipe. Build Ups (and the equivalents) already puts the bonus above the +22%, albeit for a short time... but I'm generally hoarding the Blue bar. I don't doubt that keeping Tactics running can work (or just grabbing it as a doorway to Vengeance), but for me it almost always comes down to picking it instead of another LotG Mule. YMMV, but I don't think Tactics is going to help the OP's issue.

Mid 20s can be tough: Not only do enemies get a better variety of attacks, but DfB/Beginner's Luck expire, and P2W Boosts become pricey. You can also run Drowning in Blood to get some boosts that continue until level 30. My thoughts on the actual question: When power choices are tight: I typically pick something like Infiltration. I like to have an actual travel power, and it can be used as a mule for Defense pieces (including, eventually the Scaling Resistance piece) and Universal Travel pieces. I find Defense to be a better first choice than Resistance. For a power that will be toggled on most of the time, I will slot -/Endurance Reduction (for Infiltration this is either Travel, or Defense). If I am not otherwise going into power pools by the mid-20s (*1), I think ---/Tough/Weave, slotting Tough with Defense globals (and not toggling it on), and then Weave as a Mule (with Defense/End slotting too) is the best choice for me. I don't usually pick up any other Defense toggles until much later (*1, again) Another personal preference is that I usually don't go out of my way to take the Leadership pool, except for Defenders/VEATs/Tankers/Masterminds. Tankers is only because I generally expect some teammates to be close to the Tanker; Mastermind is only for the henchmen (level shifts!). Otherwise if I have room for it as a fourth power pool, I may take Maneuvers as a mule power at level 49. I'm not ignorant of how the extra Defense can help teams in higher level content... it's more that I don't like relying on so many extra toggles hit some arbitrary personal 'cap'. (*1) Now that Homecoming has lowered the levels at which primary/secondary power choices can be made, I find that for my preference (playing sub-45-content) I now only have about 3 (sometimes 4) "open" (non-primary, non-secondary) power picks before level 26. Prior to this change, there were many more 'gaps' so *I* found it easier to slip in a -/Tough/Weave on more characters. I believe that having the higher-tier powers available earlier has mitigated my 'need' for higher defenses/resistances earlier.

Something I noticed that happened to me while solo on Faathim the Kind: As leader of the TF (I was solo) I intentionally clicked on the contact (via the window) during a series of 'auto-advancing missions' with the intention of 'getting the next mission' but I wasn't reading the contact text and unintentionally selected the 'abandon this mission from contact text' and ended up having to repeat two missions. On the Faathim the Kind TF, this happened during the 'Recover the key of Destruction from the Malta Group' portion.

I enjoy speed runs, but I really enjoy speed runs the most when: They are advertised as speed runs. It is made clear to everyone playing what it takes to speed run. They are played as speed runs. (1) is on the organizer, but everyone who joins is free to ask. The organizer should not turn up difficulty, otherwise it will not be a speed run. (2) Not everyone knows which missions may be defeat alls, nor will they know which missions are glowie (only) or which missions require only a single room clear (3) I have seen MANY "speed runs" where the leader engages spawns that they don't need to engage. The best example I can think of are the missions in the Penny Yin TF. Especially in that first mission, not every group of Freaks needs to be engaged! I've been scolded on "Penny Yin Speed Runs" for skipping the unnecessary groups. Also, no complaining about someone clicking all the computers in the final mission ASAP on a "Penny Yin speed run". Generally: by this point everyone should know if the team can handle a quick respawn of Clamor. I totally accept that not every player on a TF will be able to speed run all missions. For example, I'd rather that a player with an aggro aura NOT try to run through 5 floors of a map (or through a set of Oranbegan choke-points). On an 8-person TF, there is nothing wrong with some of the team engaging early spawns while others dash to the end of the map. Nobody thinks less of folks that adapt based on their character.

If a player has a single character with mini-mode purchased, they can visit the facemaker/bodyshaper to test a new costume and/or body type on that character using one of the many free costume slots.

Here is my current noodling: I suppose there are two personal motivations for this build: I wanted to try some powers I haven't used (or didn't work as well as I liked on other ATs) I wanted to make a scrappy tank (so leverage larger AoE and %procs) I wanted the build to be "essentially complete" by level 32 For example: I've never used Dark Armor, and I was disappointed with Electrical Melee attacks on my Dominator. Electrical Melee (and Corrosive Vial) seem to work pretty well for this Tanker. To those ends, I recognize that this build is committing (at least!) a couple of "Tanker sins": I did not make an effort to maximize either Defenses OR Resistances (sorry Fighting Pool!) I did not pursue +Max Health/HP (also there may be some room for more Regeneration) Frankly: I don't mind living on the edge and allowing teammates to provide buffs. I can sort of see which enemies are going to be problematic. I will consider a second build that leans into those things missing from this build for when a sturdier Tanker is needed. I haven't actually settled on the powers (order, choices) for levels 38+. I was initially going to not include the Leaping pool and simply leverage the Concealment pool as LotG mules, but I figured "What is one more toggle for some more defense?" and slipped in Combat Jumping, which casually allowed Super Jump as a mule for some KB protection (or Slow resist). Some noodling on Lightning Rod may happen. As of right now I have a Range IO and the Armageddon %Fire... but I have considered doing this instead: Swap out the Range IO for a Centriole 53 (I have them cluttering storage!) Swap the Armageddon %Fire for the Damage piece, and then boost each to 50+5 The second swap would allow me to add the %Fire to an earlier-level power (like Thunder Strike or Dark Regeneration). I need to get more practice using Lightning Rod... I think once the global Recharge is higher I will leverage Lightning Rod more than I have been while leveling. I also haven't made a final decision on the slotting of Cloak of Fear and Build Up. Normally I'd 6-slot Build Up with Gaussian's (if not going with the 2-slotting as shown) but I kind of want the -ToHit (and Fear) effect, so improving Accuracy and Endurance consumption in the aura seems like a better investment ATM.

The workshop version of my Dark/Electric Tanker has poor (positional) ranged defense! Type defenses are better, and AoE is fine. After I've got it leveled up I will have more to say... I'm skipping the Fitness Pool and making some set choices that have put me in this (poor) position(al). This character is about trying some new things, such as the Experimentation pool(*1). I planned to skip Oppressive Gloom! On other characters, I've never been satisfied with this type of aura, even if they seem to be what the cool kids are wearing. Global Accuracy is vitally important for my take on the build... The finished build will have the Kismet +ToHit piece in Cloak of Darkness! This is weighing heavily on the "play-up" period because I don't yet have those set bonuses for Accuracy, and I'm slotting for Endurance management pre-50. Sidebar: The "wanderers" are something I worry about for this character. For example: I am leveraging Dark Regeneration as a(nother) PBAoE source of damage... it's just that the Endurance cost for this is so high I ended up taking out a %damage and put the Theft of Essence %+Endurance piece in to mitigate it's use! (*1) I'm liking the Experimentation pool so far. My thoughts: Experimental Injection was going to be skipped, but I worked it back in to use as a mule. Toxic Dart was in the build (to provide an extra ST attack, and for a set bonus) but with more Recharge I don't need it so it was pulled from build (freeing many slots) Speed of Sound is my Combat Teleport replacement, and the travel power. I feel like I will have to mock up a set of macro/rotating bindfiles to toggle it on/off and TP to target on demand, since I don't like to keep it on during heavy combat. Corrosive Vial is crazy good, either as an opening attack and especially once I have clustered enemies near me. Adrenal Booster it is planned but not yet taken.

I am workshopping a Dark/Electric Tanker. and I am looking at the T8 Secondary Lightning Clap. Originally, I had planned to franken-slot this with 4xAbsolute Amazement (to get 15% Accuracy Bonus) and some %damage. As I've been playing (solo) I'm confronted with how I actually use the power: I like the PBAoE Stun aspect The knockback (because it is a PBAoE on a melee character) is problematic, even for me (a player who tolerates KB) I'm just about committed to slotting a KB->KD piece, but I'm wondering if I should go 5x for the little bit of extra Recharge? The build will have a couple of powers/slotting choices where the extra 10% Global recharge can help. This power is consuming 6 slots, and it is an AoE that I'd otherwise like to keep. I'm wondering what the collective thoughts are on Lightning Clap?

I agree 100%. with no Hasten in the build my Robotics/Traps can toss Caltrops on every spawn, have two Acid Mortars out at a time. Posion Trap is under 30 seconds recharge IIRC. I've skipped Seeker Drones, Trip Mine and Detonator. I wonder if it an old-school thinking about setting up Trip Mines has confused players that think MM /Traps is "slow"? The only thing that actually slows down my deployment of traps are those maps where the map construction itself defeats my ability to use targeting macros to deploy traps. (Folks in the know will know what I am referring to.) Off the top of my head the ONLY enemies that provide an inherent aggravation for /Traps are Caleb (gotta get it close to the ground) and Diabolique (because she will fly far away, often while intangible)... and to a much lesser extent the Arachnos Flier (not a big deal, but the short period when it has its shields down and isn't close to the ground mitigates the usefulness of some Traps). I find that /Traps is a great secondary against groups like Knives of Artemis, Carnies, as well as any group that is inclined to make a mad scramble away from the action. If this bothered me enough, I wouldn't have skipped the immobilize! Of those last three powers: the only one I'd consider adding back into the build are the Seeker Drones, but Robotics/Traps doesn't need a -ToHit (and the other effects aren't worth it IMO) and my MM has plenty to do with its primary/secondary. As I wrote above, an immobilize would serve me better... but even with AoE options in the Patron pools I won't make the change.

Which link(s) are you checking?

Traps has some of the best debuffs in the game, and the -Regen from Mastermind Robotic attacks is golden. The FFG is a team Defense (all) with a base of +10%. Henchmen (not Pet) Builds are incredibly tanky, and can also be used to chase down runners, soak alpha strikes, or draw more enemies to a kill zone.

Water Jet is only "fast (immediate re-) cast" when Tidal Power is accumulated (for the first cast, and it hits). Assuming both casts of Water Jet hit, on paper this is a theoretic doubling of damage... subject to the inherent recharge of the initial cast of course. In contrast the (Blaster) Snipes I am most familiar with: Are a much earlier attack choice in the Primary Can get a constant +6% damage increase (for Fast) by having the Kismet +6% ToHit piece active Are more reliable %proc damage (usually there is good choice of some enhancement set that includes a %damage piece) power For me, I always feel like I am getting more (and steadier) damage output from a Snipe. Part of what turned me off from Water Jet (I tried it, for a good while!) was that it felt like "I waited until level 18 for this?" Even with slotting, I was unimpressed. As I was growing disenchanted with Water Jet, I started paying close attention to other Water Blast characters on PUGs, looking for "ENHANCED WATER JET!" and even those characters who had the power (I love the animation!) I wasn't seeing it that often... and it was making much less of a splash (pun intended) than the AoEs. As I wrote, Water Jet "feels" like it is reasonably balanced if: Tidal Power is always accumulated when casted BOTH Water Jet attacks hit Those conditions are almost enough a deal breaker by themselves (hi RNG!), but it doesn't offer enough synergy with the rest of the set for me, in terms of DoT or AoE.

Acid Mortar could be a reasonably easy power to test (against even/higher level enemies): Don't bring out pets Take the SG Invisibility Buff, run with +Stealth so that the MM is not a target Drop the Acid Mortar near enemies, let it do its thing. Don't attack, allow the enemies to attack the Acid Mortar Review the combat logs. Change slotting, repeat. The main confounding factor will be how many potential targets the Acid Mortar has, but many enemies should group around it for melee attacks.

RNG says "Hi". I'm a no-sell on Water Jet because it takes both a power pick and slots just to sometimes get a second cast of a single-target attack (that may or may not hit). For my blasters, the take Water Blast primary breaks down as: Aqua Bolt / Hydro Blast : Two single-target attacks. Pick one and slot it with the Defiant Barrage ATO, skip the other. Water Burst: The first AoE, and an important one. Take it. Whirlpool: an AoE Debuff, that includes -Speed. Take it, unless you are completely giving up on AoE. Tidal Forces: The set's Build-up, easily delayed (or even skipped) if the secondary has a better Build-Up. Dehydrate: Single target attack, self-heal, debuff. Take it. Water Jet: Sometimes fast-cast single target attack. It's on the bubble as it isn't radically different than other powers... and it is the only attack that needs Tidal Power to stand out. Steam Spray: A decent cone, with off-brand damage type. Take it. Geyser: The AoE Nuke. Take it. I suppose that if no attacks are being taken from the secondary, Water Jet could fit into an attack chain. Running through a no-gap attack chain is pretty important! Usually I'm doing something with the secondary in the course of making attacks (including blapping, which can also be single-target!). Build-wise, I'm usually trying to balance choices of enhancements to slot for set bonuses; one more single-target ranged attack on a Blaster doesn't excite me. I'd feel very differently if this was a Snipe. I see what the set is doing differently (as opposed to it being a Snipe). It's just that for my taste, the specific mechanics of getting the most out of Water Jet are a lot more convoluted and conditional than Snipes, and using Tidal Power for Water Jet means I'm not using Tidal Power for another attack power. For Snipes, I can run fast or slow, I can boost damage on Snipes with passive (or active) +ToHit bonuses, and Snipes can take a greater variety of Enhancement sets. The recent fix to not auto-burn Tidal Power on a miss has improved Water Jet, but its still not teh choice for me. Frankly: I'd sooner pick the other single-target ranged attack available at level 1 first and slot it before I'd take Water Jet, since then I'd have a second attack that could be cast when mezzed. I wouldn't need to rely on Tidal Power to improve its performance. As things stand, I have better used for not just the power pick that would go to Water Jet but also any slots I would dedicate to it.

There are a LOT of AT that can tackle almost all the content in the game; if you want leisurely, I think Robotics/Traps is probably the path you want to take. My reasoning: Robot henchmen attacks are almost entirely ranged, which makes them a lot less frenetic than other henchmen The Robotics primary's recent rework is quite good (especially with Maintenance Drone, a no-think henchman heal), Triage Beacon is not required. The Traps secondary is a solid debuff set, and FFG is a great no-think buff power The Traps secondary's last three powers are entirely skippable, which allows for team buffs (Leadership pool) or travel options (Group Fly for rocket boots!) Mastermind henchmen do suffer level shifts, and AoE can be a shock... but no one is obligated to run +3 content if they don't want to. The most "active" that a Robotics/Traps MM has to be in my experience is: Against most Giant Monsters and AVs, the MM will have to make attacks to apply -Regen Against large spawns, especially those that apply -Resistance, you may have to be respawning the henchmen.