tidge

Looking for some clarification, and some further comments of my own. My understanding is that, except for no-Incarnate power runs (e.g. "Master of..."), the teams' defenses are being provided by multiple players juggling Destiny Barrier... Ice Shield and Glacial Shield do more than just buff Defenses of course, but not that much more (for surviving, in general) given how attack mechanics work. My comment is about second builds, even though I also suggested have one (for other content) earlier in the thread. A second build for something specific like a "Master of...." run can be a rather large ask for a new (or resource limited) player. I write this because *I* would expect that a player wanting to succeed on a "Master of..." run have a full compliment of higher-end Enhancement set bonuses slotted... and I would expect that the player invest in their *fun concept* build before trying to satisfy random other player who wants to run MoX with a very particular set of requirements.

Short post about HO Membranes in Mind Link/Link Mids. If a power won't accept a "regular" crafted IO of a type (here, Recharge Reduction), then a Hami-O or D-Sync that contains an attribute of the unacceptable type won't contribute to improving that attribute in the power. HO Membranes DO buff the ToHit and Defense buff components, but not the Recharge time component. This was changed (for HOs) way back on Live, specifically because certain powers were not supposed to have certain attributes boosted by IOs. Mind Link can accept, and benefit from the Recharge component of Defense Buff and ToHit Enhancement sets, such as the Recharge-only piece from the Adjusted Targeting set. I used to 3-slot Mind Link with a LotG Defense/Global Recharge, a Defense/Recharge and the Adjusted Targeting Recharge piece (boosted)... but I noticed that my Fortunata was 6-slotting Reactive Defenses elsewhere in the build, and that I actually got more bang-for-the-slots by moving the 6-pieces of Reactive Defenses into Mind Link. Obviously this is only buffing Defense and Recharge time, and not ToHit.

Was it this thread, or another one? I went looking for your post, to see what level of snark as sass was absurd, but couldn't find your post or any responses to it. Cesspool? I see a mix of all sorts of things in the Suggestion forum, including: Swinging (with anger) at dead horses Suggestions that have been made before, or variants thereof Suggestions that look (to me, MMV) to have originated in "I just noticed this one thing that bothered me, it popped into my mind, Imma post about it." Suggestions that perhaps should engage forum members in another subforum (because of a lack of understanding/insight regarding an AT, powerset, the market) #1... maybe not everyone recognizes a "dead horse" (ehem, Group Fly), but some of these threads have a disproportionate amount of engagement from long-time forum participants, repeating points that have been made repeatedly. Over and over again. Multiple times. Repeatedly. #2... Quite a few repeated suggestions that don't devolve into the "dead horse" category, are ones I find well-meaning and interesting. I usually read them, and I often don't feel obligated to participate more than "emoting" to posts made by others. These threads are often good ones to get perspective on the underlying code and game mechanics. #3... This is where a question of scale comes into play, and I see a lot of "whims" made as suggestions. Sometimes that source of the suggestion is obviously a point of irritation that I want to believe really did upset a player, in a moment, but that the circumstances are convoluted enough that the "suggestion" is essentially "THAT should never have happened to ME!" (I'm thinking of the threads like the one about multiple players simultaneously trying to use the same salvage rack while crafting, or accidentally selling a recipe, etc.) There would be so little juice to come out of a development change to "fix" a certain issue that I think it is much more likely that if a player can't figure out how NOT to do that one thing, they are probably going to find something equally as trivial (my "white knight" opinion, perhaps?) to suggest.

I don't consider running from zone-to-zone to be grindy. Time wasting perhaps, but there were options, for solo and teams. Certainly in the final year of live, there were veteran rewards for fast travel, plus Long Range Teleport was a power in the Teleport pool, and bases were a thing. The Incarnate rewards however, were designed to be grindy... for a LOT of players, simultaneously. There weren't anything like the options we have today.

For me, a greater annoyance is never hearing a Taunt coming from Tankers or Brutes.

My /Cold Corruptor skipped Ice Shield and Frostwork. Glacial Shield was added at level 49. Similar to the goals listed for your concept, I wanted to take certain powers and the secondary's ally buffs were standing in my way. The Ally buffs are very good, but for a LOT of content players will be relatively self-sufficient... and if they aren't, that isn't something you can blame on another player. IMO the enemy debuffs are much more important. If slowly leveling up on PUGs... by all means the shields can help a lot with lower level TF/SF. I took and used them. It is possible to have a second (or third!) build that adds those powers back in at the expense of some of the other things you want for concept.... but if that was the need, maybe just have a Defender instead?

I've highlight the parts of the quote that I agree are the problem with the non-human Kheldian forms (damage output). Yes, changeling cheats allow the use of some other form attacks (presumably only a few that have been slotted 'best'), but the core problem with something like the Nova attacks is that the attacks are basically slightly improved level 4 blasts. Having 4 (or 5) blasts is rather OP for levels 4 through 12, but after about level 16 the offense of the Nova form has fallen behind something like a Blaster... and never really recovers. It is of course possible to invest heavily in ALL the Nova attacks (and exemplar down) but those attacks are always going to be roughly equivalent to T1, T2, T3 attacks.... but with no access to any other powers (modulo changeling). At least the Dwarf form stays tough! The other existing aspect of game balance that reminds me of what the Kheldians face is in the Mastermind AT. The MMs have to have their offense scale, otherwise they'd breeze through low-level content or get stymied at higher levels. I'm not suggesting that Kheldians get "boost powers", but rather than the Nova form get some conditionals (based on level) added to Nova attacks such that a Nova form isn't effectively using only damage-scaled T1/T2/T3 attacks forever.

The artistry in crafting a build by following a recipe is in how the recipe is ignored. Some points I commonly follow: 1) I don't take more attacks than I need, unless there is something mechanically interesting/thematic about the sets/characters. For example: I find some Blast sets (Assault Rifle, the Archeries, even Beam Rifle) to have so many different attacks I find myself taking more than I need. I rarely take an 'extra' attack for set bonus reasons, unless it is in a power pool and can be used as a pre-requisite for a power I want. 2) I rarely take Hasten. There is plenty of global recharge to be had from set bonuses. Hasten is IMO a bit of a mental trap... many players who recommend it decide they want 'perma-Hasten', which leads to both burning a power pick (and pool) on Hasten, and then making a lot of necessary build choices to get the set bonuses to make Hasten perma. 3) I rarely sweat trying to 'soft-cap' defenses for 'squishies'... or push the limits of Resistances. I'm not ignoring the attack mechanics, and I do have certain ATs that (necessarily, for some content) exceed what the game has mechanically imposed... yet I find I don't need that build strategy to enjoy the game. It is rare I take the Fighting pool. 4) I try to have my character be 'complete' Attacks/Defenses/Utility for level 30 content (especially when exemplared down). Practically: this means that I often don't sweat incarnates or epic/patron powers (especially using many slots on power picks above level 32) 5) Single target controls get serious evaluation before I invest in them. These are IMO a mixed bag. Often they can be used as sources of damage (especially Holds, via %damage), but they are single-target... which makes for relying on one of these to clear enemies a bit of a slog. Usually I land on slotting them for the control aspect, and sometimes for a desired set bonus. Often a temporary attack used on a controlled enemy is more reliable!

The combo mechanics (for whatever sets) are IMO a bit of a mixed bag. My Street Justice characters generally don't pay attention to try to build combos, except when facing a hard single-target. Super Reflexes is a top-tier defensive set, and it was constructed in a very "natural" way... meaning that each new power effectively adds something that benefits the build. Resistance-based sets (especially for Tankers and Brutes) often have toggles that aren't needed for certain content. Defenses work against (pretty much) ALL enemies, because of the game's attack mechanics. With a Brute's high HP and the scaling resistances, you may find the SR Brute affects your perspective of how combat affects player ATs. Also keep in mind that at low levels especially, Defenses are doing a LOT more to mitigate damage taken than any similar-level resistance power.

This will vary based on the AT, but generally I don't take both of the first picks from a primary (especially not if those are both attacks) and rarely will I end up taking both of the first two picks from a secondary... at least not right away. As a character levels up and slots attacks, it is rare that both a T1 and a T2 are needed for an attack chain. There are rationalizations for taking both a T1 and T2 attack of course, and I expect a variety of replies explaining why certain folks do exactly this. Usually the first two (offensive) picks of both the primary and secondary are single-target affecting, so there isn't a lot of runway to allow both of them fly. For defensive sets, usually a character doesn't need both of the first two powers early in the career. The most obvious exception is probably Stalkers, which excel with Hide so depending on the second defensive power they may want that sooner rather than later. The temporary (attack) powers as well as the prestige attacks from the START vendor provide enough offensive options for me for lower level content. These cannot be enhanced, and work with the base damage scales of the AT of course.

From my memory: there was an effort to micro-transaction costume pieces and emotes (as well as power sets)... but because they were unlocked per account, and IIRC subscribers could cash in tokens (or whatever they were) to get those things, it wasn't going to be a great financial windfall. The standard costume creator was pretty freakin' incredible, even at launch. I'm pretty sure the Incarnate path was seen as the way to keep people paying, at least prior to the sunset announcement. I smirk when I encounter one of those early blue-side arcs that has me going all over Paragon city... and later, the Shadow Shard... because I remember how absolutely grindy the Incarnate stuff was. The (Live) Incarnate game was pretty much a perfect example of the type of MMO I didn't enjoy.

Thankfully it has been a long time (several years) since I've seen any in-game chat mocking ATs. *That* was a behavior I couldn't understand, given the game and how easy it is to team up. The only recent conversation in General chat I can think of was when during a weekday a player self-identified as having changed shards explicitly to farm (during the middle of a North American work day) , and got weirdly aggressive in chat that nobody was taking him/her up on an offer to join their farm. After those comments, there were a number of shard regulars who understandably wanted to know why *that* player was acting that way.

One things: It is trivial to level up, without stepping foot in an AE. Another thing; I don't equate "new player" with "asking to power level". I want to believe that a really new player wouldn't want or need to "power level", since content pretty much scales with the powers available to the character.

I few of us show occasional sharp edges during play, but I haven't seen much toxic behavior. Mostly it is jovial joking and just running content.

My gaming rig died at some point and I couldn't play CoX with my replacement PC (for a year+), but I kept my subscription active! When I finally rejoined with a PC that could game, I found there was nothing I needed micro-transition wise. The subscriber rewards either gave me everything, or pretty close. The only thing I can think of in the old Live model was the limited number of character slots per server might have been a motivation (for a time) to have multiple subscriptions.

I find tackling AVs solo to be such a slog, I'm impressed when players set out to do it with something like a Controller... especially without Incarnates. I want to say I had a Dark/Dark Controller that was able to beat at least one, hold off others, but fell to many... before I stopped trying. The biggest issue I remember was reliable/correct damage typing for the different AVs.

The initial red-zone arcs are IIRC more generous in giving merits. My villains usually outpace my heroes in merits at early levels. The common explanation is that this is a slight effort to get more players to start red; as a practical matter there is simply much more merit-granting content blue side.

If you check this page, you can see any single Enhancement piece with the "global" tag will work (down to a level equal to the lowest that the enhancement bonus works at) even if the power is not available (because Exemplar) or being used (i.e. toggled off, or not used after the duration of the effect has expired).

Alternating between builds is probably the easiest way to have a "no obvious powers" build. Other options: widows can go multiple ways, and/or lean into the Leadership powers for one... but then you are limited in the types of attacks in a way you may not want. Something like a Traps primary/secondary could be somewhat "civilian-like" for non-Blaster options.

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.