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I'm slotting Grant Cover to get the set bonuses (Endurance Discount) from Reactive Defenses. I know it doesn't give the bonuses to my character, like I said... I like to PUG. The Gladiator's Shield in Phalanx Fighting slotting was for some Regen and HP; I see your point about the (lack of) enhancement... that will free a couple of slots.

I don't do enough HARD content frequently enough with diverse characters/ATs to offer quantitative analyses, yet... My way-old Inv/EM Tanker has been just fine between the changes to primary, secondary, and power choices (at lower levels). Some slots freed up, my preferred attack chain (from animations/recharge, not for DPA) is A-OK. My way-old Robotics/Traps Mastermind is enjoying being free of (most) Knockback from the Henchmen, and while the primary power changes are not precisely (*1) what I would have preferred, they are just fine. The (mostly) freedom from knockback opened up more variety for my slotting in the primary. (*1) The Robotics (among other MM primaries) changes partially feels like "anything to avoid creating a Recharge-intensive pet to slot certain aura enhancements". Without also having to burn slots for KB->KD, the changes are definitely "win", just not the win I'd want.

I have played Resistance-based Tanks/Scrappers/Stalkers/VEATs and Defense-based Scrappers/Stalkers/VEATs, but hadn't yet played a Defense-based Tank, so I thought I'd try the Shield/Battle Axe combo. I like to PUG non-incarnate content, and solo lower-level arcs. I don't mind tanking "hard stuff" but it is not my goal with this character... that is, I am not trying to build a solo monster. My general attitude for this character is: "enough" attacks at lowish levels, with an emphasis on %damage from procs "zippy", travel, sprint, athletic run (mostly) toggled on Endurance (MaxEnd, discounts, Recovery) allowing for button mashing Here is my current plan (level 50, no Incarnates) for a character still leveling up (text only): One thing I like to do with new characters is to play around in pools I haven't used before. This character took Aid Other (Medicine pool) for an Enhancement set mule, and I've been using it (mostly with NPCs in missions). The build above includes the Fighting pool, but honestly that was more by default-mode thinking and not to specifically add Tough to the gameplay (toggled on, or as a mule). I'm wondering: How does the Homecoming Hivemind think Aid Self and Field Medic would play in place of Boxing and Tough? (I would take each slightly earlier in the build than the Fighting pool choices above, delaying the long recharge powers of Unleash Potential and One with the Shield.) I would just slot the new Medicine pool powers with (boosted) IOs. I should note, I didn't see any Epic/Patron choices that really appealed to me for this character. I didn't see the need to go for any Epic-level %proc-friendly attacks, because I'd already leveraged the Force of Will pool to get such things at a MUCH earlier level. Another question for the Hivemind: With global +Recharge, I don't really need a Recharge IO in Active Defense (for level 20+ content). Is there a better place to use that slot? I have considered: A Numina Heal in Health, to boost Regeneration (in a couple of ways) 2-pieces of Blessing of the Zephyr in Mighty Leap (improve travel speed, some Ranged defense, etc.) Another slot in Deflection, for Impervium Armor (Psi Resist) or Aegis (Psi/Status Resist) A Recharge IO in Build Up (a classic choice for me, but for Tankers it is generally the "I don't want to miss both of the next 2 attacks" choice because of damage scaling) Is there something I'm overlooking? Cleave can obviously take a %damage (including the 6th Armageddon piece) but Pendulum is my "bread-and-butter" AoE attack w/%damage. Based on lower level play, I'm happy where the %damage is.

"Did anyone ever amass a fortune that wasn't (ab)used?"

Because of the way the Rikti reacted (the ASN spawns include drones), I suspect it was simply a sort of SUPER STEALTH. I didn't think to check my combat attributes, as I was "on the clock". I don't remember the Rikti Monkeys in PI paying attention to me.

I thought I'd share this: After completing Agent G's Faultline Arc, I still had some time left on the temporary power Arachnos Disguise, I used it (as a lowbie) to collect badges in all sorts of (blueside) zones that would have otherwise had the baddies quite interested in me, including Giant Monsters in Peregrine Island. The only enemy group that "saw through" the disguise were the Rikti spawns in the Abandoned Sewer Network.

I don't recall my SR Stalker (with Street Justice attacks) having an abnormal amount of Endurance issues while leveling up. As I approached 20 (and the dropping of all the assorted benefits to low-level characters) I made sure to have attacks slotted with Accuracy then Endurance, and defenses got Endurance reduction FIRST. While leveling, the only Stalker toggle that doesn't get an Endurance reduction in the first slot is Hide, which gets a Kismet +6% ASAP, allowing me to back off on the Accuracy a little.

To reiterate: getting the power to perma isn't the issue, especially at level 50 (and beyond). I'm leveling the character, so: I don't have the second slot to spare, The Endurance cost (of this as an auto power) is on par with one of the more tiring attacks... risking a drop of the toggles I am positive I can have these addressed with the level 50 build and keep Active Defense on auto without even considering Incarnates. My solo play experience with small spawn sizes has been that I haven't really needed it except as a click. Larger spawn sizes and PUG TFs make it more necessary (especially for a taunting tank). As I turn up the spawn sizes in solo, the Endurance issue is maintaining primacy because I need to do button-mashing to clear each spawn of mobs. I admit, this is all a sort of 'first world problem'... with more slots there are a LOT of ways to address diverse issues. In the play experience for this character, the Endurance issue will probably be the last one fully addressed.

While leveling, it is one more Endurance cost that I can't quite carry (on auto). I've just slotted it for a single IO recharge and I've been using it as necessary. The final build (minus Incarnates) looks like it should have enough Global Recharge that I could single-slot it for Endurance Reduction, I suppose.

Active Defense is a click, an I supposed to keep it on autofire?

I am leveling up a Shield/Battle Axe right now, and it is brutal on Endurance consumption. It should be much more manageable with full enhancement set slottings, Accolades, etc. It's been fun on PUGs, even as leveling up. I'm not that keen on the status protection being a click, and having to slot for knockdown protection came as a surprise... but these have been manageable. It looks like this may be one of the few characters for which I don't pick an Epic (or Patron) power pool, the primary/secondary offer most everything I want. I am using the Force of Will pool for ranged options/travel/mules and just a handful of other pool picks for mules. I miss the ability to emote dances with the Shield Toggles active more than I miss the self-heal.

He's clearly from the Jim Henson Workshop:

I've used both Sorcery and Force of Will, on different characters obv. I have a couple of characters for which the animations feel out-of-place, but for the characters for which the animations match the costume themes, I really like them. If there is one regret I have about the page 5 change (to when primary/second powers can be chosen) it is that it has become easier to ignore experimenting with the diverse power pools. Overall, I still see page 5 as a big win... especially since it allows deeper dives into the epic/patron pools.

I was aware of the recent attack type changes, but somehow I missed that Resist Energies was also now working against Psi. I simply had not checked the resistances in-game, but I suspect I can probably shuffle some spots currently occupied by Impervium Armor. (I just checked... sitting at 75% Psi resist and 55% Toxic) My current (page 5) rebuild's (primary) defenses look like this: With some pool powers: I should note, I rarely toggle on Temporary Invulnerability when solo, and I delayed Resist Elements simply because for lower level content I wasn't finding I really needed it. EDIT: It turns out I was being a little sloppy with my build and slotting (YMMV), at least for page 5. I 'cashed out' two instances of Impervium Armor and went with set bonuses (5xUnbreakable Guard, 4x Gladiator's Armor) instead. This cost me 2x 6% Psi resistance, but in return I got 3.75% Psi/Toxic plus around 2% each for S/L/E/N. I decided 106% S/L (with Tough) was overkill in the new era (I could be wrong, but the damage typing changes must have nerfed the resistance debuff trick right?) so I basically swapped slots (some minor shuffling of set pieces as well) between Tough and Resist Elements to increase F/C resists by over 5%. I can still get over the S/L cap without Incarnates by toggling on Tough, albeit with a higher endurance cost. I also decided to add the 6th piece to Hecatomb slotting (in place of a reliable %damage proc) which was +6% Psi/Toxic resists, so I feel like I'm up, except for the cushion in the S/L cap from Tough.

I don't really recommend it, but you can get a little bit more global recharge by using a SG Base buff. It's more reliable that the FF %recharge proc, but it does expire. I try to start a PUG session with it active, as I sometimes get to button-mashing such that I don't leave a gap for the auto trigger to fire!

I tried Thunder Strike on my Plant/Electricity Assault Dominator for quite some time, but I ended up dropping it completely from the build. From memory, my complaints were: I never got the sense that I was ever hitting more than one target with anything like a reliable rate, Whenever I missed the original target, I'm pretty sure I missed all other potential targets, as few in number as they may have been. Who knows how streakbreaker even works for this? I seem to recall the animation being too long for the generally miserable damage output. I almost certainly had one %damage proc in it, but given my general approach to perma-dom, it is likely I had 5 slots in it but it is unlikely I had a 6th slot in the power. I am positive I had it slotted with a set, i.e. not for %procs. My current build has Hecatomb in Havoc Punch. I really wanted to have this Dominator be more close-combat oriented, so I feel like I gave the power a fair shake. I had the power from first availability (this was during page 4) past level 50 and the respec into the "final" build.

"That's time that could be spent farming!!!! WHy U nERF Me?"

This is not an easy question to answer (for me). There is some nostalgia that offers enjoyment of some arcs. There are a few of the 'zone arcs' that I enjoy... and others I find a slog.... or at least not worth the payoff. I also have mixed feelings about the "over-written" arcs that are trying to immerse me in the Lore. I see some artistry, but it gets really boring to encounter these more than once. (ehem, SSA1... especially the Brickstown arc) I actually prefer the red-side arcs. There are often complaints about a lack of agency (compared to blue side) but I can't really take that complaint seriously. It's not as if blue side contacts offer you agency on your path to accumulate experience. How many heroes have fallen for the same dumb Praetorian tricks in the Tina/Maria arcs?

It could be that I tossed (ha!) Web Grenade from the build, I am surprised to read that AVs have a vulnerability to immobilize.

%Contagious Confusion.

My experience with GMs and AVs since page 5 (with by Robotics/Traps) build has been overall disappointing. Generally, the GM/AV will simply run which makes it hard to keep focused fire on them... and if the MM chases them, there is a real danger of "leaving the henchmen (and traps) behind" which is not good. Here are my specific experiences with a level 50 MM: Halloween GMs in low-level zones (Hollows, Skyway, Faultline) : Easy-peasy, easier than last year (pre-page 5). I never had that much trouble with them, it is just that defeat times fell noticeably. GMs in Peregrine Island: I can no longer defeat one, and can't really survive against more-than-one. And since they RUN, there is almost always going to be more than one. Prior to page 5, this was a VERY tedious endeavor... but now it feels much worse. I suspect it is the shift in the -regen to the MM that is the source of the trouble here. I want to note that my MM had (and used) two of the primary attacks before page 5, so it is not like the comparison is apples-to-oranges. AVs in solo (Classic Blue) TFs: I have been able to solo each one I tried (generally the weeklies, I can recall Penny Yin, Citadel, Enesto Hess) but in each case the AV reaches a point at which they run... Clamor went to the hallway beyond the "coolant belt" room, Hess was running/jumping all over the Goliath Mech Man. I guess this is an interesting sort of challenge, but it is highly frustrating. Vandal was actually the most challenging of these three: He also ran, but what made him a challenge was that his Melee attacks were focused on the MM, which made it REALLY dangerous to be far from the henchmen. I have also tried some 'even level' events: Paladin Construction in Kings Row: This was fine (easier for a solo MM than on other AT), but of course the construct doesn't run while it is being built and the spawns are all nearby. Zig Breakout in Brickstown: Still doable, with the only noticeable difference (to me) was that the undefeated Freaks and the final 3 Prisoners are more likely to hightail away from the event, and that it is harder to keep track of all of them with my attention divided between the Bots and the mobs. Times have dropped, but only because of the "run away"... I don't like to leave this event unfinished, so I find myself hanging around waiting for the mobs to come back.

I'll just drop this pre-lament here: I sincerely hope that the %proc implementation never changes. What I like about the current implementation: Extra %damage (less so for %effects) is pretty much the only game effect that allows certain ATs to turn up the number of enemies (in solo play) and still be able to complete maps in an amount of time that is within an order of magnitude of other ATs It allows for a level of customization of characters/powers beyond picking different primary/secondary/epic/pools that has an observable outcome in the game... while offering a trade-off (with "set bonuses") The random nature of the %procs is one more source of legit RNG in a game with "defense caps" and "streakbreaker". As long as the game rewards scale with number of enemies defeated, I think #1 is the dominant concern. I realize some folks get up in arms about DPS (and occasionally DPA), but I feel that thinking about the game in only those terms is ignoring how much of a trudge the game would be for a lot of AT. I suppose I'm dropping this note here, because if there is any AT that ought to be able to appreciate this, it would be MMs (who have lost their henchmen).

I'm generally ok with the page 5 revamp for robotics, but it still makes no sense to me that one of the "upgrade" powers in a MM primary is a necessary and selectable power before two of the three tiers of henchmen are selectable powers.... especially considering at how low a level in the game it is possible to pick that first "upgrade" power. MMs are rather unique to CoX, and there are several game fundamentals which make them feel (to me) like they are extremely closely tied to a legacy attitude of experiencing the game.... you know the ones: "an even battle is one players against 2 minions and a LT" and a "need to rest between spawns". I've been trying my (page 5 revamped) Robotics/Traps MM through a variety of content...it is fine, but it still feels very much like it did before page 5 except in a few cases where it feels worse: GMs and AVs run run run, which makes it hard to keep the robots in Bodyguard mode (keeping the MM from being easily KOed) and keep up DPS on the AV or GM. Street sweeping is (still?) relatively slow. I've been doing all sorts of content (exemplared too) with a level 50+ build, including street sweeping while exemplared. The only content where I found (so far) this character really shines was in a Positron 1/2 PUG. Posi 1 because it could stand by itself against the incoming hordes, Posi 2 because the henchmen could be sent in to take the alpha strike(s) for the PUG. Results on low-level zone GMs (Skyway Echoai) were fine, but PI monsters are no longer possible to solo (for me, YMMV). I was especially disappointed in the performance during Zig breakout events and KR construction events.

Absolute Amazement is slotted for the set bonuses. In that build (shown elsewhere) the MM is only running with the T3 henchmen, so as much Global Recharge as possible is a core feature. EDIT: Global recharge is important in that build because the MM has several AoE %damage attacks.