tidge

Ah, so if not "spamming" Upgrade Robot (presumably only occuring when spamming resummons of henchmen) the better option for a single-slot appears to be to use a boosted 50+5 Healing and not sweat the Endurance cost.

I suspect that as with everyone else prior to Page 5 I only had an Endurance reduction piece slotted in Upgrade Robot. The patch notes say only this: Upgrade Robot Now grants Repair to Protector Bots Can be enhanced by slotting the power with Healing sets and enhancements. I grok that the power could be used as a mule for something like the Preventive Medicine %Absorb proc, but Does enhancing the Healing actually provide a benefit to the Protector Bot's Repair? Does the Endurance cost reduction do anything for the Protector Bot(s)? I see a lot of casual mentions of "slot Upgrade Robot with an HO Golgi (Heal/End)" which is 33.3%/33.3% at level 50, boostable to 38.3%/38.3% with a level 53 combined Golgi... and at least one comment that a boosted 50+5 Panacea Heal/End can give 33.1%/33.1% boosts (26.5%/26.5% boosts at level 50). If the Endurance cost enhancement is only affecting the Mastermind's casting of Upgrade Robot, why not just go with a boosted 50+5 Panacea Heal (a 53% boost)? If the Healing enhancement isn't doing anything, why not just stick with with a 50+5 boosted Endurance reduction IO?

I haven't run a /Dark MM since live, but here are some things I would do differently with the Secondary and Epic. I think Howling Twilight should be taken as early as possible, and slotted with: Absolute Amazement Stun/Recharge (boosted +5) Absolute Amazement Acc/Stun/Recharge (boosted +5) Ragnarok Acc/Recharge (boosted +5) Ragnarok Damage/Endurance (boosted +5) ideally you would have an Acc/End but just take the Recovery bonus Javelin Volley %Lethal Bombardment %Fire (over Positron's Blast %Energy since the Robots do Energy) You won't quite be spamming it, but it should help a lot. OI would also only slot the Dark Servant with 4x Cloud Senses. If you really want 5-slots, use the 5th slot as an Accuracy/Heal. Fearsome Stare should mimic Dark Servant except you will want more Endurance reduction, and it can take a %Psi proc from Glimpse of the Abyss for a total of 5 slots. If you find that you aren't hitting enemies with it, the 6th slot could be an HO Endoplasm. I think all those slots in Tactics are a waste, and I like the Gaussian's set! You definitely want to boost the henchmen's ToHit chances of course, so the power choice is a smart one. I suspect all the slots in Oppressive Gloom are overdoing it. A single level 53 Endoplasm HO should do in a pinch. If Endurance is an issue, add a single slot for a 50+5 IO. Tar Patch should probably have 2x 50+5 Recharge IO. The slotting of Oppressive Gloom is one that I feel differently about. Typically, I go for 3-piece set bonuses from Gladiator's Net (Acc/Hold, Acc/End/Hold/Rech, %Lethal) and then flavor to taste. The %smashing from Unbreakable Constraint is one of the best %damage available, and Lockdown (%+2 Mag) offers you a chance to Hold bosses. If you are committed to Super Jump as a travel, and don't have Combat Jumping (or another specialized power pool) may I suggest Mighty Leap (from Force of Will), as you can use Takeoff to knockdown enemies. It may be stretch for MMs, but with a 3-power investment you could have Wall of Force as a %proc-tastic cone attack. I never take Hasten on my Masterminds. If I want MOAR recharge, generally I can get enough via slotting enhancement bonuses.

My current /Traps choices and slots are (keep in mind, this is still my 'alpha' slotting): Caltrops (@1) Impeded Swiftness %Smashing Annihilation %-Res Annihilation Dam/Recharge Ice Mistral %Cold Ice Mistral Dam/Recharge Ice Mistral Acc/Dam/End/Recharge Acid Mortar (@14) Achilles Heel %-Resist Annihilation %-Resist Undermined Defenses Def Debuff Undermined Defenses Def Debuff/Recharge Undermined Defenses End/Recharge Undermined Defenses Recharge Force Field Generator (@16) Luck of the Gambler Def/Global recharge Luck of the Gambler Def Defense 50+5 Poison Trap (@20) Unbreakable Contraint %Smashing Lockdown %+2 Mag Hold Gladiator's Net %Lethal Gladiator's Net Acc/Hold (50+5) Gladiator's Net Acc/Recharge (50+5) Poison Trap is a reliable %proc, so I will probably move the Caltrops slot holding Impeded Swiftness to Poison Trap, and instead of Lockdown use the Entomb (Rech/+%absorb) plus a %damage... I like the visual of the +2 Mag, but frankly I'd rather have 1 more tick of the %damage. I love the set bonuses from Annihilation, beside the 2-piece bonus in Caltrops I have 2x5 piece bonuses in Photon Grenade and Mace Beam Volley. +MaxEnd and an Endurance Discount? Yes please! The %-Res from extra sources doesn't stack, but keeping -Res while the 'bots are fighting really helps. I don't have any more powers from the secondary. I like Seeker Drones (I've taken it while leveling up), but not enough to find slots for it. Taking it now would delay Maneuvers and Tactics which I find helps out the henchmen. I still have to go up against PI Giant Monsters solo, but against the zone-level GMs (Jack, Echoai in Atlas Park, Skyway City, Perez Park) the defeat times are faster than last year. I should note: This character had primary +epic attacks before this page, so aside from the availability of primary power choices and the tweaks to Equip/Upgrade Robot powers, the biggest build effects have been: Pulse Rifle Blast is taken at level 2 (because Caltrops can be taken instead of Web Grenade at level 1!) instead of level 38 Triage Beacon was swapped for Maintenance Drone (same slotting of 6xPreventive Medicine) Photon Grenade was taken at level 8 (instead of level 30) replacing a LotG mule that can be deferred. This alpha build isn't having Endurance problems (The Henchmen are, so... thinking), so I'm going to take a hard look at my Recovery slotting.

A few rando comments, from my Bots/Traps MM (with page 5 'alpha' respec still to be studied) I have always had %procs in Caltrops, but I'm thinking of giving up at least one slot from it. I've also had relatively good recharge slotted in it (for the speed debuff, but also a set bonus) so the %proc rates are rather lackluster. The revamp requires some extra slot consideration, so I am re-thinking the number of slots I used to put here. I have KB->KD in the MM's attacks, to provide extra control for the henchmen. Otherwise I agree that if you have a slot, putting KB->KD from Overwhelming Force in the T1 is a generally good idea. While I appreciate the lack of henchmen knockback, I actually miss all the extra control it brought when altered to knockdown (via Sudden Acceleration piece). My build was tossing a lot of %-Resistance and Knockdown before... I may have to make more tweaks than I originally considered. I have only been revisiting lower level content with my 50, so I still have a lot of level range content to check out. One of the Robotics MM primary attacks (is it Photon Burst?) requires the OF piece to knockdown enemies, as it otherwise does not do knockback. (highly unsure about what follows!) IIRC, %procs (e.g. %damage) also require a ToHit check... and the ToHiT check is based on the slotted accuracy of the power. I have no idea how this works for pseudo-pets, but I have a hard time imagining that they have it better than players. My general observation has been that my (alpha respec) build has significantly better %proc in the Poison Trap than Caltrops. Much of this is would be due to the longer inherent recharge, some of it could be that I typically have 50+5 Accuracy/* pieces slotted in the Hold. I have a little more testing to do to see how the pseudo-pet behaves...I'm going to use the %+2 Mag Hold piece to try to get a visual display rather than parsing the logs.

Something peculiar I noticed with DSyncs: I had one character with an outstanding bid for 4x of a particular DSync at a rather high price, I had two other characters with 1 open bid each for the same Dsync at lower prices... the lower price bids cleared where the higher ones did not. I don't trust the 'last 5 purchase prices', but they looked like DSync prices, and at one point those prices were below my outstanding bid. The character with unfilled bids put in a slightly higher bid and won one. I wasn't selling anything on those characters. I only mention this, because it is possible that the market may be legitimately buggy in a previously unseen way while the availability of items is low.

Note(s) to self prior to respec: Keep track of power tray choices Empty unslotted Enhancements into the Auction House Check SG base storage for sub-50 Enhancements that can be attuned, freeing attuned ones for future builds.

I like the changes: more choices without (modulo set revamps) force to pick powers the new way. Only on some ATs did I feel like there was a "dead zone" of choices... I've almost always been non-plussed about the pile-up of potential power picks after level 30.

I definitely did it with all my level 50s, I'm trying to decide if I want to do it with any of my slow-walk characters. The only other Prsimatic-related thing I've done was taken some of the level 50s through the Shadow Shard TFs solo to get an additional 2 for a couple of hours of play (each). I needed a calm break from door knocking and button mashing.

TL;DR: I'm thinking biggest effects will be on the defensive side of lower-levels TFs, and that some PvP zones like Blood Bay may become interesting. ATs that rely on pets (not henchmen) from the secondary to help out in solo play should definitely benefit by getting those pets earlier. ---- I don't use the Homecoming launcher, so this post is theory-crafting, not theory-tested. I'll roll with whatever we end up going with, so this is all about planned respecs of lvl 50s who exemplar down. I imagine that I will still level many ATs up as I have always done, because of the fewer slots available while leveling. I'm ignoring Masterminds, except to say that the specific changes for Robotics will have a peculiar effect on the order of my favorite build that isn't worth detailing here. The biggest planned changes (starting at level 1) will be on my Rad/Dark Defender/Offender. I'm going to shuffle up the powers from 1-22, and take advantage of the 22-41 power options to get as much Offense as possible. The cost of this choice will be this: The Fighting pool will be taken at then end-build. One of my "cornball" Controllers will absolutely shuffle late-game powers to earlier picks. Generally: I have been squeezing the Fighting pool into builds such that Tough/Weave is taken by level 32. For me: Tough has almost always been a Mule, but Weave's base 5% Defense has been very important for a lot of content. I'm casually wondering if delaying Weave is going to have a larger effect on exemplared TFs/SFs (ehem, Penny Yin) than I realize. My Dominators are a mixed bag: I only have a couple, each is rather fine-tuned to get perma-Dom. Each of them will probably swap the Secondary T1/T2 but for different reasons. One doesn't really use the T1, so it is a swap to a slightly more damaging T2 that is otherwise skipped. The other takes the T2, so the swap is ultimately between the T1 and the T3. This will have zero net effect on slotting or choices. on each of these, I think I will keep Tough/Weave at mid levels as they draw plenty of aggro. One of the two will have a slight shuffling of powers at levels 20 through 28. I haven't tackled my Tanker yet, but it looks as if that will be a LOT more fun to play at mid-levels. I've never enjoyed Brutes, but I expect even more "why play Brutes?" threads to appear with Tankers now getting the hardest-hitting attacks by level 30. I don't see major changes to my Scrappers and Stalkers, except that one of my Stalkers will have a preferred couple of powers for lower-level content. I'm keeping Hide, thanks! My VEATs will take some experimentation. I'm not sure my Widows/Fortunata need to shuffle their power picks. I can definitely see revamping my Crabbermind, as that has been such a late-blooming build. I'm skeptical how effective the Crabbermind will be with the pets at lower levels; at casual glance it looks like I might have to delay some power picks that make the pet powers effective (Hasten, Team supports)

I've been looking through my (rather small by comparison to some players) roster of lvl 50 characters to prioritize respecs. Aside from the Masterminds, the (quasi-planned) respecs seem to fall into two categories: Swapping out the T2 in the secondary for the T1 (there are fewer than I expected for my roster) Delaying pool powers (typically X -> Tough -> Weave) to get the 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 flow of primary/secondary powers (and sometimes smooth out Epic pool choices) I haven't looked at all the ATs yet, but I was surprised that it was my Dark/Rad Defender (Offender, really) that is likely to have the largest net reshuffle of powers, with 5 powers to be reshuffled by 22, and then all of them re-ordered after that point. On my Blasters and Dominators, I find myself reluctant to delay Tough/Weave (from mid 20s to much later), yet I'll probably figure some way to make nukes available as early as possible. Some Doms will swap T1/T2. VEATs (after lvl 24 respec) already progressed very smoothly for me, I'm not sure I want to touch them... but all my VEATs have 3 builds, so I will play with the 3rd build. I have one Stalker (keeping Hide, thanks!) that I think will exemplar much smoother with a reshuffle of powers between 22 and 32. It exemplars just fine now, but having the primary T9 at level 30 and the secondary T7 at 24 should be a big deal.

I agree that in many ways Musculature is a trap... obviously MOAR damage is MOAR DAMAGE, but often I have found that I get better net performance by choosing a different option, such as Endurance-cost reduction. On characters with next-to-no damage slotting, it is usually the first choice.

I did the same, without ever converting an Empyrian merit (to anything other than Incarnate power). I have fewer than three pages of lvl 50s.

I can imagine how a (solo player) level 50+ could be accumulating Empyrian merits but none of the ways I can imagine feel like casual role-play, at least not on the scale where a single level 50+ would be funding multiple new characters: Repeated grinding of Dark Astoria missions yields Emp merits, 1-at-a-time. Farming of missions (could be AE, could be anything at x8, including DA missions) to gain vet levels fast enough that the Emp merits roll in, up to a certain vet level. I don't intend this to be nasty: I see a logical disconnect between wanting to casually play only a few hours a week, yet also have a huge stable of characters that demand the sort of Merit/Inf-vestment that is typically only associated with fully-kitted level 50s. I'm trying to imagine myself in the circumstance where this would be the case, and the most sympathetic circumstance I can imagine is one where my (new) character is buying all items directly via merit vendors and never going near the auction house. If the AH is toxic to a player... that should be recognized a self-punishing choice. Level 50 common recipes can be sold to stores at approximately 100 KInf each. That can be used to buy quite a lot from P2W, and many of the commonly used Enhancements to shore up low-level builds are 4 MInf or less. It isn't necessary to be a "marketeer", "farmer", or "grinder" to be able to afford Performance Shifters, Knockback Protection, etc. I can share my own approach to open myself up to judgement: I play through regular content, often with XP boosts. I share Inf (and enhancements) from older characters to the new characters so they have some advantages between levels 15-25 (Kismets, Perf Shifters, Panaceas)... but generally they have a hodge-podge of partially slotted powers (using common IOs from the AH). They slowly craft & market & play merit-giving content so that at level 50 they can respec into slots/enhancements that they have pretty much bought themselves. There are a couple of ways my older level 50s help the new characters that don't rely on merits, although I suppose merits could be used: I recycle a LOT of enhancements via the SG base, including sets of crafted and attuned PvP pieces. This isn't even financially efficient, yet this is what I've done. Those pieces were recipe drops that were crafted and attuned in the past and are available for slotting (if I think of it) by lower level characters. In a real pinch, it is possible to "burn" respecs on a level 50 (alternate build) to mass-attune pieces for lower-level characters... not recommended, but it saves using unslotters. I allow catalysts to accumulate in the SG base, so at level 50 I can "superior" things immediately. If I didn't do this, it would at most take a couple of weeks to accumulate the catalysts via a single character, assuming a couple of 6-piece sets I want catalysed at the same time. That's about it. I could use merits from other toons to buy Boosters, but by level 50 each character has plenty of merits, such that I may impatiently use merits for Purple pieces when the market is not cooperating... also not efficient, but that's on me.

There must be a spectrum of casual role-players that I didn't appreciate. My casual RP toons are banking Empyrian Merits to rebuild Galaxy City.

My uncle is the CIEIEO of Old MacDonald's farm.

Black Whip v. Cool Whip

Incandescence for reaping fast rewards during Trick-or-Treating.

I'm going to force myself to try these out... combined with not having to take Web Grenade at level 1, my 'Bots/Traps/Mace is going to have to make some hard choices. that character currently has several ranged attacks for soft control (%knockdown), %debuff (-Res), and are used for drawing aggro. Photon Grenade, Pulse Rifle Blast and Mace Beam Volley all serve this role for me (currently), each is 6-slotted. I don't really spam these attacks, they are basically to allow the henchmen to stay in Bodyguard mode. Going in, I have two things to look for: I have many enhancement set choices to boost MaxEnd and Endurance Discounts already... I will want to keep those. It's crazy but I've leveraged a LOT of set bonuses for Endurance help already. At first glance, my peculiar(?) slotting choices (including 6-slots in Triage Beacon) may already be 'optimal' for the revamp. I have a pathological need to see how a "one big robot" build plays. I hate how the Assault Bot-only plays. More than any other casual test, I feel like that build drives home how poor the DPS is. I felt it was ironic since I had the luxury to slot the henchmen/pet mules in the other henchmen powers but the big guy could not be made that fearsome. (I did a lot of testing on the Blue-side Midnighter Club introduction arc... shudder) I'm curious if that (odd) choice does any better. Aside from the changes to the robots, I think the change to making power choices available earlier will have a bigger effect on all my builds, including this one. Because of available slots during leveling, those changes will primarily keep me having alternate power picks while leveling versus at level 50.

I've been thinking about this question. I'm going to answer it by thinking about a level 50 (exemplared) AT that can switch roles in a PUG, and not simply survive/complete challenges in the game. My answer is also motivated by primary and secondary options within the AT, with no regards to Incarnate powers. (non-Epic) Power pools are open to just about every AT, yet mileage does vary. My answer is: straight-up Fortunata, although for maximum flexibility having a second build (Night Widow) as well as a third build (specialty) will get you even more mileage. Defensively: Widows can be built for extreme positional defenses, and can rely on scaling resistances and other tricks (I'm a fan of Unrelenting, but there are others)... and much of what a Widow can do for itself it can also do for teammates. Offensively: Widows have IIRC a flat damage scale of 1.00 (melee and range), which is completely respectable and means not having to worry about fractional trade-offs when considering attack chains, enhancement set options (including %procs, especially debuff/control %procs for enemies without purple triangles). Control/Debuff: Fortunata are not going to out-control Dominators or Controllers, and they won't debuff at the level of specialist ATs, yet for content that requires more than just brute force to complete I found that my PUGs have been helped more by using Confuses and Fears than strictly attacking.

A million years ago I read something about the difference between ancient and modern tragedies, it is approximately this: ancient tragedies are motivated by external, typically divine, forces, but modern tragedies arise from the manifestation of an individual's self-destructive passions. And some modern literary advice I think I can attribute correctly (to Kurt Vonnegut): "Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water."