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As I am sure I wrote in at least one of the threads linked to by @Glacier Peak , and if not in a thread unlinked to: The only goofy practice pre-aggro cap that gave me anything like a rush of endorphins was collecting up the Rikti Monkeys and bringing them to Portal Corps (after PI opened up). This was a very different time in the game. I have never missed the pre-aggro cap days.

I end up with mostly attuned pieces on just about every build. 1) I buy/slot attuned pieces when they first go into the build. 2) I use enhancement catalysts to attune a crafted piece already slotted. Because I don't have a large roster of characters, and I tend to craft/convert a lot, I tend to end up with un-catalyzed pieces I am sure I will use eventually, and lots of catalysts, so I do the following... 2b) When I respec, I often swap in non-attuned pieces for attuned pieces, so that the attuned pieces are available for another build. Then I attune the slotted pieces after the respec.... unless I have swapped in the 50 PVP/Very Rare pieces that I intend to boost. When the market prices for enhancements are low, this is a waste of Inf. But for many pieces (Steadfast Protection, LotG, sub-50 PVPs) it is extremely convenient to have extras in the base.

I LOLed because the OP couldn't help but to toss a thumbs down on a post that literally expressed no opinion on their suggestion; I wonder if there are some aggro issues IRL.

FWIW: The Ouroboros version of the original Positron arc can be done instead of doing both parts of the "new" Positron arc, for a similar reward. The original arc is a bit of a slog, but I have found it to be relatively easy to solo on level-appropriate characters that haven't been tricked-out. IIRC it doesn't feature an AV to defeat.

What is it with OPs that hit thumbs down every post that expresses disagreement with the suggestion? I feel like such people would "thumbs up" their own posts if they could. Often an original suggestion is crafted in such a way that a thumbs up/down seems completely neutral, and a followup post expressing why someone disagrees often express pretty politely the reasons for their disagreement with the original premise. The OP hitting thumbs down in these cases strikes me as rather immature.

I want to say that I've noticed two... but since they don't do anything I long ago stopped paying attention to them.

Specific to the Gaussian's set: The prices on this set fluctuate quite a bit in my experience. 3 MInf seems high to me, but buy-it-now is a thing. Specific to me: I used to keep extras of this set for alts to eventually use, but then I noticed that the prices were under 2 MInf. In practice, I am either using 1 piece (the %BuildUp) or 6 pieces (for full set bonuses) with no. middle ground. More generally, about attuning via the AH: Catalysts drop freely, and are often less than 1 MInf on the AH. This means that I pretty much only attune via the AH if the character doesn't have access to a Catalyst or the market price is above 2 MInf. There is a range between 1MInf and 2MInf where I suppose it can make financial sense to use the AH to attune, but this is firmly in the "why bother?" zone for me.

My guess is... FREEM!!, with a side of Umbral Shield.

Diantane, is that you? [sarcasm] Here are some possible fixes to help out the suffering Blasters: Allow them to make attacks while mezzed? Dial down the recharge time of the nukes? Give them some sort of power to help with endurance burn? Allow them to slot ATO in both primary and secondary powers? [/sarcasm]

I went with Fire. It isn't my favorite Blaster, but it is perfectly fine. Seismic is a nice primary, but I don't think it synergizes particularly well with certain sets.... Fire is 50-50 on the synergy IMO. I think this is my level 50 build. The leveling build was roughly the same, with the sort of standard slotting choices made for sub-50 play (different sets, mules may be different, etc.). I don't run all the toggles.

I can almost understand this point, but I disagree with cutting the Endurance cost of MM powers. Bluntly: I disagree that MMs have to be attacking. My primary MM (Robotics) performs better (against lots of content) when the MM is cycling between Pulse Rifle Burst, Photon Grenade and Mace Beam Volley... but I've got those powers slotted with sets to improve Endurance cost and (outside of big sacks of HP) the primary reason those attacks are used is to grab aggro (and maybe apply %-Res)... not to do damage. It does take some effort and choices to run a MM that is constantly spamming its own powers, running toggles, etc. I don't think the Endurance costs are out-of-line with the performance of the AT. This may just be my feeling, but I think if the MM didn't have the Endurance tax, it is likely that they'd either end up being played as a different sort of AT, or being even better in some content. On my primary MM, the Endurance tax is one of the few design limits it has... I can otherwise carry the level-shifted henchmen through a LOT of content without worry.

I don't play "sappers", at best I will have some sort of power that happens to drain enemy Endurance and/or apply -Recovery. I can understand the appeal: "Malta Sappers give me so much trouble, just imagine what I could do with it!"... but my personal bias is that there are so few PVE critters that it would be worthwhile to 'sap' (as opposed to debuffing/damaging) and are relatively easy to 'sap'. Kudos to those who make the strategy work, but even as I make and play niche characters, I've never been tempted to make a 'Sapper'. As a secondary effect for a set I want to otherwise play... that's a different matter, yet it is still not a secondary effect I think I'd lean into.

The Kheldian 'origin arcs' are slightly different, as the same contact will give mission arcs at appropriate levels. The original blue contacts point players to new level-appropriate contacts. Red contacts are different, the VEATs have an arc, and the closest a red-sider can get to keeping the same contact across multiple level ranges are with the patrons.

Non-player perspective on how range is not under-rated: If the grim vale event is allowed to commence, it is almost always Team Pumpkin that will be left standing. This is true of every wave. The Witches hover-blast (and run away fast), the Pumpkins attack almost exclusively at range and/or have ranged AoE attacks. When the GMs come out, the auto-hit PBAoE from Eochai makes short work of any of Jack's minions. Eventually Jack's cone/melee can eliminate the scrubs of team Eochai, but how quickly depends on random pathing.

Like @Riverdusk, 40-50 hours of play (over however many sessions that takes) is about how long it takes me to get a character to 50, because my playstyle is: There is a LOT of content I like doing "at level", and some that can only be done at certain levels I'm not thrilled with much of the 50+ content, some of this is a personal dislike from the Incarnate system rollout of Live I can easily "afford" things (enhancements, buffs, temp powers, etc.) to smooth out the play experience I enjoy seeing how sets/ATs play across levels.... trying new powers, new slotting choices, I respec/unslot quite a bit. Now that zone exploration badges yield Patrol XP, I never buy 2XP and I generally avoid team-ups (like DFB, but also early TFs) until I find myself at a relative slow point. Often 2XP isn't even considered until something like 30+, depending on what I am doing. If I'm not crazy about a build, there is a 50-50 coin flip between setting it aside or rushing to 50 to see if set bonuses make it come together (usually they don't). This is just a personal attitude: When I do content in a less rushed way, I feel like I have more personal agency in how I approach the game. Eventually my characters will want certain accolades and temp powers, it isn't that much harder to get most of them "along the way" than circling back to them as a level 50+. I'm perfectly happy to be challenged by playing a sub-50 build on TFs that have had the difficulty turned up. I don't need 50+ builds to seek out "challenges".

There are many satisfying moments to be had in the City of Heroes. One of them I never tire often of occurs on a Penny Yin TF when my Energy/Martial can Burst of Speed next to the Super Stunner (engaged in melee with something like a Scrapper or MM henchmen), execute a Ki Push and follow up with a Sniper Blast to deny the Freakshow Resurrection.

Talking to Null the Gull is a suggestion made to others, just as asking other players to slot KB->KD into their powers or taking Immobilizes. some may see this as a wide spectrum, but they are all on the same spectrum. Tanker Taunts also have a large baseline duration, as well as an inherently fast recharge time. It is pretty basic for a Tanker with Taunt, even without having it slotted, to keep attention at the aggro cap. If a Tanker sees enemies being knocked back... they should be treated no differently than any other critters that happen to be at a distance.

Like I said: If a player is THAT ANNOYED by knockback from another player... that player can pick a power to deal with their annoyance. I'm not asking players to modify their builds to suit my tastes and tolerances, I am asking them to modify their builds to suit their tastes and tolerances. I still encounter players that won't go to Pocket D to change the way Group Fly affects them... and those players will still ##### about it.

Not an issue: A player that uses KB certainly encounters enemy spawns that haven't yet been knocked back, and immobilized spawn would be no different to that player.

I agree the thread needs to exist: It needs to exist to explain to players with a Knockback allergy how they can mitigate their issue. (AoE Immobilize) My experience: Playing a character that does knockback is an excellent way to understand how to play with a teammate that generates knockback. There are pretty much only two types of powers that I will be certain to slot a KB->KD piece in: Attacks that vector enemies away at 360° away from a point (e.g. Meteor, Nova) AoE "controls" It is funny to watch Meteor the first time... but that sort of scatter makes cleanup rather confusing IMO.

Me (for Tankers, Brutes) : I'm not hearing any Taunts. Me (For just about everyone): You can pick and slot an AoE Immobilize.

To the OP (and anyone else who cares): My suggestions for "Imma gonna make my version of ____" are to either: Go straight parody, not using trademarked elements (of anybody's IP, including existing parodies), or Graft the powerset onto a completely different costume/body than the character you are trying to mimic. ...and maybe make a character bio that makes it obvious why your character isn't someone else's IP?

I almost exclusively solo with MMs, I haven't used the Teleportation pools since Live... I want to say that I last used it when Long Range Teleport was the capstone power. I cannot recall if this was before it was available as a tiered reward for long-term subscribers or not, but I digress. I understand the appeal: "I'll separate the enemy!" or (more likely, once you see it isn't grabbing all enemies) "I'll have a long range taunt!"... but in practice, this simply doesn't work. Applying minimal control of the henchmen (via commands) achieves all those effects (and more!) and the MM will move much faster through missions and maps. There are two direct negatives with the Teleportation pool (for offense) and many indirect negatives. The direct ones are that you need to slot the powers (offensively) for both Accuracy and Recharge... and all that will get you are a couple of powers that you have to cast for the exact same effect as simply walking up to enemies.

There is one part of the Peacebringer LoreTM that always sits weird with me: It's the HUGE numbers of PPD Peacebringers that can appear in missions (Mayhem, Morality, Newspaper, Incarnate, etc.). Those missions make it seem like they are everywhere.

I think that for most cases, this is backwards thinking. AoE tend to be better for %procs because even though the individual %proc rate is smaller, because most mobile critters tend to cluster, hitting three or more enemy mobiles tends to "guarantee" a firing of the %proc, even if the recharge in the AoE is relatively high. If you get more than one %effect (like %damage, %-res) then the player is ahead of what might have happened with a single-target attack that also got %damage. Also: Many AoE tend to be lower damage than a similar-level single-target attack, so %damage adds more relative to what a single-target could do. Conversely, most single-target attacks are relatively fast-recharging (12 second or less), so they have inherently worse %proc rates... on top of maybe only getting the effect on a single target. Sentinels have generally smaller AoE of course. My opinion is that the Sentinel ATO sets have set bonuses that are worth significant slotting... that is, more than three in a single power, so I'll have them usually 6-slotted in a couple of the early single-target powers. Which ones depends on what other sets I intend to use in single-targets. I suppose some players may look at the potential for getting lots of 10% Range bonuses, but I'd consider that a waste on Sentinels who don't need to stay at range. A note on Franker-slotting the Sentinel ATO. The only piece I'd consider NOT using with the other five is the (Superior) Sentinel's Ward Recharge/%Absorb. Six of that set gives a health Global +Recharge bonus... and generally Sentinels would probably need it because of their armor secondaries... but if the Sentinel had a 40+ second recharging AoE and the Sentinel had inferior resistances, and that attack was going to be used regularly, I have found that these sorts of %Absorb piece (such as from the Entomb Winter set) can help with surviving certain types of fights. I wouldn't recommend this choice (over 6-slotting) without some serious consideration of the rest of the build... Sentinels have pretty good HP caps, and they are the only AT I have that has hit the AT HP cap without incarnates and without specifically choosing primary/secondary and specifically building to do exactly that... so %Absorb could just be overkill.