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There is also a Mini-Vanguard MVAS vanity pet you can have to follow you around, and you can have one of the two Drone Pets from P2W as well.

I don't think it is a generational thing: some players legitimately feel that the challenges offered by the game are only for content suitable for level 50+ characters, with or without incarnates. Challenges in lower level TFs exist, it isn't a case of them being 'the worse thing ever'. I can't comment on if I qualify as a 'boomer'; the last time someone online tried to exert some authority on that question had a meltdown over the not-so-subtle point around whether a person could be of the same generation as their parents.

I think the only thing not explicitly stated is that it is possible to buy the packs that contain the ATOs and put the goodies in the AH for sale.

I am with in agreement that TFs should be announced at +4, I run quite a few low level content at increased difficulty. So far, it is just level shifts as I think there are precious few players willing to run without enhancement bonuses. Not having 95% ToHit chances is enough of a burden. In the current era of the game, there isn't reason to surprise PUGmates this way. However... I absolutely think players should be willing to play the lower level TF/SF content with difficulties turned up. These offer a different sort of challenge, and IMO they channel the feel of what the game was like at launch, when so little was "guaranteed", including 30-minute TFs. I played on a "secret" +3 Synapse (8-player PUG). At the time, I didn't enjoy it, but it "only" took an extra 30 minutes. I was recently on a (shorthanded, 4-player) Posi 1 PUG that was +2(?)/x8... it took 90 minutes, but we got through... with dozens of deaths along the way, but we got through. Steeping deep into a "kids these days" mode, writing without knowing the details of any particular PUG: Manticore at +4 should NOT be a problem for a team which includes a couple of lvl 50s. IIRC, exemplared players will have access to their nukes and early epic/patron pool powers (assuming the lead is passed to a max level). I suppose that the first defeat all could be a drag depending on Moment(s) of Glory, and "stealthing" past +4 spawns may not be as trivial (especially if relying on soft-capped defenses to click an objective in a crowded end-mission room).

The one thing I will always vendor: level 50 common IO recipes. They vendor for an average of 100K inf; this pays for the crafting fees of everything else. Once I have the badge for selling recipes, I typically vendor Rare recipes too... despite rejecting them, I still get them as arc rewards and they are only occasionally worth crafting. Occasionally I will vendor a PVP recipe that is below level 50... I no longer have a need for the lower level pieces, as my stable has enough catalyzed versions for new characters, and my lvl 50s typically want level 50 pieces to boost.

I have a StJ/WP Scrapper. I almost rerolled it as a Stalker, but opted for StJ/SR instead. Brutes aren't my thing. IIRC, WP is a bit of a "late bloomer" (because of when Heightened Senses is available, not as late-blooming as Super Reflexes of course.) Both WP and StJ can get in over their head, but it isn't that big a deal IMO.

Many have been mentioned. Without passing judgement on any player who chooses to make and play any of the following, these seem pretty cliché: (Blaster) Dual Pistols/Martial Combat fills the need for very tropey action heros. (Mastermind) Robotics/Traps feels very "classic" to me, as does Demons/Dark... I don't typically notice MMs playing Demons/Thermal, maybe because those players all went /Time?

If any other %proc is slotted in Howling Twilight, I am reasonably certain that it should the chance for the %procs to hit is based on a ToHit check... independent of the %proc rate, which will be very good because of the long recharge. I am currently running HT with two %damage procs (Bombardment's %Fire, Javelin Volley's %Lethal) but for a while I also had Annihilation's %-Resistance in it as well. I ended up taking out the Annihilation piece (the %-Resistance was appreciated, but I felt the ultimate duration of it was too short for the ~70 second recharge time of Howling Twilight, and more debuffing means more enemies running). My current slotting is: 50+5 Absolute Amazement Stun/Recharge 50+5 Absolute Amazement Accuracy/Stun/Recharge 50+5 Ragnarok Accuracy/Recharge 50+5 Ragnarok Damage/Endurance Javelin Volley %Lethal Bombardment %Fire I'm overdoing it on the slotted Recharge, but the other Enhancement effects aren't at the ED cap and I'm getting twice the recovery bonus. It's also not typical that I slot either of those particular Very Rare Enhancements. The Damage boost is negligible, but Ragnarok is a convenient set that provides (boosted) Accuracy and Endurance while also picking up a useful set bonus. It may seem nuts, but with the level 50-slotting Howling Twilight becomes an AoE attack/control/debuff nuke that is available in almost all game content (it is an early possible power pick in the Dark Miasma primary) and the enhancements scale nicely.

Dell (Desktops) were notorious for using marginal PSU designs, most obvious in there explicit "just enough" power ratings.... and without cracking open the PSU themselves it would be impossible to tell what blatant compromises were made internal to the PSU. I originally thought that Dell was screwing with us because of their custom connectors, but I later realized they were saving people from 'accidentally' using their shoddy parts in conjunction with others. I have often shared my observation that Dell desktops used to scrimp on using fractions of micrograms of copper by not connecting all the ground (i.e. power return) pins on motherboard drive connectors for external drives... so you have to believe they scrimped everywhere and anywhere else. I am aware of the reputation of Dell's current "gaming" rigs, but I've avoided everything Dell as much as possible since the early 2000s. The only real positive experience I had with a Dell machine since then was that I had a business-issued laptop that performed well for me (I was an outlier at the company in that my laptop did not go belly-up) AND was of a generation that had a peculiarly significant number of "external" connectors/features (for a Dell machine). That laptop had swap-able batteries (and accepted "oversized" batteries), a physical switch for (dis)engaging WiFi (valuable to me for several reasons not worth going into *1), a dedicate slot for an SD card, an internal spindle drive (CD? I never used it LOL), as well as full-sized USB/Enet/Display connectors.... based on my earlier experiences with Dell, I couldn't believe the features on this thing... most of which were complete overkill for business purposes for 90% of users. As I implied above, many of my colleagues had very serious issue with their (identical) laptops, but my traveled all over with me and I was reluctant to surrender it when the lease expired. (*1) The primary reason for wanting to be able to physically disable the WIFI was that my corporation had implemented an understandably-motivated but peculiar method of controlling access to corporate network resources, If WIFI was enabled, upon turning on the laptop it would try to connect with the corporate network before getting to the local log-in prompt, but the only wireless network credentials that were available at this time were the corporate-established credentials (not user-established credentials)... so if you were anywhere but on the corporate campus it would take 12 minutes (I timed it!) before the laptop gave up and would allow you to try to log in. It didn't have this problem if the machine was hard-wired to a foreign network... but that really isn't an option at hotels, etc. It's one thing to worry about network security, it is another to brick a machine from any use!

The text of the badge implies some specific locale, but the badge (Shrouded/Shady) is tied to the map "OUTDOOR_CITY_01B" (per the wiki). From memory, the Nightstar mission awards the badge on mission exit, but Blueside players can get the badge while on the map itself. I can't specifically recall if my redsiders have gotten the badge while in the map or upon exit, but redside the map appears in many low-level contacts... IIRC the lowest is circa level 10 (Dmitri Krylov's "Vahzilok Victims" mission) although I am positive there are other redside contacts that send red players to that same map at level ranges lower than when blue players start being sent to it.

The Shrouded badge is one of those "seems to pop up on certain maps" badges, as Bluesiders can get it earlier than 46. I most recently got it from a timed mission from Sheridan in Brickstown. Redsiders can get it even earlier than that, IIRC.

(+1) for the video link. I've always (well, 25+ years anyway) always been over-specifying desktop power-supplies for a couple of reasons: I never knew just what I'd try to add to the box; for example, I had one desktop that I later added a whole lot of SCSI peripherals to, just because. I prefer to have the power supply working near the middle of its range, for power-supply theory reasons. The first bullet lives on some spectrum of reasonable (future video card replacements were always the best example) to just-plain-nuts, the second is one of those things that may only be anecdotal, but prior to this approach I found myself replacing PSUs which is not something I've done since adopting this practice. I'm not thrilled that I now have to add "transient draws from video cards" to my thinking, both because of "duh, needs more juice than the supply can provide" (overpower trips) and it becomes incredibly difficult to even estimate what an appropriate PSU rating is when trying to account for headroom for transient spikes. Power supplies don't like to provide power at their low end (for a long time) either. I only had time to watch the first half; The video makes a strong case (@ ~11 minutes) that I worry about the most... there are many PSU manufacturers that will compete on cost by things like: less than ideal components compromises on design (1) is something that can happen even to a manufacturer that isn't explicitly trying to save $$$ this way, suppliers can "slip" lower-quality parts in as well. (2) is a LOT trickier, I think the video briefly touches on this with respect to low form-factor PSU designs... the smaller amount of physical space means that geometrically there is unlikely to be physical room to fit necessary design elements into the PSU. These engineering compromises are ones that are essentially impossible for a consumer to be aware of... some PSU manufacturers may disclose/hint at certain compromises on spec sheets... but lay folks are unlikely to pick up on them. Even with some knowledge, experience, and equipment ranging from loads and scopes it can be difficult to understand the performance of a PSU. My experience (such as it is) is primarily with PSU of the type that are used in desktops. PSU that are paired with battery monitoring/charging circuits are a whole other area of speciality that have an even wider design space! If anyone wants to point and laugh at my old experience, that's fine. The basic theory hasn't really changed(ignoring battery-charging tech, and that's been somewhat stable) for a long time... I'll see if I can locate a digital copy of an older Agilent (it may have even been HP!) Power Supply Handbook that I remember being a decent resource explaining how PSU work (and how to analyze them. (Thanks, Internet Archive)

I had originally planned to slot Howling Twilight with two 50+5 IO recharges and a Hami-O with some extra Accuracy (for %procs) , but by that point it was easier to commit to some -/Recharge 50+5 Very Rare pieces. It takes both Absolute Amazement and Ragnarok.

?

So what you are telling us is that there is a 4.81% chance that @arcane is using WindowsTM?

I too prefer to put the Overwhelming Force in the T1 henchmen... the ones you will have 3 of,,, (except for Robots, they get Sudden Acceleration) simply for maximum opportunities to knock down opponents. I also try to split-the-difference and try to have the Soulbound Allegiance %Build Up in the T1, raw numbers will be better on the T3, but I like to see the little guys helping themselves as they suffer from the level shift the most. There are some pets (not henchmen) that have very few attacks (e.g. Spiderlings) so as much as I like to have 3 little guys with those procs, it turns out to not be a very effective use of the slots or Enhancements.

This is what I've observed with my Thugs MM. I've done the same "one simple trick". Usually this will happen when there is a single enemy, but occasionally there will be multiple enemies in some sort of "control patch" where there is neither aggro nor directed offense, at me or the henchmen.

Not technical. but Best Buy does have a generous return/refund policy for most of their inventory. I'm in the hunt for a low-cost TV set (online reviews don't cover much of what I want, and the smaller displays aren't always on the floor to play with) while I try to debug the flaky behavior of my older set... I've ended up returning the first TV (good picture, but other issues, mostly audio) and I'm now trying the second. (better audio, still working on picture calibration, different compromises on other items of importance).

Feels good, doesn't it? Aside from risk of physical damage, the main thing on my mind about extending the lives of the rescued laptops is battery life expectancy. The added memory was "just a thing", but between the extra memory and the SSDs (and dividing the functions between the SSDs) the laptop has become my preferred tool for audio processing (at the hobby level).

Not a blaster, but on a (Dark Miasma) Defender, I recently changed my slotting of Howling Twilight to use 2x slotting of two different Very Rares (Absolute Amazement, Ragnarok) to get twice the Recovery bonus. Previously, I was getting an additional resists (a 3x bonus, which helped) and an extra %proc, but I wanted just a little moar recovery from a power I was 6-slotting anyway. Either of those (2x, 3x) bonuses can be essentially had by SG buffs, so this is one of those choices that can be overthought. Generally, equivalence to the 4-piece (and higher) buffs can't really be achieved via SG self-buffs. FWIW: I still haven't figured out what the game is referring to in terms of "healing boosts" from Howling Twilight when damage is slotted, the current best theory is that it is extra debuffing of enemy regeneration rates, but I haven't played with analyzers to really check. EDIT: Oh, I realized I did a little bit on ANTI-Frankenslotting to get an additional 2x Set bonus... on that same character I had planned to use some (lvl 53) Hami-O for Accuracy/Damageto support Franken-slotting... but what I ended up doing in one power was to use a (50+5) PVP's Accuracy/Damage piece (Gladiator's Javelin) to get a (PvE) Recovery increase. In favor of MOAR frankenslotting, another power that originally had a (lvl 53) Accuracy/Damage Hami-O, was instead replaced with Superior Avalanche, because that was the best way I found to get Accuracy/Damage/Endurance in a spammable power that really needed help on the Endurance front. In (near) incanate-level content I have other tools (Cardiac) but at low level the power (Irradiate) was too much of a hog (and frankly too important to not spam).

A few random thoughts for the old(er) thread... no real advice, just some observations. I recently upgraded an older Lenovo laptop with a GTX 1050TI video card, it plays CoH fine, but with a 15" screen. The upgrade was to install two SSD and max out the memory to 32 GB (not really necessary, but while I was in there, and before any supply chain issues crept in) The upgrade cost was $200, which would have been much less if I passed on the memory. I did not find the disassembly to be particularly easy, but once the case was apart the installs were quick. The only real issue is that I needed to scrounge one extra metric screw to mount one of the SSD. This was not to get a gaming laptop per se, it was mostly as an exercise to avoid generating e-waste and to keep a working laptop in the family pool. I also did not need two SSD, but they were relatively cheap. I didn't configure the system for any sort of redundancy if one should fail, but that was in the back of my mind as something to possibly play with. After that experience... I definitely would eyeball cases slightly more seriously than in the past. I don't like the trend of low-profile/thin/minimal connectors on laptops. I regularly use a more modern Lenovo think pad (not for gaming). It only offers 2 USB ports (not together), only accepts power through a single USB-C connector, and has a low-profile ethernet port that requires an adapter to use. I'm surprised it still has a 3.5MM jack (as well as an HDMI port, but that's presumably because they don't want it to be too hard to connect to an external monitor)! The earlier advice from @Techwright regarding I/O is worth paying attention to. The USB placement is problematic, as any external drive that requires power from multiple USB ports (e.g. an external Blu-Ray drive) will need some serious rigging to make work on such a laptop. On the subject of "office employees" requesting "gaming laptops" from their corporate IT departments... years ago I would have always rolled my eyes at such a request, but no longer. There are a wide variety of business applications that otherwise "casual" PC users will find become much easier for them if they have laptops with healthy amounts of video resources typically associated with "gaming laptops". I'm not simply referring to applications like CAD design or video editing... there are many commercial browser-based applications that rely on raw video-processing power to display information in a browser. I don't get a voice in what sort of laptops we contract at work, but I've got applications that work MUCH better in systems with higher-end video resources than with more typical "business model" laptops.

I almost always default to some sort of Flight, but I enjoy Super Jump the best. I enjoy seeing the city/isles/utopia too much to NOT take a travel power like (Mystic) Flight or Super Jump. The travel powers with a combo teleport are incredibly useful for those times when enemies/PUGmates simply are in the way of getting into the action (or out of a certain area. I only have one character that uses Combat Teleport for PBAoE positioning, and also for a Fast Snipe +ToHit bonus, plus the aforementioned "get past the enemies cluttering the doorways" problem. I typically have 1 mouse bind (TP to clickable location) and 2 macros (TP to just short of target, TP backwards a short distance to use ranged cones) to make combat go smoother. I will freely admit that I recently finished leveling my first character without a "dedicated" travel power, because of P2W options. The main thing I miss about NOT having a dedicated Pool Travel power is that this character is slower crossing zones than I sometimes prefer. Personally, I find that the Sorcery Pool, compared to other "travel" pools, is simply too convenient as far as covering a wide variety of gaps in certain builds (requiring minimal slots, but accepting more if desired). Is there another pool with a (combined) travel power that with three picks allows a character to slot a universal travel global (ok, all travel powers allow this), a global health Enhancement, and a global Resistance Enhancement... and happens to have a single-target ranged attack? I find myself purposely avoiding it on some builds because it feels a little too min-max when compared to other power pools. I have a few characters with both Flight (taken first as a travel power) and Hover (as a mule), and I will use them together, except that I typically delay the pick of Hover until level 49, so it is rather limited content where I have both. My MMs take Group Fly, and my squad outnumbers you so see no complaining... you know where Null the Gull is!

If the henchmen have not changed (a non offensive) stance, if an enemy is not attacking then the henchmen will ignore nearby enemies. I have observed this with Thugs/thermal but not Robotics/traps.

One subtle point about the Luck of the Gambler Global +Recharge piece: it also enhances defense, so it can be boosted and provide extra value. Most folks don't recommend it, because they notice the loss of +Recharge much more than than notice the loss of the extra Defense (in content below lvl 47). I expect the general recommendation to use an attuned LotG +Recharge piece is ingrained in most of us by now.

I find myself really only reaching for Hasten on characters dedicated to DPS, as it is often necessary to smooth out attack chains using only later (higher-level) attacks... and for me, the practical effect is really only with large spawns (I want the AoEs up) or for single hard targets. If a build will have lower level attacks that can fill-in and finish off a boss (after a big single-target hit), there is no practical difference between attack chains that require two attacks to finish off a critter. GM/AV are another matter of course. I have a ranged-damage/control hybrid Fortunata that does not include Hasten and there is almost no noticeable difference in play style. The only real difference is that Mind Link (and Hasten) would be "perma". It doesn't improve solo times for clearing maps. My favorite Mastermind (Robotics/Traps) doesn't include Hasten. With it: I could get more Acid Mortars out... yet that build already has so many debuffs and soft controls I am not at all tempted to be able to spawn more MM actions that already cost significant amounts of Endurance. I rarely plan for Hasten in Defenders/Controllers/Corruptors. This choice is primarily motivated by wanting to have diverse powers, so there is plenty to do without cycling the same few actions repeatedly.