tidge

I don't disagree... but I have a (slightly) different perspective. For so much of the game's content (which are not GMs or AVs or Pylons) my math is "do I need to fire off at least one more attack or not?" and not "how much more damage can I hypothetically get out of an attack?" (*1) I suppose that the damage scale 1.0/1.0 characters may be considered "support", but I've found that PUGs in certain content tend to have better clear times when I have a Fortunata using Weaken Resolve (against the hard targets) as part of the attack chain. As @Sovera indicates, where there is a hard target that will take many attacks to defeat, -Res (as well as -Regeneration and -MaxHP) will typically be more of a benefit to a team than any single attacker doing (maybe) up to 70 more points of damage per attack. (*1) This "one more attack or not?" consideration is one of the aspects of combo-attack systems that irks me in a peculiar way. I can understand the appeal(s), but at some level the combos for high-DPS ATs always felt like giving more (damage, control, and complication) to ATs that already have decent mission clear times while ignoring already complicated ATs (Masterminds, Controllers, etc.) that have poor mission clear times.

From the PoV of a Fortunata, it does two things for that character: 1) It is an offensive stats boost (damages scales are 1.0/1.0 for melee/range) 2) Fortunata rely on Defense values (typically positional) backed up with a scaling damage resistance ( and %Absorb proc) based on Health... so Unrelenting can be used to boost Regeneration when the damage is starting to stick. Depending on enemy types and spawn sizes depends how liberal I am with (1) as opposed to potentially holding it in reserve for (2). Even without Hasten, it can be available rather frequently. There are some other conditional uses of Unrelenting, but those are generally my reasons for using it.

I posted this on the Corrupter sub, I should have checked the Scrapper forum first! Enhancements made a HUGE difference in enjoyment for this build. You should be able to pick of crafted Enhancements (common) for very cheap on the Auction house, but set bonuses make all the difference. I have a War Mace / Invulnerability scrapper, so allow me to offer my perspective on that type of build: 1) War Mace is very slow. I don't seek the perfect attack chain, but more than any other non-Dominator AT I played, I found that I needed as much global +Recharge to get a cadence in attacks. I should note that for this character I didn't take Hasten, all recharge in attacks is coming from set bonuses or slotted enhancements. IIRC, I may have a Force Feedback %+Recharge proc in Crowd Control, or I may have replaced it with something else. Keep in mind that a Scrapper really ought to be focusing on enhancing raw damage (output) and not try to leverage %damage procs, so slotting attacks for recharge is typically a net win for Scrappers (and Blasters). 2) Invulnerability is a very forgiving set, in that you don't need many slots in most of the powers and you don't need to run with all resist toggles on for much of the content. As a Scrapper, you won't have Tank/Brute levels of resistance anyway. On this character I don't sweat positional defenses. On this character, I 6-slotted every attack (Pulverize, Jawbreaker, Clobber, Whirling Mace, Shatter, Crowd Control, Moonbeam, Cross Punch) except Kick, to get set bonuses, and to have a reasonable attack chain at even lower level content. (I put %procs in Whirling Mace, just because). Build Up, Dull Pain and Invincibility are also 6-slotted. I have some extra slots in Stamina and Health... after than, you can imagine that I have a lot of 1- or 2-slot "mules". I should disclose... this character is definitely NOT my favorite, yet it contributes fine on teams.... but keep in mind that a Scrapper contributes MUCH differently to teams than a Defender does... especially if you are used to Empathy. I specifically avoided Confront on this build and I purposely only took Maneuvers at level 49 (it's a mule for LotG) because I wanted my PUG contribution to be SMASH SMASH.

We call 'em "Pool Boys".

I dislike any and all enemies that are prone to run, especially Warwolves. Igneous Minions are almost as bad, and there is a special place with Mot for the Circle of Thorn Specters who turn invisible and fly away. Far worse than Fake Nemeses.

Also not true, unless there is some peculiar definition of the Nash Equilibrium is being used.

Here is a thought that's been on my mind for years: I simply can't wrap my head around the geography of Talos Island -> (Dark) Astoria -> Founders Falls. Setting aside the canon that the island may not have even existed until after the 1960s, and that the highway signs read "Dark Astoria", it's the water tables that have me completely confused.

I was on Liberty, and I definitely remember that the server had more than enough jerks in PVP to last a lifetime. I remember one PVP zone event I thought was fun: it was multiple teams of heroes trying to take out as many Arachnos main base defenses as possible while the villains tried to beat them back. That felt like a cooperative event. I also remember my Inv/EM tank being jumped in a higher level zone while simply exploring and having to hold off 8 enemies. That group wasn't particularly well-built, but they had a plan that included merciless and obnoxious trash talk. The Tank was never going to win, but it demonstrated what slotting for Stun was actually good for, and since I had been used to using Teleport from the original days of Unyielding Stance I think they were particularly annoyed that I didn't have to stay in one place. I had respeced by then, but I had gotten use to the power so kept it. I'm not ashamed to admit that it was easier to eventually leave the zone than to give the basest members of the server any satisfaction.

Fun fact: Converters can also result in Boosted %procs from purple sets! There is also no benefit to this.

For you: the day the Tanker disgraced your TF was the most important day of your life. For me: it was (Tanker) Tuesday.

My favorite Fortunata has 4 powers from the Presence pool (Provoke, both Fears, Unstoppable). Provoke and Intimidate are single-slotted, but Invoke Panic has 5-slots (Glimpse of the Abyss), and Unrelenting 6 (Preventive Medicine)... If I could slot an additional %damage in Invoke Panic I would probably do so. I also have the %Terrorize ATO in Psychic Scream, so with all these powers taken by level 18, she tosses them as controls in quite a lot of low-level content. At higher levels, I'm convinced that Invoke Panic is helping solo a lot of x8 content by slowing down opponents' offense, I don't tend to use them very often in PUGs or more extreme group play, but I did find myself using the fears (and Fortunata confuses) to help slow down certain spawns when my teammates got in over their heads. As others wrote: Unrelenting is the gem of the set. I think it is tailor made for Fortunata, but I can see it working for other ATs as well. I'll use it even if she isn't taking damage, just for the 30 seconds of BUFF. I'd feel a lot better about Intimidate if there were a Purple or PVP set for Fear. Finally, a use for my Endoplasm Hami-Os! Provoke is a nice idea, but the ToHit requirement and the small target cap get in the way of it being that useful, even when a teammate is in over their head. This just gets slotted for Accuracy, because I can't think of anything I'd rather do with it except hit.

Of the original zones, Brickstown holds a special place in my memory. I did a lot of "street-sweeping" for XP, and I have fond memories of making my way around that zone picking fights with enemies above my level. Of the original Hero Zones, it's the one that has multiple elevations that make sense. Redside, I have a healthy appreciation for Sharkhead Isle, but Cap Au Diable has an amazing amount of diversity in terms of what is going on, and in the architecture.

I haven't been playing much, and I don't think I've teamed since maybe March, so it wasn't me, but.... Tanking with Freakshow means different things to different players. Only the Super Stunners are a 'guaranteed' rez, so standing around for the Freak Tanks is certainly killing the mojo for Brutes. A while back I was on a "kill all" Penny Yin TF, and my tank was scolded for opening the side doors on the way to the reactor. Of course, my non-tanks get scolded for the same thing... Now this might be a bigger deal for builds that don't have something like a "full kit", but it is extremely rare (most TFs) that any of my characters are concentrating on the mobs around the tank... usually other players are nuking them with AoE, so I'm trying to drag other spawns to the tank.

I offer no deep insights. In my experience Blasters and Scrappers are the AT I play that end up with "too many attacks". My sense is that this personal situation arises for a few reasons: I like playing low-level content, and it just isn't as much fun in a Frostfire (for example) mission with P2W attacks on a DPS AT Certain ATs tend to collect certain enhancement set bonuses (Purples, ATO, Winters) almost exclusively from attacks.... and... generally, it isn't possible to get more than two %proc and benefit from some of the most useful set bonuses (such as a 5-piece global +Recharge from a Purple) The last two bullet points are a balancing act for many of my builds: I generally don't want %damage procs in my DPS characters (especially if attacks are fast-cycling) as the %proc rates will be low and the extra damage is usually not worth it (especially for single target attacks) when considering the math of "if the %damage occurs, do I still need to hit that Lt/Boss a second time anyway?"... but I am often satisfied to put something like a %-Resistance proc in an attack, because when that fires, it will generally help both me and teammates. As far as which powers get the set bonuses (I don't think of attacks as being candidates as "mules") and which do not, usually it goes like this for me: The characters with a LOT of attacks (DPS AT), the earliest attacks get set bonuses (usually ATO) because the rapid cycling (from the Recharge pieces) usually doesn't hurt performance For characters with AoE, non-DPS AT will get %damage pieces because those help even out 'clear times'. For DPS characters (scale 1.00+) I prefer to leverage 5-piece sets because faster recharge is better than %damage. For non-DPS characters who have epic pools... often I use the epic attacks to hold set bonuses because an AT like a Controller may not have a convenient place to get a set bonus from an attack. Such characters can get (similar) set bonuses from other types of powers, so this is a case of "mileage varies" Stalkers & Scrappers are a special case, because the Epic pools open up Snipes for them, and those become good spots for a few different enhancement bonuses. I almost always invest multiple slots in a Snipe for a scrapper/stalker. There is a sort of similar math for Tankers (which generally cannot slot ranged attack sets until the epic pools, modulo a few newer pools).

Usually I don't have an issue with global +Accuracy (so I get you), but I want to write this: I think in every case I ever considered either of these (4-)slotting choices, the diminishing returns of Enhancement Diversification always had me moving that 4th slot to somewhere else in the build... and it was my reconsideration of such a fourth slot (in Defense powers) that had me reconsidering the enhancement choices that @Yomo Kimyata mentioned above. I will spend like a drunken sailor on enhancements, but I'm a pre-Christmas morning Scrooge when it comes to slots! No one should really take slotting advice from me of course, because I play all sorts of content at all levels and all difficulties... and so I'm never satisfied with any given build (or three). If there are dangers to having too much Inf, for me it manifests itself in never being able to remember which character build I logged in with.

Ehem. I've done exactly this with the few of of my builds when I looked back and discovered there were three slots dedicated to LotG (IIRC the global +Recharge piece also gives some defense!)... I'm generally meh on that regeneration bonus although with the (tiny) +HP I can imagine a small number of AT builds these might mean something to someone(*1). For my cases, it's almost entirely been about the Endurance cost of some toggle. Of course, Cytoskeletons also go into +ToHit powers as well, and there are a handful of powers that offer both Defense and ToHit! (*1) Global +Recharge is +Recharge, but IIRC the PVP Shield Wall 3-piece bonus offers the same (PvE) regeneration but 2xthe +HP... and that set can be boosted to 50+5.

Here's the things: Why should players have to wait until level 47 until they can slot their henchmen? Masterminds are one of the few AT where I find myself putting all my slots (as I level) into the summons powers without even considering slotting other powers. I'm aware of the different HOs, but often there are other features that Henchmen can be slotted for than just acc/dam There are set bonuses that can benefit the MM that won't be had with 3 HO and 3 %procs.

The two big ones are related to build-crafting: Primaries that don't have a recharge intensive pet require us to burn precious slots for the henchmen global pieces. The first upgrade power comes before the summons for the second and third tier henchmen... which make ZERO sense. Just give all the henchmen the first upgrade powers automatically. I would also like to see color customization (at least) of the henchmen.

Maybe this is what was meant as a marginal gain, but I always thought that the primary appeal of the End/Move HOs was that it avoided making the choice between slotting for either Run speed or Flight speed in Swift. (For "Sprint", I just leverage the Prestige options to have different one-slot-wonders)

I have this as a Blaster build, and it is a lot of fun. If there is a reason I haven't taken that character to lvl 50, it's because the dog doesn't like "firecrackers".

I can't offer any advice on the specific combos you listed, but I have some general advice for x8+4 or x8+4: The relative level shifts will likely mean that you will require (global) +Accuracy (and, if possible +ToHit) bonuses, which can work against the general advice of trying to fit as many %proc as possible. You will also need to be sensitive to your defenses against boosted enemies. There really is no secret to doing this, but I don't typically see forum builds advertising power choices or set bonuses for "Accuracy/To Hit" like I do for Defense/Resistances. If you are running a character with Incarnates, obviously these are easier to address... below a certain level, and you will struggle more. It may be possible to leverage a combo of primary/secondary that also provides (AoE) debuffs that can effectively increase your defenses (-ToHit) and/or DPS (-Resistance) so that solo x8 against large spawns is smoother than simply trying to go for MOAR DPS.

As was written above, the Uncommon salvage market is the 'most vulnerable' one, as we saw in the past... but the vulnerability (such as it is) requires a lot of attention and (from my casual observation of last time) is to first order just a mechanism of turning Inf into Misery. This is not to say that it wouldn't be possible for an individual trying to exploit the vulnerability to profit, just that there are so many better avenues to pursue that would require much less (Auction House) time and effort. The Uncommon salvage market is 'vulnerable' because of a couple of factors: The relative differences in the drop rates for common / uncommon / rare salvage The two-orders-of-magnitude difference between the seed price and typical AH price The need for uncommon salvage for low-value, low cost uncommon Enhancement recipes, which is an element of a common AH marketing strategy