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I'll add a few thoughts on why my Stalkers (and Scrappers) take Snipes, to add to what others have written: My Stalkers have the Kismet piece in Hide, so that is extra damage on the (Fast) Snipes when Hide is toggled on. The maximum extra damage from a Fast Snipe is at +22% ToHit, which Stalkers/Scrappers can get from their Build Up powers too. I like having the ranged attack, and the cast time of a (Fast) Snipe is reasonable. Often it is for runners (I dislike the range nerf), but just as common use is when I have a target just out of melee range (let's say a softer ally is being griefed). For Stalkers/Scrappers, I like to slot (high-level) Sting of the Manticore as a 5-piece set bonus (MOAR +Recharge)... this set also improves Interrupt Time. Other enhancement sets offer decent options as well, but I like the synergy between SotM (IIRC lvl 35-50) and the Patron Snipes (at lvl 32). For AT that get Snipes earlier, I usually pick a different set of enhancements. It is a gateway power to other Epic powers. I favor Soul for Shadow Meld (MOAR LotG), but I see other flavorful options with utility as well. I don't want to oversell Shadow Meld, it is a mule for my builds. When I use it I am either hoping to mess up Streakbreaker for enemies or for extra defense when trying to quick-click glowies while a spawn throws everything it has at me.

I have dropped crafted enhancements on (low level) PUGmates, but never en masse. Typically it has been the common ones at an appropriate level... if I've been chasing badges, and haven't gotten around to deleting them. I try to do it based on what I can see about their build.

I mentioned this long ago, because the only "source" of EoE was from GMs, but I convinced myself it really wouldn't have much of an effect. These days, I rarely use more than 3 EoE on a single Hamidon Raid, unless for some reason the person leading the raid wants to do it 'old school' and clear every bloom. The main thing the AH allows is: Some players don't have to join in clearing the GMs (several good reasons, including showing up late) Players clearing the GMs can be lazy about clearing space in the Insp trays. I pretty much dump everything but Reds and EoE if I don't already have a stash in the AH to grab. Even with bad luck from drops, someone is always willing to share EoE.

A few dumb things come to mind: 1a) Finishing an Ouro arc, but screwing up the final "call-in" (usually by using one-too-many teleport/ouro/base cooldown) with the contact. 1b) Solo starting a low-level Ouro mission or TF with difficulty cranked WAY up (and having added a debuff), but not realizing until Mission 1. 2) Mapping certain keys (e.g. F1 - F5) to do something specific for one character, and when playing a different character MASHING away all of my inspirations.

I just did a quick check on a character: Even if Hasten is truly perma (that is, you see two instances of it in your power icons) when one of them drops you suffer the Endurance loss. I did some shenanigans on the same character to verify that this happens if you don't also have perma-Hasten. It's not the way I remember it, but this could be the Mandela Effect. In my defense, your honor, Domination refills the Endurance bar, and it's primarily on Dominators where I bother with perma-Hasten!

RE: SG bases, failed respecs. My original post about unclosed/unresolved UI windows may not have made these point specifically: SG bases can have lots of things to click on that open UI windows (specifically multiple types of storage, but also vendors, tailors, etc.) Even if a player "closes" a (storage) window, I don't think that the server has resolved closing the window. The second bullet point is (in my experience) the cause of "failed catalyzation", because catalysts require a different storage type than (catalyzed) enhancements. I want to say that I saw a similar effect with enhancement boosters, but once I learned to physically move my characters away from whatever device I had been using (storage racks to grab boosters/enhancers, storage racks for enhancement pieces, merit vendors) I simply started doing that automatically and I've never had a failed catalyst/boost since I started doing that. I use the vault so infrequently that I can't say anything about THAT. It feels to me like the vault has behavior rules all of its own distinct from storage racks. Physically moving away from storage/vendor objects closes open UI (as seen by the player), my suspicion is that this (server side closure of a UI window) is the actual 'resolution' of the window instance no matter what the client side is displaying... i.e. just because a player closed a window on their UI it doesn't mean that the server side has done the same thing. The only other area (besides storage racks, possibly vendors) where I have seen potentially similar odd behavior is when physically present at a Wentworth's/Black Market and opening the AH via a click (as opposed to a slash command). Practically speaking: the slash command removes the need to use click interfaces, so there isn't much opportunity to mess around with this... but I want to say that when I've done so I have seen some peculiarities (in both items and count) between what I've tried to put in the Auction House and what actually went into the auction house.

Just another voice... The quoted excerpt is pretty much exactly what I do after having crossed the point of "I've got enough Inf"... certainly for a given character, but occasionally when I don't feel like emailing Inf from wealthy characters to poorer characters. The only other thing that I factor into my math for this type of behavior (at level 50+) is that the average vendor price of a level 50 common recipe is ~100Kinf... so if I am just crafting dropped recipes I make sure to sell these recipes to the vendor to get Inf to cover crafting costs. When I remember, I try to max out the day job crafting coupons, but I only use them on Purple recipes (base crafting cost is 600Kinf, IIRC)... and only if I remember. Ultimately this is just such a small relative amount of Inf I rarely even remember to do this. This is not an optimal strategy for making Inf, but it does make Inf.

Perhaps a Mastermind's Leadership toggle?

Oh is this true? If so thanks! I agree that for one-slot pieces, the set bonus obviously doesn't come into play.

I just want to add this: sometimes players log out/change characters and miss LFG messages. Just because I shouted doesn't mean anyone heard.

For 95% of content, it isn't the +HP (or Healing from) Dull Pain itself that interests me, its the +MaxEnd and global +Recharge from 6-slotting Preventive Medicine I crave.

I want to offer some slightly different perspective on a couple of points. I want to note that I don't play solo speed runs for 50+ content. Consider my quotes as recognition that these are valid points, but not ones I think are universally applicable. I'd vote "NO" on that. I put the resurrection Inspirations in email (after turning them off as drops), for myself and teammates. I play a LOT of low level content with teams at very high difficulties and not having to rely on hospitals, SG rezzes, teammate powers or temp powers keeps us all active for as much as possible. running back to a Hollows mission after a nasty defeat WAS part of the LIVE game, but there isn't much charm to it. I completely agree with the cost/benefit assessment, but I think part of the price difference between the two options presented here is that enhancements from the boosted Quickfoot will cut out below level 47, whereas the HO (combined or not) will also scale down below that. There is also an adjacent point about the HO boosting both run and flight speed, but I must admit I have put no thought into that myself. This is a subtle point about finances, but if someone is planning a separate specific build JUST for level 50+ content, it is likely that they will be spending lots of Inf anyway. I see nothing unusual or wrong with having such a dedicated build, but I do think that is a sort of luxury.

While this goes against the 'solo' aspect, it is far easier to get a HO by joining a regular Hamidon raid in the Hive. The Abyss variety is a little more tedious, but the few times I've done that it has been with other (fewer) experienced players. The random draw of the HO can lead to misery no matter the circumstances. I would guess that the MLTF would probably be the most annoying because of the towers and Lord Recluse. I don't do this sort of content solo because I simply find it tedious to wear down AVs and GMs.

Sorry if I missed this earlier from the thread: Several of the Hero-side TIP missions at level 50 (x8) provide opportunities to fight badge-enemies, including the new Crey enemies, Rularuu, and of course Nemesis (Fake, Warhulks, Jaegers). In one of the Nemesis missions, Crey is an ambush.

I think a better argument is this, based on demand: EVERY AT can slot (almost every) Winter -O, but any given AT can only use two ATO sets. The Winter-Os have those very attractive Superior options (that again, every ATO can benefit from) With a healthy dose of: Fire farm builds Personally, I think the "top builds" argument is problematic as the type of content that is played determines performance. My preference for most builds is to look for the global +Recharge et al. bonuses from the lvl 50 Superior sets first. I like the look of those 5- and 6-piece bonuses from Winter-Os, but honestly the typical set bonus they offer that appeals the most to me is the Slow resistance... and I usually find another set's bonus that I prefer more than that.

As long as the (attuned) piece has a somewhat stable market, with pieces for sale at a typical 'market price', it shouldn't be a very expensive experience to use the market to get the level 50 piece you want. The cost is essentially the 'vig', although if you are INF poor you may have to sell the attuned piece first. I should note that you cannot sell to yourself. I have kept a sub-optimal (market, SG storage) strategy for attuned/boostable PVP pieces from when I had less Inf but a lot of merits/recipes: I use PVP pieces below level 50 to make attuned pieces (playing converter roulette if necessary) and keep the level 50 pieces for boosting (again, using converter roulette if necessary). I really should just buy what I want from the market when I want it, but I can't break myself of the habit. If the roulette wheel ends on a piece I know sells well and I don't need it: that piece goes on the market, so if I pay attention to the number of 'spins' I can avoid losing Inf even if I am not making as much as I could. Sidebar: I use attuned PVP pieces in most powers (especially attacks) as my characters level up. ATOs are generally the first priority, but my peculiar habit of having new characters build their own Inf-kitty and not keeping (many) ATO in the SG base affects this a little. Generally, the PVP-boosted pieces (50+) that I keep are: Defense (Shield Wall)... decent 2- and 3-piece bonuses when added to the +Resistance global Resistance (Gladiator's Armor)... nice 2-piece bonus when added to the +Def global Healing (Panacea), I like the 5-piece bonus for heals taken at low levels (like Dull Pain) or heals that can benefit from a 6-slot of something other than a heal. Holds (Gladiator's Net)... with several good sets to choose from, and so many %procs in Holds, I have a few characters that use 3-slots (with one being the %Lethal proc) dedicated to the PVP set to get the +MaxEnd boost while adding to Accuracy. In level 50 builds, it is rare that I use boosted PVP pieces in attacks. I think I have one Blaster that uses 5 pieces from Experienced Marksman in a Snipe taken at low level, otherwise I think I always find better options for those powers.

I am less bothered by Citadel's defeat alls, because at that level most characters are able to handle the spawns relatively quickly. The back-and-forth across zones is annoying, but not deal-breaking for me. I feel like Synapse could benefit from an instanced version of a (partial) city zone, similar to how the Penny Yin TF has an instanced version of Independence Port. I don't mind a "defeat all", but having SO MANY of them AND having multiple call box missions AND jumping to Boomtown is quite a slogfest. I'd also prefer if the penultimate Synapse TF mission was slightly tweaked: I'd re-write that mission to lean heavier into the fact that the Clockwork King has a bit of an obsession with Chess and "Medieval Times"... update the bosses, rename the enemies to have 'geekier' names and require the defeat of some number of specific instanced bosses... something like "2 Clockwork Bishops, 2 Clockwork Rooks, etc." I'd be tempted to add either Penny Yin or Blue Steel at some point for some more lore-flavor. I think we could drop the one-shot power from Positron and instead add Penny Yin as a rescue-able NPC to help with the final AV fight.

I'll disagree. I have a couple of characters with maxed out vet levels, and all the extra Incarnate abilities I want. Were talking many different Lores, extra Judgements (woot, fire fighting) etc. etc. I'll take the Super Inspirations and drop them in the SG base.

I'd like to add a few further recommendations to the above suggestion. This arc is a very good one to 'farm' for many reasons. I would typically run it at +0x8. With Incarnate level shifts, the enemies become MUCH easier to defeat. The XP may be less, but the drops are just as good. When I try to 'farm' this arc, I usually go for the first level shift from Alpha, and if the character needs an AoE I will grab a Judgment... but otherwise I'll try to get the other two level shifts... one is Lore, which can help clear maps. Most of my characters I do this with can clear all the maps at 0x8 in about 30 minutes. There is roughly a 50% chance to get a level 50 PVP or Purple drop from this effort. A few of the enemies contribute to badges as well, if that's in your jam. If you just want to stealth the arc for components (or Super Inspirations!), even the clumsiest of characters should be able to do it in under 15 minutes. Lately: I've been VERY lazy about filling in Incarnates on my characters. The IO system makes them very powerful in (non-incarnate) content, and I've had plenty participate in the "level 50" non-incarnate content without even having Alpha slotted. When I do get around to slotting the Alpha, I find that I almost always have enough shards, Vanguard merits and Notices of the Well to build at least a T3. The second T3 is usually made from threads and then I again use Shards and Notices to make the T4.

I haven't tried Martial Arts, but I reworked a StJ/Willpower Scrapper as a Stalker and I find the Stalker to be the better of the two builds for 99% of content I've tried. The 1% is due to escort missions in which I have to turn off Hide. This is not usually a big deal, but the auto-Hide Stalker ATO still comes into play. The main differences that I (non-scientifically) observe about StJ on Stalker as opposed to Scrapper: On the Stalker, I am very rarely thinking about combos (which I find to be a mixed bag)... so I don't sweat trying to have an optimized attack chain. The Stalker ATO seem to work much better at improving DPS.

It took me about a year of HC before I realized that folks teleporting directly to Positron from the penultimate mission is what was causing almost all of the "missing Babbage" spawns from the Synapse TF. I know most teams were blaming AE (or tram police drones), but I think this was the cause of most missing spawns.

I long ago accepted the particular misery of having 95% chance to hit with all of a character's AoE and still seeing more than one MISS! per spawn.... n almost every spawn... but I don't like it. I'm not entirely convinced that the AoE streakbreaker is really working against single spawns of many mobs... and since I usually have %proc in AoE, I half-wonder how those could be affecting it. The most annoying aspect is switching between ST and AoE, since the streakbreaker count is different. It's highly annoying to miss an enemy with an AOE and then miss with a ST. Almost all of my gripes are perception bias, but much of MY perception would be improved if I could see the actual attack roll in the combat monitor and not have to crawl the combat logs for them.

He'll be missed. I'm proud to say that the Heraclea (on Torchbearer) accompanied one of my toons on the mission to earn her "Mistress of Olympus" badge.

It has been MANY years, and many updates, since I ventured into PVP with my Inv/EM tank. At that time, it had no problem with survivability, and it was the STUN component that was ultimately the most valuable dealing with pests in PVP zones. It's not really like the Tank could do enough DPS to 'win' at PVP. There are a few slotting and pool choices that would probably make sense for a PvP-focused EM/Inv Brute that are sub-optimal for PvE play. I'm just guessing: make sure toggles never fall, increase perception/ToHit, if Stuns are a still a thing, lean into those, Dull Pain should be perma, multiple Power Transfer (because of base HP), etc. I'm not a Brute player, so I have no idea how Fury factors into PVP. I have a vague recollection that there was a time when EM Stalkers we considered to be a top-tier choice for PVP offense. If it is just worrying about surviving in a PVP zone, I would be surprised if ANY Brute or Tanker had issues in 1-on-1.

I wouldn't sweat downloading the build. This isn't the most difficult problem you will face as a Soldier of Arachnos (ehem, forced respec).