Crysis

I lucked out and have Dec 2021 shipping. But I honestly expect delays. Everything else with a microchip in it is getting delayed.

OP gotta ask….you said you were using a Fire Farm without S/L attacks. Are you sure about that? There’s dozens of poorly built fire farms in the AE that do, in fact, have critters dealing S/L damage. One day I tested about two dozen “AFK” fire farms and at least half had S/L damage. Mind telling us what AE map you are using?

Not really true as countless guides have shown. Most of us self-PL’d our farmers on straight SO’s, generic IO’s and inspiration combining macros from levels 1-50. Sure, once you get to 50, you’ll want to get your Incarnates and do full IO sets build to max out +4/x8 farming in fast active times or for AFK farming. But before that just slowly dial up your difficulty until you have it all tricked out.

Scrapper don’t need an invitation. We just crash the party.

Ditto. However, I already play COH via ShadowPC on my iPad/iPhone. “Play” is likely too much of a stretch. It’s more for AFK farming than actually playing the game actively, although I will often fiddle with new costumes for alts and/or do marketplace transactions using this method. Likely the same thing I’d do with my SteamDeck. I see SteamDeck more for FPS than anything.

I was blown away with how durable my Stalkers are now, but so much of that durability is amplified by the constant stream of crits just melting stuff all around me. I literally can take down a boss or EB in the time it takes my Tanker just to toggle up! I’m really not exaggerating….it’s insane how fast a well built stalker can “scrap it out” against spawns -and- still have enough left over to take out the boss. While I love my DB/EA, an Elec/Shield Stalker is an AOE monster as well. Something about the firepower of a Blaster with the defenses somewhere close a scrapper (albeit with far less Health) just feels….wrong….to me. But if this wrong I don’t wanna be right.

Hear me out.....a Stalker. Yeah I know, a Stalker? Yeah....a Stalker. Out of Hide (meaning during combat): Taking more damage than you can handle? No problem....pop your +RES button.... This thing is like an armored buzzsaw. Literally. Nigh unkillable (like the best IO'd tank) but with Stalker Crit-on-demand levels of damage. It's insane. It's game-breaking. It's like a Scrapper with Assassin's Strike. Easily the most unkillable DPS machine I've ever played. Seriously....a Dual Blade/Energy Aura/Soul Mastery goddamned Stalker. Trust me. I didn't believe it either. You can literally take whatever Incarnate powers you want (I suggest Musculature, Assault and Ageless) but honestly this thing is as powerful as most Incarnates without the T4's. Here's the build: This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Stalker Primary Power Set: Dual Blades Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Power Slice -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(9), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprAssMar-Rchg/Rchg Build Up(15) Level 1: Hide -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def(3), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(7), ShlWal-EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 2: Kinetic Shield -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(3), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(11), ShlWal-Def(11) Level 4: Power Shield -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def(5), ShlWal-EndRdx/Rchg(5), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(17) Level 6: Assassin's Blades -- SprStlGl-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg(7), SprStlGl-Rchg/Hide%(13), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprStlGl-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19) Level 8: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 10: Arcane Bolt -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A) Level 12: Mystic Flight -- WntGif-ResSlow(A) Level 14: Boxing -- PndSlg-Stun%(A) Level 16: Entropy Shield -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 18: Ablating Strike -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hct-Dam%(21), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(23), Hct-Dmg(27), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(33) Level 20: Kinetic Dampening -- TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtnCtn-EndRdx(21), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(23), GldArm-3defTpProc(33), TtnCtn-ResDam(34) Level 22: Disrupt -- RzzDzz-Immob%(A) Level 24: Rune of Protection -- TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(25), TtnCtn-ResDam(25), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(31) Level 26: Sweeping Strike -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg(27), FuroftheG-Dam/Rech(33), Obl-%Dam(36), Erd-%Dam(37), ScrDrv-Dam%(37) Level 28: Energy Drain -- Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Rct-ResDam%(29), Rct-Def/EndRdx(29), Rct-Def(31), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Rct-Def/Rchg(50) Level 30: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(34), UnbGrd-ResDam(36), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 32: One Thousand Cuts -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), Arm-Dam%(34), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Dmg(40) Level 35: Energize -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(36), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(37), Prv-Heal/Rchg(42) Level 38: Weave -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def(39), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(39), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42) Level 41: Moonbeam -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(42), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(46) Level 44: Shadow Meld -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), ShlWal-Def(46), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(46) Level 47: Soul Storm -- SprEnt-Acc/Hold(A), UnbCns-Dam%(48), SprEnt-Rchg/AbsorbProc(48), UnbCns-Hold(48), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(50) Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 49: Quick Form Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 50: Invader Level 50: Born In Battle Level 50: High Pain Threshold Level 50: Marshal Level 1: Assassination ------------

Your build and mine just proves that Masterminds are incredibly diverse as an AT. Two builds, nearly the same specs, slotted differently in a few different powers within the sets and you end up with very different playstyles. I often have two different builds with my MM's because it's so easy to create an almost entirely different "feel" by simply changing up slotting and power selections. MM's are my favorite AT and when this game when dormant I looked high and low for a replacement to the AT in other games....never found one. MM's are flawed in many ways, still need some tuning even after more than a decade of being introduced but are easily the most fun I ever have playing a single class in any game. I think I got hooked on the AT "archetype" after playing a game called "Overlord" back in the 1990's. Not the same then, but the tactical micromanagement of the henchmen just makes it a very active set. I almost feel like I'm playing against myself half the time as mismanagement of my powers can fold back on me quickly. But here's our two builds side by side to help illustrate. I may just respec into yours for my secondary build.

Meh....can buy it nao for not a lot more than recipe +crafting components. It really depends on time of day/day of week....

Disincentabalancitized

++1

I used to be the same, but since I can PowerFarm an alt from 1-32 in under a half hour with on-demand double XP boosters, I no longer worry about that.

I have no END issues with /Storm once I hit Incarnates. Leveling up to that can be problematic though, especially with a high recharge and Burnout in the set and even more so if you spam your Gale/Tornado/LS and use your attacks. I'd be interested to see how you fare as your build and my own are almost identical for END use and Recovery.

What I don’t think most people realize is this simple fact….. Farming has, for all purposes, a ‘cap’ on maximum influence gain/hour. Once you maximize your kill to death ratio, it’s up to the RNG gods to push you (slightly and very only rarely) past that maximum rate of influence/hr metric. Marketeering has no such cap. I mean in theory you can’t click faster than the game will allow, and a mouse click in the auction house isn’t technically any different than a mouse click to activate a power in AE. But a Marketeer effectively has NO cap on influence earned per hour. Even if you give me situations where you say it’s impossible to gain more than X, I’ll show you screenshots of people who accidentally added an extra digit to a purchase I had up for sale and just like that I earned an extra 600MM influence. It happens more than you’d think, although it’s usually measured in tens of millions extra and not hundreds. Further, a Marketeer’s earning power multiplies as their income grows. When you don’t have much influence, you tend to buy/craft small and sell small. So you buy recipes for 1,111 influence (many of those are just trash recipes dropped by people with a lot more influence than you), buy/earn the salvage and then craft them. If you’ve figured out Enhancement Converters, you then flip by rarity and then within category to get something worth far more….and then you sell it. Multiply that by stacks of 10’s of the same recipe and you get the picture. But any Marketeer with a billion or more in ‘spare change’ can be buying crafted IO’s and skip the whole recipe/crafting approach. And then with even more influence, they buy hundreds of Winter Lord/Hero Packs at a time and open those and convert/sell/flip the contents. Or just flat out buy purples, Winter O’s, HO’s by the hundreds and resell them. The point of all this is there is ZERO cap on influence generation in the game for a Marketeer. There is for farming. There is also for 8-player teams/32+ member leagues. Although even those numbers bandied about miss the concept of all those players earning salvage, recipe drops (often multiple within a league) and then moving to Marketeering right afterwards. Just like in real life….farming isn’t a path to riches. Path to pay for your house, food, college for the kids, occasional niceties…sure. But if you want to really make money, you -must- marketeer. Many of us do both, or did both at one time. But the Marketeering path of “billions in hours” -IS- possible…..once you’ve got a few hundred million to invest and a little luck and a whole lotta mouse clicking. You’ll never get that for same effort just farming alone.

Running a Necro/Storm now, currently mid-40's. I've played /Storm with just about every other set -but- necro so thought I'd round that out with this build. It's an homage to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," complete with annoying emotes and henchmen pet conversation and all. As with my other /Stormies I've opted for S/L +Def softcap, It's a good native recharge build but with all those FF+Rech procs going off actual +recharge is quite high....I'm routinely headed to the next spawn with 245% +Recharge or higher. Of course with all that +Recharge you'll be throwing out double Tornado and double Lightning Storm regularly. I have Burnout in my build also and it's up more than paper values suggest with all the FF+Rech proccage. I tend to use it as it pops by using a bind to Release (not Dismiss...I want the corpse) my Lich, create a Wraith off it via Soul Extraction, re-summon the Lich, repeat the bind to Release him again, Burnout>Soul Extraction to create a second Wraith and then resummon the Wraith again. You can also use Burnout during tough hard target fights against AV's for triple LS along with the double Wraiths via double Soul Extraction. It's situational, sure, but its kind of fun to run around with effectively 8 henchmen. Once I have Lore Pets I will have 10 pets out at once. More of a party trick than anything but....it's meant to be a fun/gimmick build and it scratches that itch for me (especially when Tito brings me a tissue after a team wipe....). Endurance, like with -all- Storm players, is an issue. But between Survival Amplifier, Base Empowerment, Recovery Serum and sweating it until you get your Accolades and Ageless, it's manageable on Homecoming. Victory Rush isn't bad if you can squeeze it in during leveling, but you won't need it post Ageless. I've just learned to enjoy having a high health bar and almost no END most play sessions. I cobbled this build together from a few different ones. I can't credit everyone so I'll just say "Thanks all you great MM players" and share mine here. Use it as you will. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! MJ's Thriller: Level 50 Natural Mastermind Primary Power Set: Necromancy Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Zombie Horde -- SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprCmmoft-Acc/Dmg(5), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(5) Level 1: Gale -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(7) Level 2: Gloom -- SphIns-ToHitDeb(A), SphIns-Acc/ToHitDeb(7), SphIns-Acc/Rchg(9), SphIns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SphIns-%ToHit(11) Level 4: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 6: Enchant Undead -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 8: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(13) Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(15), LucoftheG-Def(15), UnbGrd-Max HP%(17), UnbGrd-ResDam(17), Rct-Def(19) Level 12: Grave Knight -- SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprMarofS-Dmg(19), AchHee-ResDeb%(21), TchofLadG-%Dam(21), SlbAll-Build%(23), ShlBrk-%Dam(23) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Ann-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Ann-ResDeb%(25), TchofLadG-%Dam(27) Level 18: Soul Extraction -- SprMarofS-EndRdx/+Resist/+Regen(A), SprMarofS-Acc/Dmg(27), SvrRgh-PetResDam(29), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(29), SprCmmoft-Rchg/PetAoEDef(31), EdcoftheM-PetDef(31) Level 20: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A) Level 22: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(31), GldArm-End/Res(33) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(33), LucoftheG-Def(33), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(34), GifoftheA-Def/EndRdx(34), GifoftheA-Def(34) Level 26: Lich -- SprMarofS-Acc/EndRdx(A), SprMarofS-Dmg/EndRdx(36), CldSns-%Dam(36), CaltoArm-Acc/Rchg(36), HO:Endo(37), CaltoArm-+Def(Pets)(37) Level 28: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 30: Burnout -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 32: Dark Empowerment -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 35: Tornado -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(37), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprCmmoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), AchHee-ResDeb%(39), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40) Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Apc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Apc-Acc/Rchg(40), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Dam%(42), FrcFdb-Rechg%(42) Level 41: Web Envelope -- EnfOpr-Acc/Rchg(A), EnfOpr-Acc/EndRdx(43), EnfOpr-Immob/Rng(43), EnfOpr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(43), GrvAnc-Hold%(45) Level 44: Mace Beam Volley -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(45), PstBls-Dam%(45), ExpStr-Dam%(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(46), Ann-ResDeb%(46) Level 47: Life Drain -- Prv-Absorb%(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(47), ThfofEss-+End%(47), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(48), Thn-Acc/Dmg(48), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 49: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(49) Level 1: Supremacy Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(11) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(13) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Portal Jockey Level 50: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Task Force Commander Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 1: Zombie Level 12: Grave Knight Level 26: Lich ------------

On -average- I spend about 350MM influence on each alt by 50 -assuming- I buy all the IO’s I need -other- than their procs, their ATO’s and any Winter-O’s or Purples. Those last four categories of IO’s I stockpile. Everything else I buy at prevailing rates, never so low that I have to wait for the bids to fill and/or I buy indirectly via buy-other-IO-and-Convert to what I need/want. PL’ing an alt 1-40 (I never take them to 50, usually only 37) takes me just over an hour active farming/longer AFK farming. The farming toon will net around 40MM in influence today doing that and usually about another 40-50MM in influence from drops I’ll craft/flip/marketeer….another 20-40MM if the RNG gods grant me some purple drops. This is about half of what it was when HC first launched. I know many people now run small stables of AFK farmers but it’s just too much upkeep to do this and stay within the multi-box rules. I’ll routinely setup a day where I have a lot of RL work to do and PL a stable of alts in the background, most with generic costumes and names until I’m ready to pull them out and create playable alts (with fully IO’d builds) with them. It’s a sickness, I know, but I find it a nice distraction during the day, no worse an addiction than being glued to social media all day. Point is….I farm. A LOT. I marketeer. A LOT. I still play PVE content upwards of 20 hours per week (I travel for a living, and hotel downtime is when I play, beats the TV). I know many of the tricks to get top tier builds on the cheap. But even with all I put into generating influence, and all I put into creating and outfitting alts, I still bet I spend far, far more than I make. I have maybe 40 ‘naked’ alts sitting in ‘inventory’ right now that need builds, costumes, bio’s and good names before they can go do their level up ‘respec’ and be played. I can spend the MONEY anytime I want. I cannot, however, find the TIME to do that all in one sitting. It’s -my- economy. And don’t even get me started about the Live days when you’d sometimes be forced to “melt down” an alt for their IO’s via multiple respecs so you could re-use them on other alts. I don’t even bother to do that now as influence, merits and the means to obtain IO’s is so much cheaper and easier here thanks to quality of life improvements.

-IF- such a “market index” were to exist, like the real world, you’d likely want to stock it up with the blue chip performers like you’ve mentioned, but also you have to realize that the pricing of any IO is very contextually relative to the AT that you are trying to build. Thus you may need various indices, like the “Defensive IO” index, the “Resistance IO” index, the “Healing IO” index etc etc. But again, this is all a pretty silly exercise in a world where Enhancement Converts exist and are abundant in circulation given the merit reward system. I can’t tell you how many LOTG Defense recipes/IO’s I’ve ever purchased since I seldom purchase them directly. There have been many times I -SHOULD- have just outright purchased a LOTG Recharge/whatever because it was actually cheaper than the feeder stock I had been purchasing to flip to a slottable LOTG. But that was my lack of awareness and just following muscle memory. But obviously, in the real-world stock market, you can’t just up and buy a stock of one company and craft it into being the stock of a different company. Mergers/Acquisitions happen, of course, but those typically just move value from one company to another. Not wholescale fabrication of one stock instrument out of an entirely different one. Here in Paragon City, however, we write whole guides on how to do it and effectively have created a system where it’s rare that you can’t get any particular IO at all….well, maybe Hami-O’s, but even those can be gotten by just participating in content. Given the very existence of Enhancement Converters, I suspect “Last Five Sales” is about the best we would ever have. When it’s accurate, of course. Although some of the wealthy bastards manage to mess with the plebes just playing with those as well..

You also have to look at things in their proper context. I know several formerly-big-ticket, highly sought after IO’s and ATO’s that are also selling much cheaper than they used to. And not surprisingly many of these are popular with farming builds. It’s a totally “rigged” economy, on purpose and by design. Some things go up as popularity outstrips organic supply but FOTM builds are being popularized all the time and then there’s converter flipping that almost always ensure you can get the one you need without paying the higher price.

I have been a farmer since this game launched. It’s always been part of the play style. There was a time shortly after HC launched when I multiboxed both active and AFK farmers alike and I made some good influence. After last years’ nerfs I temporarily upped my multibox AFK farmers but after a certain point you’ve got so much influence available to you that high value item marketeering dwarfs what you could make farming. I spent billions on Winter Lord packs (like everyone else) when they went on sale and that’s been enough capital that I no longer farm for influence but rather just to PL alts now. The title of this thread is amusing to me. The cost of items in HC is trivial relative to Live and it’s almost impossible to do exceed the current economically-engineered price caps. Purples, Winter-O’s and all other recipes/enhancements seldom vary more than 20% between prevailing peaks. I routinely put in low bids on high end stuff and they almost always fill within days at most because people flip their purple recipe drops without crafting them because they just don’t care to get top dollar and/or they don’t understand how to make more influence. Generally speaking, most people who make complaints about the current economic climate of this version of the game are uneducated by choice or just flat out ignorance. Same for people who complain about farming. It will take all of an evening to create your own AFK farmer, often by just respeccing (or second build) an existing alt. It’s perfectly fine to be uneducated and/or mistaken in your beliefs about the evils of farming and/or the “high cost” of things. But at the end of the day that’s just someone who has chosen ignorance over knowledge and experience. That’s on you.

Im wondering if the fixes to the AE Cims actually were applied to all PVE versions as well?

So curious about something.... I know how to use /demorecord and I've even managed (over the years) to fiddle with the resultant text files to create my own mini movies. These days, if you want to capture a video of the game, there's a lot of other ways to vid-cap it but /demorecord has some other useful features.... ...the biggest one being that it shows me the PARTSNAME for any in-game character (player or NPC) that make up their costume. However, it doesn't directly export a .costume file. So lets say I'm in an ITF and another player has a great costume and I'm like "Oooo, I like those boots, but don't recognize them." Quick /demorecord and I have the PARTSNAME of the boots they are using (and some other useful details like patterns, etc). Has anyone ever tried to directly convert the COSTUME and PARTSNAME list into a functional .costume file? They are very different formats but in comparing my own demorecord costume data to my actual costume file, I can tell that every single item is in there. I'd have figured by now someone would have come up with a way to do this conversion directly.

I routinely T4 out all Incarnate powers by vet level 12-14. Faster if I’ve got some hand-me-down EMP’s from another alt obviously. I tend to repeatedly speed-run the DA arc as I can finish that in 10 mins (twice) relative to the 20-25 mins it takes to form up and run a BAF or LAM.

I guess I’m in the minority. I’m far more thankful we have this many players around to clutter up the umpteen channels than I’m worried about people staying in any one specific channel. The chaos of in game chatting makes this the “Massively Multiplayer” part of the game for me.

/Agreed You also tend to pull more aggro on yourself when you use personal and/or P2W attacks. Really helps when running BG mode as the attacks like Cross Punch will let you damage, risk mitigate (knockdown) and pull aggro onto yourself and off of your henchmen, who then basically pile on. I usually build for S/L +DEF and +RES both so it’s relatively safe for me outside of mezzers.

Sipping coffee on this gorgeous Labor Day (US holiday) morning, I got to thinking about this thread again. One of the unique things about this game is the amazing variety of play styles that can be supported by pretty much any AT. I’ve played melee-oriented “scrappers” out of Dominators, Controller-y Blasters and Masterminds and a whole host of “you are playing it wrong buddy” kinds of builds. It’s just one reason that I’ve enjoyed this game since Beta and I’m still learning stuff today. There was a time I actually quit playing the game (when IO’s were introduced) because I thought a game I’d ‘mastered’ was forever ruined by the damn crafting system and I -despised- crafting in other games. But I buckled down, learned how it worked (thank god for Mids!) and still enjoying it today. Proc’s were the next big discovery. I -thought- I understood them in Live but really only managed to scratch the surface. Then I started reading stuff from @Bopper and @Sir Myshkin and watched the layers of the onion slowly peeled back. For example….did you know that some procs are coded to be “self applied” to the $Target? Crazy huh? Well once you know this, and know the ‘why’s’ behind it, you begin to understand how game changing Proc’s can be. Early on I discovered the Tankerminding approach to playing a MM, one of my favorite AT’s. I didn’t quite appreciate the value of it the way so many other players did, until I started to compare their builds (posted here or shared with me) to my own. One of the things I’ve always done is take at least 1 or more of the 3 “attacks” a MM is given in their primary. The common wisdom, almost universally, is the attacks suck, the damage sucks for a MM, take the 3 summons, the 2 empowerment’s and the 1 ‘extra’ and skip the attacks. Better stuff can be had from Boxing, or Brawl, blah blah blah. If we are talking straight damage on a comparative level, I totally get that mindset. This game is ultimately about eliminating your targets faster than they can eliminate you, and that’s all about DPS. But that’s where I misinterpreted a MM’s strengths. In a big, big way. If you have no attacks, particularly no ranged attacks, your ability to hold aggro with just your secondary powers is highly unlikely. Your henchmen will be doing far more damage than will you, and the “stand back and support” mindset then kicks in. Gotta keep those critters alive so they can keep fighting for me! Well, yes and no. I mean the HC Dev’s just gave us a massive clue when they reduced the cost of summoning/resummoning our henchmen. It was always a high cost because unlike most other AT’s that don’t use pets, we spend all our END up front for our DPS. Everyone else spends it “as they use it for outputting damage.” Thus we still have these big endurance penalties for our attacks….because our real DPS is from our henchmen. But fundamental to “Tankerminding” is learning to use Bodyguard mode. Effectively, you are pulling all the damage onto yourself to split the incoming damage across you and your henchmen, effectively adding massive +RES to you and your posse. But if you can’t keep pulling aggro, you’ll at best get the most use out of BG mode during the alpha. This is OK for most spawns, but less than favorable for mezzing spawns. Basically, if they mezz, you want your henchmen to take the alpha so you stay fully capable of directing the outcome. If a non-mezzing spawn, then you take the alpha in BG mode. But how are you going to hold aggro without Presence pool? Simple answer, and the one I’ve always known (without really thinking about the WHY of it) is that you have to be attacking so the aggro math see’s you as a threat. And that’s why my “Presence-less” pool MM’s always questioned why I needed the Presence pool when I seemed fully capable of grabbing and holding aggro just fine even with my henchmen set purely on aggressive mode (not in Bodyguard) once the engagement begins. Because I’ve -always- taken my attacks and, almost always, slotted them up with Procs. So the long winded purpose of this post is that you consider WHY you need Presence. It’s because you need to take and hold aggro. But you can do that with many secondaries (/Time is my favorite and Times Juncture is gold for this). But the attacks by themselves are still anemic for outputting damage and once you know how aggro math works you’ll realize the importance of Procc’ing out those attacks. I could go on and on but I’d highly, HIGHLY encourage you to go check out @Redlynne’s post, especially the post in that thread I’ve linked. The whole thread is full of deep learnings for MM’s, why the personal attacks matter, how Proc’s work, the synergy between your attacks and how they can be used not for damage directly, but to indirectly augment the DPS and/or survivability of your henchmen, why the Dev’s likely built MM’s with inherently low native damage and high endurance penalties, etc etc. Just a wealth of information. If you read it, and understand it, the whole question about needing Presence pool will take on a very different perspective for you. Yes, Presence Pool can be very helpful to some MM’s with certain secondaries, even more so if they take none of their primary attacks (or only slot them with damage). Because you gotta pull aggro to hold aggro and you gotta out-aggro your henchmen. But it’s not universally required for all power set combo’s and in many cases, it can totally sub-optimize your performance as a MM. But Redlynne and others have done a much better job than I could here explaining the insights and the “why is that true” so just grab a coffee and start reading. Seriously. It may be absolutely game-changing insights for you. A more recent discussion on Provoke’s usefulness is here also if you got through Redlynne’s stuff and want the simpler version: