Golden Azrael

Yeah. We're not getting the 'time' back. It's compounded if we spend it with profligacy and ignorance. (Ticks both boxes with some modicum of lament.) The yellow salvage price run. (And there's zillions available...) 11500 each. Somebody is going to hell. *Readies the hot poker. As for Uncommon recipes. I can no longer keep up with the ones my 'two' farmers pump out. I've stopped buying yellow enhs off the market (for a more direct path to what I want to craft) because between what I've bought and what I've farmed, I've got a back log to work through. I've been making 40-80 million day. More if you really push it. If 'I was in charge?' I'd simply have a 'hero' shop where you'd spent merits to acquire the sets we need. Double the TF/Hero merits rewards and half the costs things. So you can relatively quickly (compared to now) make a build. Bring those 'Origin' vendors back into play a bit more. I'd quite happily prefer I go to my Magic Origin vendor and pay fixed price of eg. £10 million fixed price for a purple enhancement or 50 merits rather than the current 100. (You can do this with hero merits but it's pricey. Ergo my farming and targeting the market somewhat. Though most of my alts were just made just with brute force straightforward playing) And then move onto your next alt. As the market currently is? Price cap and just make more things available from Vendors. I think the objective, for me, is still for HC Devs to make the content the driving force for boosting population numbers (I'm sure they're working on that...) rather than altitis rolling (addict that I am...) Perhaps getting the community to pad out the zones, the tips, the radios, the arcs, street sweeping missions using an improved AE '2' with submit 'choice cut' dev content (missions/arcs) making it's way into new 'community' derived contacts that can fill the game. I wasn't fond of the market when it 1st appeared. But still, Batman and the Legion seem to keep mementos of their past battles. Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark are rich and can fund their heroic deeds, I guess. It's another layer for many to enjoy the game, perhaps. Part of me will never leave Patch 3 and perma-hasten (with SOs of recharge piled in there.) Yes. Selling enhans for '1' and then buying it back expensively for the next cool build. *figits awkwardly on seat. (Ignorance brings it's own 'rewards.') *musing. Azrael.

TFs. Too long. *Starts the chainsaw. RhhHHhmm....g-g-guh...RRHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNN! Azrael.

Love it. Azrael.

Clown set? Like 'The Joker?' Gas bombs? Laughing Gas? Joker Death Smile? Bombs? Balloon bombs? Water balloons. Taser/hand shake shocker? Napalm Rocket? Killer Trick Card? Red Hat Jump on your head power? Lots of this stuff is in game. Could be cobbled into a 'Clown' set. Oil slick/Ice Mat for 'falling' over. Die Laughing emote for a laughing confuse power. Hmm... Azrael.

Interesting thought. Be interesting if the HC Dev' community gave access to the advanced tools or came up with AE2. The community could craft missions/tips/radios/arcs/TFs etc. Put them on the 'new' AE2 and therefore submit them to the HC Dev' 'select' threshold for inclusion in the game. (Many of the TFs, for me, are simply 'too long' for pick up and play purposes. I've got about 5 missions in an arc before I start getting 'are we there yet?' fatigue.) Azrael.

It would incentivise the community to create the best content. Sound. Azrael.

Amen. Great post. And heralds thoughts I've had elsewhere. Let the community do the 'heavy lifting' and select 'Lore' choice cut Dev approved missions via new contacts dropped into each zone. It would give each zone a new lease of life. Tips. Radios. GREAT! But I've rinsed them to death. Hit it and quit it needs an injection of freshness. I've even mused the idea of 'Street Sweeping' Radio/Tip missions for Atlas, Steel, Hollows. Could have come with a host of new badges. Origin arcs expanded by the HC/CoH community. Magic/Natural/Science etc content for 1-10, 11-20 etc. AE. Under utilised in terms of it's original intentions, perhaps. Azrael.

Sometimes they can be. I started buying the AT sets with Merits. After I wised up, I spent cash on them if the market rate was cheaper. (I upgraded with Cats at L50 later.) Sometimes, the price is really high or the item is not available so I used Merits. Azrael.

A Mega-Olympian effort. Azrael.

I'll explore the link, Ukase. So you can have the value of opening the packs but they seem like sought after market items as well. A win-win. They were something that passed me by (inexplicably perhaps?) I guess I was too buy looking at the Trees in CoH. I guess you can work hard or work smart. I'm beginning to wake up to the latter prospect. Azrael.

Thanks for the wiki links. I'm now more up to speed on them. I may just buy one of each from the market and just have a 'play' with them. Azrael.

I've not done much with or bought Super Packs or Winter Packs. Can anyone tell me about these? It sounds like a 'bundle' deal containing AT sets and other goodies? Just something I've not explored yet. Some great posts in this thread kicked off with Erratic's 101 post. I like seeing practical maths costs as it allows me to wrap my head around things. Mandatory reading for those still using Merits to buy AT sets. (I'll only use Merits to buy an AT set IF I can't get it on the market ie. It's not available or the price is way too high.) Azrael.

Noted, Andreah. It's useful to know what what 'things' can do...but also their equivalent costs are via vendors and the market. Eg. Farming. Merits. Converters. Catalysts. Emps. Etc. It allows you to use the market/your time efficiently. You may well have more of 'one' type of drop than another. Or be sitting on a mound of Inc' Threads and don't realise you can redeem them. This may all seem 'obvious.' But it's a part of the game I didn't turn into on live or to be begin with on HC. I just turned up and bashed stuff in Door Missions until I hit L50. But a fellow player introduced me to Farming on HC (something I'd held my nose towards on live re: AE.) I was so inspired I rolled a Fire/Fire blaster with the immortal objective to farm on +4x8. Several million trips to HP later. +4x8. But I had to earn the right by +1x4, then go wider...then +2x4...then go wider to x8 etc. 1.3 billion it cost to build that alt. And I probably (!) over paid b/cause I wanted it 'now.' 'Brute' force (pun) vs efficiency. I like the practical examples/illustrations posted by Tru (Tru-cenomics?) and Andreah as well as Ukase's bumper guide to Production Line Farming 😉 (ie. Once a given farmer is 'spent' then it's not efficient to keep the same one given the resources that are available to a re-roll.) *laser etched into mind. I finished the 're-roll' of my Brute. Got the Patron from the Scorpion arc. Mu is in. Re-Used the enhancements from my previous 'cast.' The 1st time I've done that. And not really spent a penny. Somewhat liberating it feels. *winks to Ukase. It also allowed me to fix a bug bear. My previous one was Fire Defence at 36%. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't capped. Then, when rebuilding? I realised I hadn't cat' upgraded a set in Elec Fences eg. Superior Frozen blasts. I'd done one and said, 'I'll do the rest later' and never did. So I didn't get the max' 5% and 2.5% fire Defence. Du-OH! Azrael.

Sage advice. I think the use of Emp' Merits in ways other than Levelling up your Tier Incarnates is a revelation. ie. Getting Converters for 'free.' Certainly time is the ultimate currency of CoH (and life in general.) But boxing smart with your time gives you efficient returns. Sound post, Ukase on a fluid farming process to gain returns. (It's all just 'time' so why not make the best use of it?) *(Makes notes. Commits to memory.) I've been levelling up a Brute Rad/Fire (but he has Elec' Mu Patron for the build I'm following.) I had the levels stored for L50 but needed to 'level up' with Liberty. So. Levels up. Got to L41 ('Do-OH...need to go to CoV to get patron...') Still, I can do the Scorpion arc so far and get the badge. Then I can continue to farm the iXP for the Inc' Tiers. A detour on path, but such is life. Azrael.

I was thinking (it happens) over the 40 alts I have at L50 (let's say an average of 500 million build per alt, I used to just pay it 'now' prices with a slight under bid and not being the most efficient builder because I wasn't crafting...so the cost was probably a lot more than half a billion...) that's 20 billion largely from brute force player L1-50 supplemented by farming. 20 billion locked up in alts as build assets. I must have given away billions using the '1' method over the last couple of years. Certainly contributed to proliferating 'loot' booty to the masses. (And probably making one or two people rich off my nonchalance.) I agree with Tidge. I think some of the best bank for buck from playing your L50s? Common L50 recipes. Average of 100k a pop. Great bang for buck just from playing your L50. I've certainly earned millions upon millions just from the Commons. And a Cat' usually drops in that play session. The consolidation from setting up an SG, storing the good stuff that drops across the range of alts being on the same 'team' has seen a real upswing in the rewards of play. It's more focused and deliberate. Azrael.

Thank you in triplicate to 3 robust replies. Each with a different insight and some sound examples. It's given me alot to think about (as I craft my way through a mound of stuff I farmed, bought.) I take your point about flipping. I've tried it a bit but the margins seem somewhat low relative to farming stuff (or just buying yellow recipes) and converting. (As long as Converters have their price elasticity of 70k-100k a pop. And you have to consider how many dice rolls plus market cut as you 'make' something that is more valuable.) eg. The example of 2-3 flips to get something better on average. Selling for 2 million ish on average. Sometimes I've eaten through ten or more to get something I want. So I have been efficient with Converters and sometimes I've just chomped through them like Bart at the Simpson's dinner table. Forcing me to buy more. ie. I'm not super efficient yet as I go through that learning curve. I guess I'll steamline as the penny 'falls' on my head. My favourite method is just crafting the stuff I earn through playing the game, if I'm honest. But 'playing' the market 'somewhat' is helping me to learn the sets, how to annex into something 'Rare' or Convert that 'Rare' into something more valuable. Some 'paths' are shorter than others to reach that 'value' item. And if you want something at the top end, it seems to be far more 'flips' of the coin (converter.) I'm redoing my Rad/Fire brute to be fire capped. Less dependent on the heal. I've managed to 'cap out' two of my mains (my 'main' and my 'market' main.) Made enough to pass over 750 million to my Fire/Spines farmer. So, modest by some standards but enough progress to suggest I'm making progress in my understanding. And yes. I've stopped selling things for '1.' *red faced. Azrael.

Cheers, FourSpeed. The macros are top drawer. A 1st class progressive thread dedicated to the art of farming that walks you through all the stages of building your farmer and the rewards you can muster within each level range. Amen to That. Azrael. PS. Update. Capping the fire defence makes the world of difference. Don't have to depend on the heal. Can now use Burn patch as an auto power aka more progressive than reactive in combat. The Macros and aggressive nature of the build can stack Dam' inspires to the cap with Build Up and Fiery Embrace fast recharging. Just 'melts' the Comic Con' asteroid map.

Update. I've reforged my Spines/Fire Brute. Much better. Fire defence capped now. Less dependent on Hospital. Currently following Ukase's advice on asset stripping one alt and re-levelling it for mule profit purposes. I think I've got the hang of bidding for crafting purposes. And converting. (Note to self. Buying a stack of 10 or 20 is more efficient by volume in time and profit with the right recipe.) I haven't got the hang of 'flipping' yet. Anyone got a practical example (whilst ofc not plundering all your trade secrets...) Getting more efficient overall. Bought a shed load of a yellow recipe (200 of them...my 1st high volume experiment) and I've still got loads of the things to craft, convert and sell. But it's made me a tidy coin. Azrael.

Click a power and drag your camera angle to an extreme angle. It was something I was shown by a friend. And I thought that was so cool. Like Russel Mullachy or something. As for any given scene. I still think the Atlas Statue takes some beating. Azrael.

What is /ghide? Azrael.

What are the macros/binds to convert various inspires to damage inspires? Azrael.

Superb. Azrael.

As an aside. Be nice for the 'pool' heal to represent each of the Origin types. The current one looks very Tech. What about a Magic style heal? Azrael.

Good ideas. I like the idea of missions tailored that requirement a 'team mate' of a certain origin to complete. Rather than just grab a brute who can mash his way to completing a mission. ie. Yeah. You're the Hulk. But you can't 'mash that rune magic entity.' Why? Cuz it's magic and won't respond to melee damage, brute boy. So yer stuck. Mebbe Dr. Strangelove could lend a hand wit his magic? Heroes that have limits. That makes them interesting. Azrael.

Some sound ideas there. You make an interesting point about the Origin Power Pool. RE: making them free and finishing off the others. I think more clearly defining the Origin arcs and through the Tiers 1-10, 11-20 etc. Finishing the Origin Power Pools and including them free with some unique looking 'Origin' enhancements /bonus flavours. Tips. They're quite simple missions. I like the idea of them being tailored with Origins in mind. That's something the AE CoH community could help with in terms of workload. And the 'Origin' clicky power with an nice flashy origin graphic presentation. It adds to the 'flavour' of your Origin choice. Currently, it has little material impact. Even the 'free' power trinket doesn't scale. I'd include an artefact for each level range. They'd add up over time. And have them scale? I like your thinking. Azrael.