Redlynne

I would advise you to post that question in their forums ...

I asked, and Redlynne doesn't mind ... ;)

Thank you. We make every pretense of competency around here ... ^_~ Back on Virtue, I played a Ninja/Trick Arrow Mastermind all the way up to 50. I am NEVER going to play that combination of Primary/Secondary again ... I don't care how much INF you throw at me. Nope, not going to do it. Nyuh uh. The only reason I chose Ninja/TA was so that I wouldn't have redraw when using personal Primary set attacks. Needless to say, this what may be considered A Bad Move on my part, since that was very nearly the least of my problems. The biggest challenge you have as a Ninja Mastermind is preventing your Ninjas from committing suicide. On their own, unsupported, Ninjas are for all intents and purposes UNPROTECTED from incoming damage ... and they "fold" faster than cheap origami paper ... making them nearly useless. The age old truism that faceplanters deal no damage is triply true with Ninjas. If they don't live, they don't deal damage ... and Trick Arrow does next to nothing to prevent Ninjas from taking damage. Suffice it to say, the only way to keep my Ninjas alive was to ensure they NEVER drew aggro. If the attacks went elsewhere (like, say, my Mastermind) the Ninjas would live long enough to "do something" before faceplanting in shame. So the only way to reliably keep them alive was Tankerminding in Bodyguard mode ... and the only way to do THAT reliably was to take the Presence Pool and use it to Taunt. Complete and utter hackery ensued. It wasn't pretty ... but it "worked" ... kinda ... sorta ... maybe? On teams though, my Ninjas were a chaos of pathetic incompetence, simply due to the sheer disorganized unpredictability of everything. Yeah, I'm not doing that again. Of course, a few months after I'd gotten most of the way to 50, Time Manipulation came out and I regretted my decision to go Ninja/TA. Time Manipulation makes it SO MUCH EASIER to keep Ninjas alive! It's not even funny just how much easier it is. Simply being able to PBAoE Heal ALL of the damage taken in Bodyguard mode spread through your Pets is simply a force multiplier of almost epic proportions. Being able to softcap Ninjas without needing to resort to (stop for) casting bubbles on all of them every 4 minutes is practically liberating. Being able to Tankermind with them up in melee for maximum shutdown efficiency of $Targets while the Ninjas "go to town" on whatever you've Taunted ... priceless. The key thing here though is that Time Manipulation gives you an entire toolkit of options for how to deal with a variety of situations/challenges, rather than offering a One Size Fits All response to every situation. Having alternatives for how to engage a variety of opponents, giving you a "depth" of options, really makes the Ninja/Time combination stand out as being truly synergistic (just add Leadership powers!). Your mileage may vary, of course. ^_~

Honestly? I think they're a matter of personal taste. It really depends on what you (as a Player) "value" in your gameplay, as opposed to what can be considered "best" courtesy of a spreadsheet analysis. Back on Virtue, I remember putting Gravitic slotting (for the extra slowing) into my Incarnate and I think using Spiritual for the Recharge (because ALL Kheldians are force multiplied by recharge!) ... but beyond that my knowledge of the Incarnate system has atrophied pretty horrifically over the years. That's mainly a function of knowledge that isn't used tends to decay. Right now, as of this posting, both my Peacebringer and my Warshade are Level 5 ... and I've got Nine Alts To Feed ... so it's going to be a while before I have a seriously useful (firsthand) perspective on this question.

Hmmm ... I heard my name being taken in vain. Now who would have the temerity to do such a thin- Let's be honest with ourselves about this kind of topic/subject. Not only do you need to Know Things™ about the build that you're describing ... you also need to take the effort to explain them in an accessible way such that people who aren't totally immersed in everything that you're doing (and thus who need NO explanation whatsoever) will be able to grok where you're coming from with what you're doing in your build posts. You basically have to go out of your way to INSTRUCT your audience/peers while at the same time SHARING your insights and wisdom earned/gleaned/stolen/theorized so as to persuade people that "y'know, there might be some There There" enough to pique their interest into trying your ideas themselves to see if they have merit. That's basically what I try to do with my build posts. It's not just about the individual pieces (take this power, slot it with these enhancements, etc.) but also about the holistic Bringing It All Together into a unified whole of performance ... while at the same time trying to make obvious/accessible WHY you make the choices that you do, and how those choices inter(re)act with all the other choices that you made in the build to yield something where The Sum Is Greater Than The Parts ... but in order to do that, you need to explain WHY and not just WHAT. All too often, that explanation is lacking, because it takes a lot of time, effort (and, let's be honest, pontificating) to lay out all of those extra bits of trickery involved in a particular build that give it not only an "edge" (if you will) but also a unifying sense of "character" for how it both can and "ought to" be played ... and why those schemes ought to be successful. I get it that there's a sense of "well if I give ALL my secrets away, then anyone else could be as awesome as I am!" when posting a build, resulting in a (perceived) loss of "specialness" in having and playing that build (exclusively). I can honestly say that I've NEVER had that problem, in any of the MMORPGs that I've played. That's mainly because I'm more inclined towards a Share The Wealth ethic with regards to the tribal knowledge of how to play the game, and what to build for in order to enjoy it, rather than taking the more selfish approach of where hoarding knowledge so no one else can have it (but me) is the whole point. That's why most of my posts read as a sort of How To for nifty things that I've found, which other people can benefit from. One of my personal catch phrases, in real life(!), is ... Clues are not for everyone ... and some of us have more than our fair share. I just prefer to have a policy of Pass It On rather than "hoarding" the clues that I have found, simply because you never know when that sharing will inspire someone else to greatness (too) ... and sometimes that can rebound to your own benefit in ways you'd never imagined. We make every pretense of competency around here ... ^_~ And just in case anyone is desperate/bored/curious enough to want to peruse the builds I've posted, here's a list of them. Yes, I am playing all of these builds on Everlasting. Yes, it took me nearly all of the month of May to get them worked out into the form(s) posted in these forums. I'd put them into my signature, but the 300 character limit kind of prevents me from exercising that option. You're welcome ...

Maybe not "as intended" but it is working "as designed" for how Wormhole works, game mechanically (under the hood). Wormhole is really a chain of events ... and the Stupefy proc interferes with/interrupts that chain of events, as you have (sadly) discovered. Seriously, if you're going to slot a Stun Set proc into Wormhole, use the one from Razzle Dazzle instead. MUCH better results ...

Ice Armor is a "set and forget" primary, aside from Energy Absorption, and Ice/* has TWO auras that attract attention ... Chilling Embrace and Icicles ... not just one.

So long as you put 2 Common 50 Taunt IOs into Rise to the Challenge, the aura will sustain aggro magnet attraction for over 2 seconds per activation and thereby stack with itself much more reliably. That then leaves the other 4 slots in Rise to the Challenge open for whatever else you want to put into it.

/jranger

On my mac, I simply edited the keybinds. I removed the enter for chat and substituted in shift+enter for chat. That way, when I hit enter to "send" whatever I've put into the chat window the UI doesn't confuse itself into thinking I want to open another chat window to keep chatting.

Um ... that's what the build I posted uses. The only "must be 50" enhancements are the HOs and the Soulbound Allegiance - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50 slotted into Dark Extraction. I use the HOs where I do because they're the "best" at doing the enhancement function they're being used for in those slots (like Dam/Mez, for example), but some can be substituted for using Set IOs. So if you want to, you can "downgrade" the build using some alternative slotting to fit your budget, but that kind of exercise is something best done to Suit Yourself rather than being something where I'm telling you what to do. Your mileage may vary ... of course.

According to what I've been able to glean from sources ... the Energy Font proc has a chance to spawn temp pets that will (presumably) attack whatever they procced onto and proceed to attack. I'm assuming it works like a "poor man's Phantom Army" (kinda-sorta maybe?). As for details, that's apparently missing from City of Data so I'll have to find out ... later ... if that assumption is correct. Or someone who has been using it could post in here with their experience using the proc ...

Flurry and Sands of Mu ...

Containment isn't a +100% damage buff. Containment is a 2x damage multiplier ... kind of like Critical Hits are for Scrappers, except there's a state conditional rather than a (pray to) RNGesus chance for the effect.

Leadership. /thread

The proposed alternative build slotting Overwhelming Presence into Crushing Field rather than into Wormhole. Interestingly enough, this turns Crushing Field into a Target AoE 1 minute duration Immobilize power ... with a recharge time of less than the animation time of Propel. This then makes for a bizarre possibility of being able to "spam" a chain of Crushing Field/Propel on repeat (for as long as your Endurance holds out) to get as many proc chances for Energy Font in Overwhelming Presence as possible in as short a time frame as possible. Pretty much everything else in the build remains unchanged from the previous iteration. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Technology Controller Primary Power Set: Gravity Control Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Hero Profile: Level 1: Lift (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27 (40) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 27 (42) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 27 (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27 (43) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge: Level 21 Level 1: Time Crawl (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50 Level 2: Gravity Distortion (A) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mez) (3) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mez) (5) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31 (5) Devastation - Chance of Hold: Level 30 (7) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 31 (7) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30 Level 4: Mystic Flight (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 10 Level 6: Propel (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27 (9) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 27 (9) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 27 (11) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (11) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27 (13) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge: Level 21 Level 8: Crushing Field (A) Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilized/Sleep/Stunned/Terrorized: Level 27 (31) Overpowering Presence - Confused/Hold/Immobilized/Sleep/Stunned/Terrorized/RechargeTime: Level 27 (34) Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilized/Sleep/Stunned/Terrorized/Endurance: Level 27 (36) Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilized/Sleep/Stunned/Terrorized/Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27 (36) Overpowering Presence - RechargeTime/Energy Font: Level 27 Level 10: Temporal Mending (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal: Level 27 (37) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance: Level 27 (37) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime: Level 27 (37) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime: Level 27 (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance: Level 27 (40) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb: Level 27 Level 12: Time's Juncture (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff: Level 27 (13) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge: Level 27 (15) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 27 (15) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance: Level 27 (17) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow: Level 21 (17) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20 Level 14: Temporal Selection (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 16: Distortion Field (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold: Level 27 (48) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 27 (48) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 27 (50) Basilisk's Gaze - Chance for Recharge Slow: Level 10 (50) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20 (50) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30 Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold: Level 27 (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 27 (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold: Level 27 (21) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 27 (21) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 31 (23) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30 Level 20: Time Stop (A) Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilize/Sleep/Stun/Terrorized: Level 27 (23) Will of the Controller - Confused/Hold/Immobilize/Sleep/Stun/Terrorized/Recharge: Level 27 (25) Will of the Controller - Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (25) Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilize/Sleep/Stun/Terrorized/Endurance: Level 27 (27) Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Confused/Hold/Immobilize/Sleep/Stun/Terrorized/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (29) Will of the Controller - Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage: Level 27 Level 22: Maneuvers (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance: Level 27 (43) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge: Level 27 (43) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (45) Red Fortune - Defense: Level 27 (45) Red Fortune - Endurance: Level 27 (45) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25 Level 24: Tactics (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff: Level 27 (46) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 27 (46) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (46) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge: Level 27 (48) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 27 Level 26: Wormhole (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mez) Level 28: Farsight (A) HamiO: Cytoskeleton Exposure (+2 Def/End/ToHit) (29) HamiO: Cytoskeleton Exposure (+2 Def/End/ToHit) (31) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25 Level 30: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 32: Singularity (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mez) (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Damage/Endurance: Level 31 (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31 (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge: Level 31 (34) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets: Level 30 (34) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus: Level 25 Level 35: Slowed Response (A) Analyze Weakness - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (36) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff: Level 10 Level 38: Chrono Shift (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 (39) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 41: Assault (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 44: Spirit Ward (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50 Level 47: Vengeance (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 25 Level 49: Dimension Shift (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 1: Brawl (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50 Level 1: Containment Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 1: Sprint (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 15 Level 2: Rest (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50 Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50 Level 2: Health (A) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 20 (27) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 30 Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO: Level 50 Level 2: Stamina (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50 (3) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50 Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 17.5% DamageBuff(Smashing) 17.5% DamageBuff(Lethal) 17.5% DamageBuff(Fire) 17.5% DamageBuff(Cold) 17.5% DamageBuff(Energy) 17.5% DamageBuff(Negative) 17.5% DamageBuff(Toxic) 17.5% DamageBuff(Psionic) 6.56% Defense(Energy) 6.56% Defense(Negative) 5.63% Defense(Ranged) 4.5% Max End 18% Enhancement(Accuracy) 88.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 5% Enhancement(Confused) 5% Enhancement(Stunned) 5% Enhancement(Held) 5.5% Enhancement(Terrorized) 10% Enhancement(Immobilized) 3.75% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount) 10% Enhancement(Sleep) GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, if Scourge) 76.3 HP (7.5%) HitPoints Knockback (Mag -4) Knockup (Mag -4) MezResist(Confused) 33.75% MezResist(Held) 33.75% MezResist(Immobilized) 33.75% MezResist(Sleep) 33.75% MezResist(Stunned) 33.75% MezResist(Terrorized) 33.75% 9.5% (0.16 End/sec) Recovery 12% (0.51 HP/sec) Regeneration 28.25% Resistance(Smashing) 28.25% Resistance(Lethal) 24.5% Resistance(Fire) 24.5% Resistance(Cold) 27.5% Resistance(Energy) 27.5% Resistance(Negative) 20% Resistance(Toxic) 20% Resistance(Psionic) ------------ Set Bonuses: Decimation (Lift) 1.5% Resistance(Energy,Negative), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5% 11.45 HP (1.13%) HitPoints 2.25% Max End 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Devastation (Gravity Distortion) 12% (0.51 HP/sec) Regeneration Lockdown (Gravity Distortion) 3% DamageBuff(All) Blessing of the Zephyr (Mystic Flight) Knockback (Mag -4), Knockup (Mag -4) Decimation (Propel) 1.5% Resistance(Energy,Negative), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5% 11.45 HP (1.13%) HitPoints 2.25% Max End 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Overpowering Presence (Crushing Field) 4% Enhancement(Immobilized), 4% Enhancement(Sleep), 2.2% Enhancement(Terrorized), 2% Enhancement(Confused), 2% Enhancement(Held), 2% Enhancement(Stunned) 19.08 HP (1.88%) HitPoints 4.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 7.5%, MezResist(Held) 7.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 7.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 7.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 7.5%, MezResist(Confused) 7.5% 3% (0.05 End/sec) Recovery Preventive Medicine (Temporal Mending) 2.25% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 3.75%, MezResist(Held) 3.75%, MezResist(Stunned) 3.75%, MezResist(Sleep) 3.75%, MezResist(Terrorized) 3.75%, MezResist(Confused) 3.75% 19.08 HP (1.88%) HitPoints 3% Resistance(Fire,Cold), MezResist(Immobilized) 5%, MezResist(Held) 5%, MezResist(Stunned) 5%, MezResist(Sleep) 5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 5%, MezResist(Confused) 5% 3.75% Enhancement(EnduranceDiscount) 8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime) GrantPower Preventive Medicine (10% chance, if Scourge), GrantPower Preventive Medicine (if Scourge) Dark Watcher's Despair (Time's Juncture) 15.26 HP (1.5%) HitPoints 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 2% DamageBuff(All) Basilisk's Gaze (Distortion Field) 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged) 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Basilisk's Gaze (Gravity Distortion Field) 2.5% Defense(Energy,Negative), 1.25% Defense(Ranged) 2% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Lockdown (Gravity Distortion Field) 3% DamageBuff(All) Will of the Controller (Time Stop) 2.5% DamageBuff(All) 6% Enhancement(Immobilized), 6% Enhancement(Sleep), 3.3% Enhancement(Terrorized), 3% Enhancement(Confused), 3% Enhancement(Held), 3% Enhancement(Stunned) 9% Enhancement(Accuracy) 8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 3.13% Defense(Ranged), 1.56% Defense(Energy), 1.56% Defense(Negative) Red Fortune (Maneuvers) 1.5% Resistance(Smashing,Lethal), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5% 1.5% Resistance(Fire,Cold), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5% 2% DamageBuff(All) 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Luck of the Gambler (Maneuvers) 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Adjusted Targeting (Tactics) 2% DamageBuff(All) 3% Resistance(Energy,Negative), MezResist(Immobilized) 5%, MezResist(Held) 5%, MezResist(Stunned) 5%, MezResist(Sleep) 5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 5%, MezResist(Confused) 5% 9% Enhancement(Accuracy) 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Luck of the Gambler (Farsight) 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) Expedient Reinforcement (Singularity) 1.5% Resistance(Energy,Negative), MezResist(Immobilized) 2.5%, MezResist(Held) 2.5%, MezResist(Stunned) 2.5%, MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%, MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%, MezResist(Confused) 2.5% 3% DamageBuff(All) 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 10% Resistance(All) Sovereign Right (Singularity) 10% Resistance(All) Luck of the Gambler (Vengeance) 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1550;739;1478;HEX;| 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Try surviving FIVE RIKTI MAGUS all trying to mez you (to kill you) ...

If it's toggled on when you quit out, it will be toggled on (still) when you log back in. Pretty simple really.

Easy rule of thumb with Kinetics ... TAKE ALL THE POWERS. Some of them will be One Slot Wonders, like the Increase Density and Inertial Reduction powers. Some will only need minimal slotting. Some will need Frankenslotting to get the most of out them. And then you'll start getting into Set Bonuses, and it's all going to go haywire on you. Kinetics really is something of a mixed bag of powers, as far as investing in them goes ... but all of them have their uses ... except maybe Repel. Repel is the most "skippable" power in Kinetics, although with a lot of work, cunning and clever use of game mechanics, you can make Repel "work" for you, under the right conditions.

I've got NINE ALTS TO FEED ... and my SR/MA is only Level 5 so far. Might be a little while before I'm in a position to (usefully) pontificate on Incarnate options for this build ...

Well, if you pure Common IOs, you're going to lose ALL of the Set Bonuses, which is pretty significant loss ... and a number of the slot allocations for powers will change because you aren't leveraging the multi-attribute Set IOs to your advantage. CAN it be done? Yes it can ... but it won't be anywhere near as powerful or capable. Slot pressure alone will push the entire build towards a different equilibrium of decisions and choices, simply because a successful Warshade relies pretty heavily on Recharge for being able to take on more than they ought to be able to survive. It CAN be done, but it's a lot more difficult to balance your priorities in the build planner, simply because you are NEVER going to have enough slots (or enhancement values) to reach the performance you'll be able to achieve with Set IOs. And perhaps the biggest/first question you'll need to answer, and it will depend on your personal playstyle and preferences ... what are you willing to "sacrifice" in order to play a "cheap" build that is slotted with Common IOs only? I prefer to think of builds like this one as being more of a Long Term Project so I don't feel like I'm "done" with the character the instant that I reach Level 50. ^_~

Granted, but in terms of (ahem) ... relativistic speeds ... (polite cough) you're going to be way "faster" than your $Target(s) if you're applying your debuffs to them. That means that you'll be attacking them like 5x for every 1x they attack you. At that sort of exchange rate for damage, you're going to be doing loads better than any Scrapper in terms of how many "turns" your $Targets have to attack you relative to how many times they'd be able to attack a Scrapper when it comes to trading blows. So, depending upon your certain point of view you defeat your $Targets faster than a Scrapper, in terms of how many attacks they get against you ... but slower than a Scrapper from your own (biased) subjective viewpoint. ^_~

So … one thing that I think we can all agree on is that the Knockback Sets from Issue 23 were pretty uniformly TERRIBLE at their job for any power that was supposed to be delivering DAMAGE enhancement onto anything. How terrible? Well … https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Invention_Origin_Enhancements So in practice, what does this mean? Well … Let's take reasonably well designed/well rounded Sets such as Crushing Impact or Thunderstrike as a point of reference: Accuracy/Damage Damage/Endurance Damage/Recharge Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Damage/Endurance/Recharge How much enhancement value is yielded by this combination? Well … +0.625 Accuracy / +0.625 Damage +0.625 Damage / +0.625 Endurance +0.625 Damage / +0.625 Recharge +0.5 Accuracy / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Recharge +0.5 Accuracy / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Endurance +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Endurance / +0.5 Recharge Total enhancement values (SO conversion): 1.625 Accuracy, 3.375 Damage, 1.625 Endurance, 1.625 Recharge = 8.25 Compare that to the most damaging Knockback Set … Kinetic Crash … +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Damage +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Accuracy +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Recharge +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Endurance +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Endurance +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Accuracy Total enhancement values (SO conversion): 3.5 Knockback, 1.125 Accuracy, 1.625 Damage, 1.125 Endurance, 0.625 Recharge = 8.00 So, with a Knockback Set … EVERYTHING IS GIMPED to deliver sub-par performance for 6 slots, with Knockback receiving an ED mistake of 3.5 SO worth of enhancement, essentially "wasting" some of the enhancement value of the Knockback itself. That's basically 4.5 SOs worth of Accuracy, Damage, Endurance and Recharge value out of 6 slots! This is just … dumb … on multiple levels, especially since every other Knockback set offers even LESS enhancement of these core values needed for every damaging power in the game! The Sudden Acceleration Set is ironically even worse, but not by much … +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Accuracy +0.625 Knockback / +0.625 Recharge +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Accuracy +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Endurance +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Recharge Knockback to Knockdown Total enhancement values (SO conversion): 2.75 Knockback, 1.125 Accuracy, 1.5 Damage, 0.5 Endurance, 1.125 Recharge = 7.00 + Knockback to Knockdown So … less Damage output, and less Knockback (which then gets converted into Knockdown), for higher Endurance cost and a faster Recharge that will burn through your blue bar at a higher rate. And yet you're still getting only 4.25 SO worth of enhancement to Accuracy, Damage, Endurance and Recharge out of 5 slots instead of 6 slots (due to the Knockback to Knockdown converter IO). Gee … (still no) thanks … Obviously what's missing from this recitation is a Knockback Set that is worth slotting just for the enhancement values of the enhancements themselves … never mind the Set Bonuses. So just for comparison purposes, here's what happens if you take the Crushing Impact or Thunderstrike enhancement layout and simply add a Knockback modifier to each of the enhancements: +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Accuracy / +0.5 Damage +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Endurance +0.5 Knockback / +0.5 Damage / +0.5 Recharge +0.4375 Knockback / +0.4375 Accuracy / +0.4375 Damage / +0.4375 Recharge +0.4375 Knockback / +0.4375 Accuracy / +0.4375 Damage / +0.4375 Endurance +0.4375 Knockback / +0.4375 Damage / +0.4375 Endurance / +0.4375 Recharge Total enhancement values (SO conversion): 2.8125 Knockback, 1.375 Accuracy, 2.8125 Damage, 1.375 Endurance, 1.375 Recharge = 9.75 (6.9735 not including Knockback enhancement) Okay, NOW we're finally looking at something worth slotting into a Damage power for the purposes of doing DAMAGE while also doing Knockback at the same time. Instead of self-gimping down to 4.5 SO worth of enhancement values, this layout offers 6.9735 SO "worth" of enhancement to Accuracy, Damage, Endurance and Recharge … which obviously lags behind the 8.25 SO "worth" of enhancement to those same values offered by 6 slots of Crushing Impact or Thunderstrike, while at the same time "wasting" less of that enhancement value on Damage that will be capped by ED. This means that even though each enhancement in this (proposed) Knockback Set is "weaker" than its counterpart in Crushing Impact or Thunderstrike due to "diluting" each of the enhancements even further by adding Knockback to all of them (in order to "port" the Set over into being a Knockback Set), the entire set winds up being "more efficient" at distributing its enhancement values such that they are all better balanced and none of them are by design running afoul of the ED cap for enhancement values. In other words … it's perfectly possible to create a Knockback Set that isn't GIMPED BY DESIGN right from the outset(!). I'd even go so far as to say that duplicating the Level range (21-50) and the Set bonuses of the Kinetic Crash set exactly would be perfectly fine, as a way to provide an "alternative" that respects precedents for Set Bonuses. That way, you aren't getting Set Bonuses that haven't already been Balanced For with the number of slots that have to be invested to get those Set Bonuses. As for what to name this set … how about … Force Multiplier Knockback/Accuracy/Damage Knockback/Damage/Endurance Knockback/Damage/Recharge Knockback/Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Knockback/Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Knockback/Damage/Endurance/Recharge The following set bonuses apply when slotting more than one of the enhancements in this set into a single power: 2 enhancements: Improves your Run Speed by +4.5%. 3 enhancements: +2.25 Smash/Lethal Resistance, +3.75% Mez Resistance. 4 enhancements: MAG -3 Knockback Protection. 5 enhancements: +6% Regeneration. 6 enhancements: +7.5% Recharge Time. Finally ... a Knockback Set worth slotting based on the enhancement values of the enhancements themselves ... What say you, Homecoming Dev Team and Homecoming Community?