Tahliah

Okay, we all knew that the insta-base transporter thing wasn't going to last . . . and that we were lucky to have it for as long as we did. But I'm not, so far, a fan of the new transportation system. If I only had one or two alts, that would be one thing, but I have lots (altitis, anyone?), and I frankly just don't even bother with them now that I have hit all the explorations in one zone for the thing to work, . . . and then at least one exploration badge in every other zone to ever "quick travel" there. At the same time, I don't want to hold up teams while I take the "scenic"/old school/or even base route, so I just don't play these alts that much (or at all). I get that LR-tp is a huge help on an alt that already has access to everything, but on new alts, of which I have (too?) many, I just don't care about hitting every exploration badge in a single zone, or really hitting ANY exploration badge ever. Maybe it's a good thing that I have zero desire to roll new alts because I don't want to deal with the LR-tp requirements? Altitis cured!

A bunch of us went over to SWTOR after COH went dark. It was okay. Different, parts of it very fun and exciting, the story compelling for each AT. But it got old fast; no matter how many levels you gained, you were still doing the same thing (which I guess is true in COH, but different. Because. So there.). Back then, we all subscribed, so we didn't miss perks, but it was just flat and so repetitive. The way teams were handled was a huge problem for our gang, too, as I recall, the whole sharing missions thing was bizarre, so we'd end up having to do the same thing six times (or whatever, it's been years). Ultimately, we didn't stay long and went over to Secret World, which also had problems. And then we all kind of drifted . . . until Homecoming! I cannot even express the depth of my gratitude that we have COH back again! I have recently installed SWTOR again and played it, but it's just a long slog of walking for ages to get to the contact (or using your speeder for the still long slog) and having to double back over the same territory a zillion times. Go to point A to hit the glowie, go all the way to the other end of the map to hit glowie 2, which springs up a glowie exactly where you were five minutes ago . . . before your rode your speeder across the desert to the other beacon. Sigh. And don't get me started on the crazy long march through the castle (up three floors!). Annoying in the extreme. On the bright side, even as a FTP player, I can often take advantage of Quick Travel because it literally takes the 30 minute cooldown to get from one contact to the next. I'm free to play this time and see zero incentive to sub. My money is far better spent on Homecoming.

It's frustrating, but any changes would be more negative than positive. If we are "guaranteed" the enh we want if we roll through three or six (or however big the set is), then that devalues the enh. Most of us have more converters than is really sustainable in terms of the game economy, so burning more than we'd like to get the result we'd like is not really a hardship. But I agree, it is frustrating as all get out.

My main is an ice/ice/ice blaster, so I go for sappers first always (on teams or solo), quants, and anything that can become untouchable by any means if not immediately frozen and/or killed (PPs, Fake Nems, Carnie illusionists, etc.). I also find some CoT mages/Tsoo sorcerers bothersome so will hit those first (not a huge priority on some teams, though a big deal on lowbies whether on teams or solo). As others have mentioned, the Rikti comms guys are best to take out since they summon more baddies, but this isn't a problem a quick blizzard can't fix, so not a prime focus of mine. Heh. After these, though, it's really situational. I mean I will ALWAYS focus on sappers first when facing Malta (and surgeons when facing Cims, though this is less critical these days), but other mobs may have different threats for different teams at different levels. Mostly, once the key elements (sappers, untouchables, quants) are dead (er, 'arrested'), I tend to switch focus to the big bad.

All ATs are technically soloable, but I'm not into taking forever to complete a single mission, so while I love to run defenders and trolls, my solo toons tend to be blasters or mms (I don't have any melee toons over lvl 5ish, but those are also viable options, I hear. 😛 ). Qualifiers out of the way, I think that a beast/nature mm is worth considering. It seems that MMs are more welcome on teams these days (vs. back on live), and a beast/nature is fantastic (and fun) to solo and a great contributor to teams (both pre- and post-incarnate, though the contribution necessarily shifts at incarnate level as it does for all ATs). When Going Rogue hit, I had a hard time because gold side was not squishy friendly (I tend to run squishies), so I started running MMs there and grew to love them. They are tons of fun to solo and can handle with ease all kinds of content, including that which can be slow-going for lowbie defs/blasters/trolls/etc. That said, some MM sets are going to be better on teams than others. I love demons/ and beasts/, and the secondary choice can make a huge difference on teams (/nature, /time, etc.). Anyway, just a thought (and an attempt to not bang my ice/ice/ice blaster drum . . . yet again! Heh.).

Once I have finished my badging, I am definitely going to respec along these lines. Since I solo so much (I also want to complete every Ouro mish solo, a personal goal), I really like having bitter. It's a great power but doesn't perform well in a team setting for obvious reasons. But goals get met (eventually), and then I can respec for team/general play. (I'm saving this post for later reference, so thanks!)

Hmmm, math hard. To me, anyway. So you think I should switch out my sets in these powers? Easy enough to do, and if it makes my main better, yay!

That plant troll group is still running every Tuesday night on Excel! I had to step away due to work obligations, but @GreenAxis running it like a champ (but not big on the writing stuff in forums part, which I totally get). The group is also doing all sorts of other fun stuff on other nights from redside clowns to all-ranged teams to mms. So when you are ready and able to join us, just do it! You are more than welcome always. 🙂 Just send a tell to me or Ax or join the chat channel Parks and Wreck (on Excel).

Hmph, now it's educational? Didn't you just attempt to drop the hammer on me as some kind of blah blah? Oh, right, you did. Personally, I think you didn't use your "bold" text enough. I'm pretty sure that's where your argument failed . . .not on it being a specious and divisive point of view. All it needed was moar bold! (I win now, right, I have the moar bold, that's the win, right? Right?! Erm, right?!?)

Never use it myself, but if someone is paranoid about not being seen by their global friends, it's an option that doesn't require devs to come up with some sort of crazy for people who don't want to hear from the people they accepted to their global friends list. All the eye rolls.

Heh, have you ever considered running for political office? I love this stupid idea because I embrace the terminally shy who are basically, not that I'd say it out loud, anti-social and unable to bond with fellow players. This is not bad;, this is just a thing. And we must accommodate all the things. And all the stuff. Because.

I have Apoc in Ice Blast and Superior Blaster's Wrath in Bitter Ice Blast. I wonder if I should switch this out. I haven't gotten around to using mids this time around, but I may get back into it. Things like this make me rethink my slotting, so thanks! 🙂

Bitter doesn't suck; it's just not a power you can effectively include in your basic attack chain or hope to use helpfully on teams. It is, however, hugely helpful if you are soloing/badging and need to hold pesky critters who go untouchable on you, and it's great as an opener when you spot a sapper (as a blaster, I hate sappers more than anything else in the game). The thing with the Bitter power is that its slow cast time sends it to the bottom of choices, but it will hold a boss (and also do damage, of course), when your FR won't (it will do damage but not actually hold bosses, and is kind of hit or miss on Lieuts). I think that if I didn't solo so much (my main is ice/ice/ice and also my badger), I probably would skip Bitter. Not because it sucks (it doesn't), but because it's not super helpful on teams that are just steamrolling content.

Global friends are people you presumably have run with, had fun with, and want to run with again. Why would you NOT send them a tell if you see them on? It's not like you are just cold knocking people you don't know, right? I have no idea what an "open to walk-ups" is in this context. If you are on my global friends, you are welcome to send me a tell at any time for any reason. Particularly if you need help in a particularly diff mish or just want someone to hang out with. What I don't get is requesting something that is completely unnecessary and that actually undermines the whole idea of a global friends list by adding a layer of "DND," etc. If I'm busy, I'll tell you so and let you know when I will be finished to help out--or more likely, if I'm in an Ouro flashback I can't just drop, I will just switch toons to run with you. That's what friends do. I have a feeling this sort of thing already sorts itself out, anyway. The kind of people who would be upset about a tell from a global friend are unlikely to be (or stay) on the global friends lists of people who are not upset by tells from people on their global friends list. But you do you.

Yeah, that was my initial thought because I knew I hadn't insulted you, so I figured I must have responded to the wrong thread or something. It was only after reviewing my actual post and your response that I realized it was not "my bad," but yours. I am sorry that you feel people are jumping on you, but I didn't and wouldn't (I have no idea who you even are, so why would I?). That said, mistakes happen, and I'm not one to hold a grudge, so we're good in my book. Now can we be besties? 😛

Only a hundred times? 😛 You haven't met many badgers, have you? Hee.

I took a slightly different approach than those mentioned above. Because freeze ray already does great damage (itself, plus all the other damage bonuses from sets/incarnate), I slotted 3 Unbreakable Constraint, including the proc. Bitter freeze ray, as mentioned, has a slow cast time, so it's best for your opening salvo (particularly against baddies with any kind of untouchable power: PPs, fake nems, carnie master ills, etc.--hold them with bitter then add a freeze ray to keep it held until you can kill it). I have only two-slotted bitter, with a hold set (I think, can't remember off-hand), but I was looking for resist/defense in slotting, so that is what I would be slotting for here. So whatever hold set I used will have acc and hold in some combination. You definitely don't want your bitter to miss. Keep in mind that what is in an individual power is great, but it's the overall build that is going to make a difference for your rays. Slot up for acc/dam/recharge, and you can then get def/res with set bonuses/procs. At least that's my philosophy on ice blast, YMMV.

I rolled one, but I haven't gotten it past lvl 20-something (forget now, maybe 22ish?). The set is weird in that it feels a bit like a troll set, at least at the early levels. This doesn't bother me since I run a lot of trolls, but it does feel off on a blaster. I'm not sold on it yet (why she's only in her 20s), but the weird control-damage seems decent. I really like water blast if you are looking for a new blaster to run; good damage (really good damage when you slot / set it up), and just fun to play. I haven't tried water/time, but I imagine that would be a good pairing (in fact, now I want to go roll one! heh).

I hear you, Snarky. On my ice/ice/ice blaster, I have no problems at all with Battle Maiden, but Tyrant is a beast. Because of the frankenslotted sets I have in chilblain, I use that on him (not a part of my "normal" attack chain, obviously), plus shiver (and envenomed dagger), all while kiting around like a crazy person and slinging my main attacks . . . hoping not be one-swatted. I am still getting used to these new-fangled ATs and trying really hard to like corruptors/doms/etc. Sigh. Maybe I need that Snarky spirit to help me embrace sideways. I just can't get past how little damage they do compared to my main (which really isn't fair since my main is kitted out incarnate and my corrs are in their 20s and 30s). I may get there, Snarky, one day. 😛

So my initial response to this was: But then I got to thinking, when on earth did I insult UltraAlt? Would I even do that? What the . . . . ? So here is what actually happened: You said: And I said: 🙂 So to my feeble mind, I thought I was agreeing with what you said for the OP and then adding that MIds is a great resource and welcoming him/her/whatever to the game. You jumped on this as some kind of insult to you because you have X number of posts and have been on HC since blah blah. Yeah, you seem even nicer now that I reviewed my original comment. Can we be besties?

I've done it with three and duo'd it, so I think (believe, hope?) that my main blaster can solo it . . . but only on normal settings and probably with not a few deaths and many extras, from Lore to Katie to Shivans, etc.). Appreciate your response, though. 🙂

I think this is completely reasonable. However, the scenario the OP laid out was "I'm randomly reading random players' info I happen to see in a zone I happen to be sitting in reading random players' info and do you think I should send tells offering critiques of their build to these random people in a zone I happen to be in?". The correct answer is "no." The OP is not talking about someone on his team, in his SG, or anywhere on his radar except they happen to be in the same zone and he likes to read strangers' info. Nothing wrong with the liking to read strangers' info, I do it, too, when I am waiting for a trial to fill or whatever, but it wouldn't even occur to me to send build advice to some random toon I saw in the Auction House or wherever. I mean, really! Your scenario in which someone you are actually on a team with complains about their powers/etc. and you offer advice in response is completely different than I"m parked in AP/wherever waiting to offer UA to anyone there."

Okay, the thumbs down on this are hilarious.

And the all-time bestest reaction piler-uppers: how emp/ defenders suck . . . or rock; or how tanks aren't tanky enough . . . or are too tanky. Doesn't matter, those reactions go through the roof no matter what. 😛

Oooh, I want to hear more about this, Saikochoro! You solo the ITF at 4/8 on a blaster? What are you running? I have to have one! I am serious, this sounds like a great challenge to me, and I want to do it (I'm pretty sure my main can run it on normal settings solo, though I haven't tried, but I know she wouldn't make it through the final battle with Rom x3 at 4/8. . . at least without it being such a ridiculous time suck of death and frustration that finally finishing it would be more annoying than fulfilling, heh).