Hedgefund

1. Poison Trap is an aoe so it gets adjusted by the aoe factors, in addition to the usual parameters for slotted recharge + activation. It's certainly far from the proc nuke it used to be but I view it as a chance for some extra damage. It's almost last on my slotting priorities once other goals are met. I definitely would want the WotC proc, a unique, to be in a power that gets more use. 2. I didn't soft-cap, I went for "good" ranged def (30ish) The toolset from both primary and secondary are just too deep to keep aggro from being a problem. 3. 42

I haven't done a Hami in maybe a year. I do believe you're right that it's 4 emps, not shards. I was looking at this page on the HC wiki https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Incarnate_Shard_Component#How_to_Get which states "Successfully defeating the Hamidon gives the option of four Incarnate Shards" but the Wiki is wrong.

I also want to point out the reward menu for Hamidon defeat includes a 4 shard option. Most raids have multiple runs and since the merit rewards half after the first time you claim them and you can only choose an HO once, for one rune I'll select the shards if I'm building up an alpha. Edit to add - it's empyreans, not shards that's an option on the Hami defeat reward menu

A few things. Shards won't drop from any incarnate content, so don't do iTrials with the expectation of obtaining shards, you'll get none. Hami mitos have a great drop rate, something like a 1/13 chance to drop from a defeated mito, if you happen to do Hami raids. Personally, I save shards to create the t4 pieces. I'll use threads for going up the alpha tree to t3 twice. Then use shards, I need 40 but they do drop, frequently enough that Alpha may not be the last incarnate power to get to t4, depending on how VR drops go. You can converted Notices to shards (4-6, depending on the RNGods favor). I also choose the shard components rather than merits for the 2 TFs. For example for Musculator Radial I'll need 2 ITFs, unless I want to spend more shards. The term "upgrade" is most unfortunate on the menu to "upgrade" shards to threads. The conversion rate is 10 shards to 10 threads, every 20 hours. 10 shards to 5 threads if you just can't wait. 10 threads is trivial. That's 1 Ephram Sha mission. I do not recommend converting shards to threads, a lot of value is lost and very little is gained for speeding up going up any incarnate tree.

I wasn't saying this was the same phenomenon, just another point for "something's off with Stalkers".

Winter Packs absolutely can drop as salvage. I've witnessed it on other environments.

I'm here to raise my hand in agreement here. It seems inconsistent. Sometimes (but not all of the time) when I one-shot a mob with an AS opener they'll still get a hit on me.

You can't take a lowbie in for this. I agree that for active (not AFK) inf farming it would be pretty nice, it's a very densely packed map.

I'll check when servers are back but I'm pretty sure Family was reverted to normal xp when they got buffed with things like Beam Rifle attacks.

Not much to say about it really. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Paragon_Rewards_Powers#Experienced As the link says, it's 5 bars, or 1/2 of a level, of patrol xp. The main thing to consider is that patrol xp is capped at 10 bars (1 level) so do NOT use a charge if you already have more than 5 bars of patrol xp. I noticed the link above says recharge is 2 hours but it's actually much less, something like 9 minutes. Also I'll note that for the prior 2 anniversaries, in May, characters that log in during the anniversary period have been rewarded with 5 Experienced charges. Certainly there's no guarantee that will continue but so far we're 2 for 2. According to the probabilities thread linked in the OP, you can expect .27 Experienced charges per pack, so they're fairly rare and not something I would "spam" while leveling up. In fact I don't use them at all while leveling up except for one notable exception. I save them for when I'm 50 and really want to get to the next vet level asap to get more threads and Empyrean merits. The notable exception for using while leveling is when I go debt farming in the early 30s for High Pain Threshold. Patrol XP pays debt immediately at a 1-1 rate so with 1 charge I can get the 200,000 xp debt needed in one go of debt farming.

I have a recently retired (finished t4s) ill/traps that was outstanding, particularly for big game hunting. Traps, like TA, fills in a gap Ill has - immobs.

The number of slots you have in the /AH varies by a number of factors, most importantly your level. Here's a screenshot of someone level 17: If you notice where the "165" is above, that's the number of market slots you get. You'll probably have more than 165 and you can check on your /AH interface. You can group like recipes together if they have the same level and are the same piece (like a level 38 Scirroco's Dervish Acc/Dmg). So to answer the question posed - yes there's a limit. To answer the question not posed - it's rather high and one you won't encounter unless you're actively marketeering.

I'm always disappointed that the old woman has never told me her name is "Dennis" and that Cimerora is an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

To OP - if you're planning to stock up on basic IOs, buying lvl 45s already crafted is great for the bargain hunter. The reason is, by the time players are able to use 45s they're in one of these camps * Using SOs up to 47+ then upgrading to 50s (regardless of SO or IO) * Using attuned IO sets (that's me) * Bought IOs at 25-30ish I'm sure there other flavors and there's no need to list them if you, (generic "you", not the OP) do something else. On the other hand, people who pursue crafting badges are required to do some number for both level 45 and 50. The level 50s they can sell no problem, but no one wants 45s so they're cheap. Note - please have what I call "24 hour patience". Be willing to let your bids sit for 24 hours before bemoaning the lack of availability when you're at the /AH. For example, here's the last 5 sales for lvl 45 recharge IOs: Here's the last 5 for lvl 50: So, my "24 hour bid" would be something like 50,000 inf. There no bidders and badge crafters are quick to list something for 1 inf just to get it sold. I don't want to get bogged down in best bids, my point is that lvl 45 IOs need not break the bank and will function quite well for a basic IO build.

Oh it's been brought up. I have nothing more to add but to sign this petition.

If this change was in notes I missed it but I give it 5/5 for QoL - I just noticed I could find time remaining on base empowerment buffs in one click. Previously you had to right click the buff, then select info to see time remaining, now it's just right click. 👍 for that.

Seeding is a config switch, no restart needed. Last year the end of the sale didn't occur when the event ended but rather when the config changed. So it could be changed at any time, perhaps even tomorrow, 1-Dec, or 10 minutes from now. Or not at all.

Oddly enough the ambush formula makes me more inclined to solo it than run it on a team. The ambush rate is 1/8 of a full team's for solo. Historically I've been one of the dirty speed runners and I'd do this trial for every single character I had that was eligible. That's become more cumbersome each quarter and was evaluating dropping that policy, these changes have made the decision for me. Not a complaint, I'm actually relieved.

Experience Boosters moved to Temporary Powers > Buffs > Experience Boosters in P2W/T4V. This one needs to be bolded and given a bigger font. It's causing much consternation in help chan so far after the restart.

The second to last bullet point: Some temporary powers were missing flags that disabled them correctly in content where temporary powers are disallowed: Defense Amplifier Survival Amplifier Offense Amplifier Winter Ward Frost Bite

I'm not going to write a bug for this, but after P3, I've noticed that all of my characters had base empowerment buffs wiped. I'm very fastidious about keeping base empowerment buffs on my characters. After I logged in about 5 I thought it was odd to encounter 5 with expired buffs. After 10 I thought it was unlikely. After 50, I'm certain it's a P.3 issue. When I refresh these buffs now they are maintained on subsequent log-ins so this isn't a critical issue, but maybe something to validate for future updates.

I had another character hit vet level 72 very recently. The Empyrean reward was still 5, as per the attached screenshot. Could someone advise whether the wiki is incorrect or the in-game rewards? (Wiki link provided in first paragraph in OP).

In addition to existing rewards, it now also has MissionOwner, which will trigger various Day Job bonuses and a chance of Pool B recipe. Announcer Voice - It did not. There was no Pool B drop after I just ran Cavern on Beta. Patch notes says "a chance" This drop used to be automatic. See Faultline post below. Is this change supposed to grant a Pool B with a chance < 100%?

It looks like there's a resurgence of demand to buy Winter Packs at full retail. Weeks ago, after I had liquidated all the packs I had planned to (kept some in reserve, just in case), I put some up for sale at my normal ask price, just to gauge when that ask would win bids again. The packs did languish there until about a week ago when they surprisingly sold. Then I went and emptied my reserves. All sold. My point here is, if you think it's too late to sell your WPs for a full retail or very close, it's not.

P2W Amplifiers Price no longer scales with level. The price is now set to 2.5M influence/hour. This item was unexpected, by me at least. What is the rationale for this change?