LiquidBandage

You're right, you don't understand what has been said. Not once have I complained about the change. I asked if there was information from the HC crew regarding why this change was made. I wanted to understand why they deemed it a necessary change, what problem it corrected or what benefit they thought it would provide.

No, I do not relish having to dedicate three (iirc) power choices in a Pool just to get the benefit of Stamina so the rest of my powers could shine a little brighter. I did appreciate that having to make that choice to put my other power choices in perspective. I could build towards a sine wave performance profile or a steady flat curve. Now that it (Stamina) is a built-in power, I take it semi for granted and instead focus on the next goal on the horizon.

It is somewhat humorous that there are "dead" levels at all. I am going to have to put on my Old Man overalls and yell at "those damned kids" to get off my lawn because I remember having to dedicate a Pool choice to get Stamina by level 20.

In isolation, that makes a lot of sense. Wanting freedom to pick powers from your Primary/Secondary to help fuel your concept. I would counter their argument with: Make all powers (secondary and primary) available starting at level 1. Let the character concept drive the evolution of the powers. If a mangled Cronenberg beast emerges, that's what respecs are designed to correct.

I appreciate the pointers to relevant discussions, thank you. I was more focused on if anyone knew if any of the official Homecoming people had a declarative statement on why they were enacting this change, not just hard details of what was being changed. I was interested to grapple with their rationale behind the change.

Regarding the Quality of Life changes in today's update: Can someone point me out to the discussion that covers how/why this change was enacted? If none such thread/discussion exists, what is the theory/need that is addressed by this change?

These changes just mean I will be pushing my Sonic Res & Thermal Rad characters more often.

I'd consider a couple options. Option A - Beam/Devices Blaster You can keep Disintegrate DoT on him to suppress Regen a bit, plus it enhances the damage of your other Beam attacks Willpower has typed defenses instead of positional, so powers like Smoke Grenade & Toxic Web Grenade are more likely to land The constant application of -Perception (from Smoke Grenade) will eventually pay off if you stay at range (preferably flying) Leviathan Mastery has Bile Spray (ranged Toxic), and you can pick up Toxic Dart from the Experimentation pool Pick up the Diamagnetic Interface Incarnate to further suppress regen The stealth from Field Operative will help you choose when to engage Option B - Bane Spider You have some powers that already deal Toxic damage, you can supplement with the Bile Spray (Leviathan Mastery) & Toxic Dart (Experimentation) if you want Cloaking Device lets you pick and choose when to engage Surveillance is a great debuff (it is positional and has no typed component) to prime your big attacks You have some great built in defenses that you can tailor to your liking Option C - Force Field Defender Detention Field to put him in time out over in the corner Personal Force Field for the moments you don't have him in Detention Essentially play the "I can do this all day" game and force him to admit defeat and give up voluntarily (kinda dangerous game to play though)

Pretty much, yeah (radiation as a contingency). The character was originally conceptualized as a massive -Regen machine for encounters like Hamidon or AVs. When in a group that is chewing through mobs I typically fire off a Accelerate Metabolism & Radiant Aura for whomever happens to be nearby (for procs and whatnot). Then if we are engaging a fresh group, I fire off a Lingering Radiation to impact as many as possible. Then I cycle through Disintegrate/Lancer Shot/Penetrating Ray/Charged Shot. I usually try to cycle through targets instead of burning down since the group usually AoEs their hearts out. Typically I try to target bosses/elites first so power activations are less likely to be wasted on almost dead targets. When dealing with clusters of mobs that won't instantly evaporate to the group's AoE I prep with Disintegrate then cycle through Lancer->Penetrating Ray->Charged Shot to spread Disintegration DoTs and follow up with an Overcharge. I dumped Cutting Beam from my build because I don't enjoy the sfx. And maneuvering to land the narrow cone of Piercing Beam can be a hassle, so I reserve that for long fights or if I see Disintegrate spread really early in an engagement. In essence, I am focusing on single target and relying on Disintegrate DoT procs to do my "AoE".

I run a Radiation/Beam Defender and mobs die so quickly (buckets of -regen) I only ever use the anchor powers on AVs. If I spend time to actually apply an anchor (for example, to a Cyclops) it is dead before I can fire off an attack, so I don't bother unless the team scatters and it is just a few players going up against the baddie. It really helps to have the anchor powers and at the same time you have to make judgement calls on when to use them effectively.

Luminous Blast (Peacebringer) & Luminous Aura (Peacebringer) I can fly, I can heal other people, heal myself, rez when I die. And I would have way too much fun just lighting off Photon Seekers to see who I subconsciously deemed an enemy. Not sure if I would go incognito with a human form only or go full squid/lobster and flaunt it. And since I am an alien, I'd try to see if I could fly into space. I wouldn't need a travel pool power since my choice is baked into the set.

That's partly why I built a Ice/Poison Corruptor with four single target holds and two macros for targeting problematic mobs. It is great when I can roll with a group that is just plowing through groups and no one really notices that the problematic ones were just held to death every time. 🙂

I Hate (with a capital H) fighting against mobs that suppress Perception to the point where you can't see anything (enemies disappear). So for the most part, I hate playing against Arachnos for that reason (I really do like the design of all the other mobs in their organization though). I am not asking for help or advice about how to overcome it, I just really do not like the binary nature of Perception (you either see everything or you see nothing). I like the variety of challenges provided by each group, it helps foster the sense that you cannot craft an invulnerable character. Thus you are encouraged to team up with others to spread the load and/or trade off on who is leading the charge vs supporting. I don't know if I actually have a favorite group.

I can address your quandaries from my perspective. There are many methods to form groups for content. One of the hallmarks of critical thought is evaluating what lead you to a certain conclusion. What is my bias? How does it affect how I look at an ecosystem? In general, I do not care for players that speed run (and/or stealth to objectives to TP everyone). Yes, it is a valid tactic and it can greatly save on time, but the people that are left behind are just superfluous baggage and it is not a fun feeling. Not all characters are geared or capable to withstand multiple aggro'd mobs (like a speed ITF) and will just faceplant. So they have to stealth or just sit at the door. So I categorically ignore any calls for speed runs. All too often I see people ask in chat channels "Is anyone running X?" because this person wants to run X content. This assumes that there is a mythical group out there, partially formed and just waiting for you to ask in an open channel to join them. No, no group is just waiting around for someone to ask to join. If you want to do X content, get a group up off the ground yourself (and it sounds like you have tried and failed before, hence the post on the forums). Part of the challenge of playing this game is tackling content with other characters that are not perfectly suited for the encounter and you find a way to adapt. Sometimes it is a non-optimal combination of AT/powerset and other times you are just under manned. Just simply overmatching content with Incarnates or purpled out enhancements can get the job done, but not everyone can do that on the character they are playing. What I would suggest is this: Be verbose here on the forums about making runs on X content. Outline what you think would work best for how you want to approach the run (archetypes, powersets, power effects/debuffs, a certain type of Incarnate ability, etc) so people can more closely align to what you have in mind. Set up a time to do it, and be available to either make an attempt or help people learn how to tackle the content (win or lose). Be persistent, be consistent. If you build a reputation for being a leader (and not just someone that drags others through content), people in game (or wherever you congregate on Discord) will more readily heed your calls to run X content when you ask. Also, on a side note, when I log in, I spend a little time paying attention to chat (groups forming, people asking questions, etc), but once I start tackling content, I do not pay attention to chat (other than TEAM chat). So the absence of feedback when calls are made does not mean that no one is interested, they could just be otherwise occupied. (and this is where a presence on the forum or Discord would help with visibility)

If you are interested in tanking the big blob (which you have mentioned you aren't), aim for Lobster and not Lightform. The HP pool and periodic heal are the only things that really matter in that role. If you want to melee, do NOT use Lobster form (you can't fly on your own or use a jetpack). If you want to pew pew, any build should work fine. If you want some independence wrt not getting mezed, pick up Rune of Protection from the Sorcery pool. In general, Incarnates can really help. The Diamagnetic (regen debuff) or Degenerative (max HP debuff) are helpful. And of course your Lore pet. As for other AT types: I really like my Ice/Poison/Mu Corruptor for stacking single target holds and debuffs. I can roll out four single target holds and we chew through Mending mitos. I also enjoy my Pain/Water Defender. It can MT heal and provide a group augment via World of Pain And for higher tier debuffs (vs any mito or the big blob) is a Radiation/Beam Rifle Defender that specializes in -Regen