Six-Six

I'll watch your kids. My parole officer said that I am now a model citizen. (although he said that duct-taped to a chair with homemade explosives all over him, it nonetheless holds)

can't wait for the dominator version of ranged + melee attacks.

@Yomo Kimyata Brenda's been asking about you.

A general rule I follow is to slot SOs until 35, unless I'm desperate for specific set bonuses. ACC and End are the most important for attacks. You want your attacks to connect, otherwise you're just fanning your foe with your spanking weapon or fists (I'm looking at you Sands of Mu). I've even come across people who slot 2 ACC over DMG. Don't ignore the End cost of your powers. You don't want to be taking the knee everytime after a tussle. If I have an extra slot, I'd just stick a proc for the lower levels. SO values will be much higher than attuned IOs until that level. Around 35-40, the SO vs IO values start to even out, to be surpassed by IOs after 40. That's when I start slotting sets. Bear in mind that you don't HAVE to slot IOs. You can get through the game with just SOs. But them IO set bonuses and Hami-Os tend to be a must-have for most people. Also, some yellow IOs have better set bonuses (depending on your overall needs or what your power needs) than oranges.

Stay away from Brenda. She'll say that a small penis is non-issue with her, but I'd still prefer she didn't have one.

10 million is usually enough to get you by until 35-40, if you use it wisely. That equates to an ACC SO for each attack, END for most, RECH for some. 3 END MODs on Stamina, and the upgrades for each level. They can "earn" the rest with Merits, Crafting and converting and playing the market or just by selling off boosters, converters, etc. If the recipient wants IO sets early on, then 50m would be more like it. while 100-150 can slot a full build sans ATOs, Winters, PVPs and Purples. I used to give out a PVP + 10m to as much as 100m in one go. I used to also bump into @Yomo Kimyata giving away 10 -50m in Mercy like it's a strip club.

Here's pretty much my journey. Bear in mind that it wasn't a conscious effort, more of a hindsight. I started by frequenting the AT-specific forums and discord. There, I'd pick up not only which powers to take, but also what/how to slot them. Most of the time these would be in bits of info, not a concise guide. Other times, I'd snatch a build from someone, then make little changes as I adjusted it to my play style. I believe that builds are intimate things -- the same exact build may not work as intended or work better depending on how you play. I even have several duplicate toons slotted differently, and so perform and play different (depending on the concept). Along the way, I found that I've familiarised myself with the IO sets--not all, just the ones I liked and tend to slot often. keep in mind that higher rarity is not always better. Some uncommon IOs have arguably better set bonuses than rare ones. Also, sometimes I decide that the power doesn't call for set bonuses, just an ACC and/or End IO + a proc or two. After a while, you'll start to get a feel for it and your own "style" of build. Mine depends on the AT as well as the powers. Also, it's not a finished thing. It keeps evolving. I've recently revisited some of my older toons and respec-ed them to my latest build style.

Search for Solaverse. (S)He's done some really good sound mods and sfx mods. and I recall that he even edited the main theme to be slightly better.

It's doable. And peaceful... bordering on lonely, but possible. Things get tough for the last stretch (45-50), unless you factor in AE missions. If you do, check out Darmian's sig (the bloke who commented before me) for really good content and gold-side related stuff.

confuse doesn't work so well against Nemesis and Automatons.

Or pistol + shield

Fenders aren't really my thing, and Empathy less so, but I'm currently levelling up an ice/cold troller solo. seems doable.

I don't think they're that hard to find. There are 2 missions from Technician Naylor alone that would get that badge done in 20 minutes without going out of your way to look for them. So, I propose raising the limit to 500 snipers. If it was easy, then it doesn't deserve a badge.

You're going to need to narrow down your choices. VEATs are so versatile and can go into several paths: SoA Huntsman: AR + Nades pure ranged (sentinel on steroids) Huntsman with melee: AR + Nades with a couple of melee attacks Huntsman/Bane: AR + Nades + Mace Ranged Bane, not the most optimum use of the mace, but still fun Melee Bane (basically a beefy mace stalker) Ultimate Bane. Mace + Nades (one of my all-time personal favourites) Slicer Crab (melee) Longfang Crab (ranged) Webmaster Crab (melee + ranged) Crabbermind Widow: claws stalker on steriods (pure melee or toss in a couple of ranged STs and cones) Night Widow: Claws and mind games Pure Fortunata: massive AoEs and mindbender Fortunata with claws. And this doesn't even go to Masteries which can further add dimension to your gameplay Now you can opt to use Wolf Spider powers to animate from either the mace or crablegs, which solves the weapon switching delay Secondary-wise, spiders are incredibly resilient even if you suck at builds. They're virtually impervious to cc, and you can build them to be tanky enough even without a self-heal (though the Crab has Serum, and you can cobble one up from the Tertiary Power Pools). You also don't need to double up on Leadership. As a bonus, the ATOs give you a nice global toxic proc to most attack powers as well as a cc (Terrify) to one -- preferably slotted in an AoE opening strike.

Welcome Home (as they say). I, too, never played the game until a few years ago. Like any game, there is a learning curve. The wealth of info available (unsolicited or otherwise) can be overwhelming. The best thing to do is just jump in and learn from mistakes. However, one thing I'd like to highlight, underscore and emphasise is that the community here is one of the best I've encountered in any game. Sure there's the occasional ass-hat, but they seem to be the minority. People are more than willing to lend a hand or at least an ear. Lets begin! 1) The game is very solo friendly. Because of where I'm located on this flat earth, my time zone and my schedule do not line up well with other players. So I mostly solo. The PVE content is rich enough that I am still not tired of it after more than 100 toons. The caveat is this is an MMO, stress on the second M--multiplayer. There is a different kind fun when you interact with other mortals. Also, keep in mind that it's just a game. you can AFK whenever you need to, just make sure to inform your team. As a tank, you can probably even AFK in the middle of a mob and come back to find him still standing. 2) I'm sure there is, but it would take a huge effort to find it. Once you get over the initial learning curve, you'll find the game is very forgiving. it is for this reason that other players have come up with different "challenges" to infuse some more difficulty in the game. In terms of difficulty, you can adjust it from one level below yours up to 4 levels above yours, and even go out and seek pain by confronting giant monsters alone. 2,5) Yes, there is the meta. And yes there's the obscure build. I for one am a huge fan of the latter. There is no right or wrong way to play the game. what matters most is that you're having your own idea of fun as long as you're not stepping on too many toes. 3) just type /altinvite [insert toon name here] on the chat bar. the system message will notify you if you've succeeded or not. Base building is an entire game on its own. you can design your own base (again with a rather steep learning curve). But I've been in bases that are absolutely incredible. I don't know how it was on Live when SG bases were a premium, but these days the only advantages of bases I can see are: Teleport Hub (gets you to where you want to be a little more convenient) and a repository of "stuff". You can also set up Trainers, ICON (costume edit), Crafting Tables, Merits ATM and other convenient NPCs in one place so you don't have to run across town to do what you need to do. *I believe they used to have Base Raids back in the day. I don't think that's a thing now, at least I haven't encountered one in several years. 4) The game is as easy and casual as you want it to be or as difficult and tedious. totally up to you. What I find lacking is competitiveness. There are no leaderboards, almost non-existent PVP, and general lack of one-upmanship. In its place however is a pretty chill and friendly community that lets you do your own thing at your own pace. One very important thing that no one ever mentions is that your COSTUME determines how powerful you are in the game. That and how hard you hit the keys on the keyboard. Enjoy.

I play on an ancient Mac (yes, I know, I know... every new one I buy gets commandeered by my kids, so yeah). There was a time when we just moved and hand had yet to secure an ISP. I was playing on my mobile hotspot (<4g over wifi) and this is on third world internet. The game played fine as long as I turned all the visual effects to low or a notch below mid settings. The point is, you can play this game on dial up I reckon. There was also some time when I played on a stock Macbook Air (for work) in starbucks and KFC while waiting for my daughter. played fine except for distractions. What I noticed that factored in terms of lag was 1) server population, and 2) local internet traffic. Odd times when most regular people were not sharing their lives and fake food photos, it played beautifully. high internet traffic times and high population times (like MSR, iTrials and certain times in the US -- I'm in Asia) would result in rubber-banding or being downright unable to play.

I would love a Poison/Thorn or Traps/Arse. I like how dom secondaries is a more realistic rendition of one's powers, a mix of ranged and melee. The inherent could be something similar to the Brute Fury bar that gives you a Tanker T9 minus the crash

the entire team behind Homecoming ROCKS!!! Thank you for letting an old man play super villain.

there was a certain "era" in my CoH gaming that I just slotted an ACC or two, maybe and End redux or recharge into a power, then fill the remaining available slots with permissible procs. My findings are 1) they work. some powers don't proc as well as they should on paper, but they work 2) sometimes an acc, end, recharge IO will still be out performed by the pure percentages of set IOs (acc + dmg, acc + dmg + end, etc), not even counting the set bonuses you get as a result. 3) frankenslotting is really taxing on my brain... but fun. sometimes necessary for certain ATs and/or powers, not so much on sent, though, unless you want to maximise its tankiness. I had a build that had as high as 70-80% damage increase on a sent, but the resulting damage was still meh. Now for DP/SR sent, recharge isn't a huge concern. you'll have enough powers where you can stick an LotG proc plus Quickness. with those alone, you'll have enough recharge to have most powers at the ready, even your quasi-nuke. this particular power set combo is also one of my favourites. also, IIRC if you pick ninja mastery, you have the option to slot your ATOs in the mastery powers... unless they fixed that... which opens up more slotting in your regular powers. PS. I'd listen to Oldskool when it comes to Sentinels. I learned the game with sents, and I consider @oldskool as well as @Sunsette as pillars of wisdom on the matter. And, if you like DP on a sent, I would suggest DP/Ninja on a blaster. fast-action blapping at its finest, with scary damage. who cares about res and def when you got two guns and a blade.

No doubt about it. Yet, I've seen pro guitarists belt out wild licks on Hello Kitty guitars and drum kits. But if you give me a million-dollar Stradivarius, the only thing I can muster would be a dying goat even if my life depended on it. (yes, I'm one of the people that suck). I tried playing Khelds. I have a PB and a Warshade. Both are only human only. My feeble brain can't grasp the changeling function of it. But I found them fun enough to roll another PB. I'm just saying it is what it is. It's far from perfect, but it's not THAT screwed up. I see enough people play it, even came across a regular all-kheld TF (and maybe an SG... can't remember) some time ago. I must've cost me a hefty testicle on respec recipes just to get the hang of khelds. And I still can't play changeling. But I've seen people do wonders with them. So it is possible in its current state. In hindsight, my comment about sucking and musical instruments was a bit uncalled for. I blame hormones. So, back to being a quasi-adult... Changeling play-style makes Kheldians do crazy damage because it cancels animation time — basically an exploit. Missed out on this because I'm not skilled enough to play the changeling. Without it, they’re weaker than every other AT, I don't agree. My human only khelds can hold their own against +4 EBs, and AVs... with some fancy footwork... and maybe a Shivan now and then. I've played other ATs that are subjectively "weaker" Their current Inherent bonus does basically nothing when soloing and often underwhelms in groups unless you happen to have just the right mix of ATs. I agree. I solo play like 98% of the time, so the inherent does nothing for me. However, other inherents aren't that great either. Sentinels' kinda suck as well. I think the best inherent is the Corruptor Scourge and Troller's Containment. That said, the inherent is not something that factors highly for me, whatever the AT I play. Damage boosts – Each form could get slightly higher base damage or scaling so they actually hit like they’re supposed to. Nova could be treated more like a pseudo-blaster, and Dwarf could remain the Tank/Brute melee form. I think the Dwarf is fine where it's at. Again, I don't play changeling, but my understanding is the Dwarf is the Tank form. Its damage is expectedly lower than human in exchange for res/def, healing and taunt. The Nova is the one that could use a bump over its human form. as it is now, there is no benefit from changing to Nova form if you've shored up your resistances in human form. Having a damage base (human) + multiplier (Nova) and/or handicap (Dwarf) could/should solve the slotting problem -- which I think is a bigger concern than tweaking damage. So, you slot IOs in Bolt, Blast, Scatter, Detonation and the multiplier will take care of your Nova form. Same goes for Human and Dwarf punches. At least going Dwarf, you get access to powers and resistances you don't get as a human, so it's understandable that the punches hit a little less. Animation tweaks – Form swaps could also be smoother, since switching forms right now feels clunky and slows down combat when not running the changeling animation cancelling binds. I think this is baked into the engine, as inferred in Cure Lost and Infect Sick RIPD missions. But worth a try. Again, I don't play changeling, so while this doesn't apply to me now, it might when I get the nerve to try them. I did however create a Psi/Fire Blaster that plays like a changeling-- "human form" has the primaries powers then costume-change + tray change macro button to "demon form" that uses secondaries. the animation takes some time to run its course. Inherent – Make the Inherent bonus actually matter solo and give it some meaningful impact in, rewarding form swaps or combos. For example, swapping out of Nova could grant a short damage boost, or swapping from Dwarf could provide brief mez protection. Short answer is I don't agree enough to care. I don't want to get into this since this smells like a can of worms. If the khelds get an inherent fix, then the other ATs should as well. I imagine the amount of work and thinking that will go into something like that is not validated by the QoL it will bring to the game. ...and I ran out of steam. I had another point I wanted to make, but I forgot it. ADHD, Autism, old age... something. So... sorry for the snark, and I sincerely hope Khelds get better... at least better than me trying to play a musical instrument.

If you suck at playing music, don't blame the instrument.

Corrs and Fenders to an extent are just same AT. But if you look at the values you'll find that they favour the primaries more than the secondaries. For example: Ice shield on a Fender gives your ally 15% def while on a corr, it only gives 11.25% Beam Rifle's Lancer Shot deals 98.32, while on a corr it's 201.87 + Scourge

or you can chase set bonuses which will shorten the time you're mezzed. Better yet, build up ranged def since that's how mez gets you. I have 2 human PBs and 1 human WS. they don't get mezzed THAT often, a row of purple skittles is usually enough for a day's run.

depends on what you want to accomplish. the inf you earn from the regular grind is negligible. that's unless you craft recipes, convert and play the market... which is another game on its own. That said, by the time you're 50, the game is practically throwing inf at you. if you want to get enough powers to join the thick of things like Task/Strike forces, then power levelling + xp boost is the way to go. if you prefer the content, then you'll feel that the regular levelling rate is too fast, and you'll want to turn xp off every now and then so you don't out-level contacts and missions. (a lot of low-level ones are really good. the regular (slow) grind isn't that slow. you'll be level 10 in about an hour without rushing. level 20 in a day or two. things slow down onwards unless you raise the difficulty. The benefit is you learn how to use your powers better and git actually gud. Sure there are frustrating times that you just don't have enough powers or enough slots, but personally, I think that's part of the fun. but at the end of the day, it's a personal choice. while one way isn't wrong or better than the other, It shouldn't be a default. Just because you want to doesn't mean the other guy does as well--or just because the other guy wants it, doesn't mean you have to suffer for it.

energy/energy/energy mastery blapper. or elec/elec/elec blapper. blappers got a nice mix of melee and range attacks with a cc or two thrown in. Of course, your def/res will be around the 20s at the most, but you'll be having so much fun clobbering mobs that you won't notice you're squishy. Or, if you can get through the slog of levelling up a PB, you can respec PB to eye beam + punchy powers and concentrate the rest on def/res and +hp/regen kinda like supes or homelander. honestly, he can be anything you want. but his physique suggest he's not much of a corruptor or support. more like a hands on and mostly-solo kinda dude that spends more time in the gym than the library. he doesn't look like he's into weapons as well, unless they're energy projection variants of swords, psy, claws shields.