Six-Six

All of them, including my current toon. I just happen to live in a very dusty corner of this flat earth.

After 3 years of playing, I have still yet to feel any semblance of slowing down or deteriorating interest. One factor is how I treat missions. I like to be anal with mission directives. "Steal" missions means stealthing and trying to avoid enemy contact... being detected even if I need to get rid of a guard to access an object, I feel the mission wasn't a perfect success. Defeat "_____" means minimal contact, usually just the target and his boo or the immediate ones in the room. Kidnap so-and-so, you need to carve out an escape route, preferably through as few guards as possible. So unless it states defeat all, I try to strictly follow this rule. stick to the mission objectives, no more no less. The only downside of this is less drops; I don't mind the less XP from not killing foes as I try to control the levelling up speed anyway as to not out-level certain contacts. Speaking of contacts, I try to get through every contact within a zone for a particular level. In Mercy for example, I do Kuzmin, Burke, Firewire, Creed, Kalinda, Harris, Mongoose, Graves and Marino, (leaving just Weber as a Pillar mission... for the Agent of Chaos badge) in a certain order since half of the buggers are level-locked. Other than that, I also believe concept is king. After the first few toons to learn the ropes, I too tried the meta build (aka Winter-PvP-Purple-soft cap), but I found it boring. I instead preferred D-list villains who would shake in their boots if they bumped into a red-conned Lt.. Costume, power sets/power picks and play style are dictated by the toon's concept. Just because a certain power is open doesn't mean you should take it if it doesn't jive with the overall character concept (i.e. an AssRifle toon that takes only submachine gun powers and not buck or flamethrower). Similar to @Glacier Peak's blue bar, I have a /dark miasma toon whose concept is blood (yes, red+maroon power colours with red slime aura) so using his own blood for his powers is taxing on him. As such, I didn't go meta with his recovery and purposefully left it a notch below comfortable. This means he has to choose/plan his altercations because he can't handle a prolonged tangle. Toons that don't have a Magic origin have no right to take the Sorcery pool; similarly toons with no business flying don't and those with no rationale to be able to use super speed or super jump just have to foot it. So I treat getting to a mission in one piece part of the fun. Navigating through Oakes' Family-friendly streets as a lowbie or infliltrating Agincourt's purple-conning guards and turrets is fun in and of itself. Finally, I've realised the what gives me the most fun is the fear of death. For well over 2 years now, all my toons have been hard core hobo: you pay your own way up and you die you delete. The current toon I'm playing has been "regressed" back to breaking out of the Zig more than half a dozen times already over the last few months.

Yes. just have a build that has a crab power. i.e. Build 1 is your actual Bane build. so either Build 2 (or Build 3) can have a crab power that you don't even have to slot if all you're after is the legs. Doing so is purely for aesthetics as the crab pack won't have any useable powers in the bane build. You can select and modify your build with the trainer or type: /selectbuild 1.

Also note that the crab legs will show up on any build as long as one of your 3 builds has chosen a crab power.

Hi. This happened on the first mission for Dr. Graves' first arc (level 5). Everything was normal until I reached Crosscut and the two longbow personnel. the only thing I remember doing differently from countless other times running the arc was dashing off to crosscut right after talking with Dollface. The dialogue box conversation with her had just ended as I attacked the longbow. The rest of the group showed up, but this time, there were two Dr. Graves. Only one of them was clickable for the ending dialogue.

welcome back 😃

Here's my take: builds are quite intimate. they don't depend so much on the AT or Power sets/combos (e.g. you can slot a Corr's X-blast the same way you slot a Blaster's X-blast, or similarly a Y armour whether you're on a Tanker, Stalker, Scrapper or Brute). Yes there will will be variations, but they will be minimal. The thing that sets a build apart is your play style. If you and I have the exact same powers on the same AT, they can still be built different. Even if they were built the same, one could be used to greater effect than the other. And this is the beauty of the game. I think the best way to get what you're looking for is to play your toon and fine tune it as you go. When I was teaching myself the different ATs, I would lurk around threads trying to pick up tips here and there. I would even try a build someone shared and use it as a starting point. Then I would modify it to fit my style. a few tips I've picked up over the years: some powers tend to favour procs more than others. some will have you chasing set bonuses while others can be left with just one or two slots. I've also found that I enjoy certain powers even if they suck or if I thought they would suck. just because a power is available to you doesn't mean you have to take it. Bottom line is, play, play and keep playing. and just have fun. there's no right or wrong.

KS is spot on with the macro syntax. My two+1 inf: 1) for macro button images, you can refer to this: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uHUi6BWFTYj4wbfGBs3LjZL88Fym6B-8EwDr18YZcY8/edit#gid=0 /macroimage [icon_name] [macro label] [command]:[distance] icon_name is the one from the google docs macro label is the macro name (FR, BK, UP, LT, RT) command is powexec_location followed by distance in increments of 5 up to "max". (...powexec_location:max). you can also use "SELF" (...powexec_location Self) for TP Target which will yoink the target to you. quotation marks are not necessary, but become helpful especially if you have multiple commands in the string. 2) you can NAME macros as Grey said, but you can't RENAME them once they're named. Neither can you change the icon. You can only edit the function 3) Combat TP has max distance of 100ft while Teleport is 350ft. Slotting range or the universal travel IOs or TP IOs will increase this.

I'll go the other direction and say go with your gut. If Fenders attract you, then go with that. Here are a few tips that should help you get your feet wet (again). 1) Go to the Defenders sub-forum both here and the Discord channel. Just lurking around will help you pick up nice tips and tricks. You can ask suggestions to specific problems with your particular power combinations as well. The overall community is incredibly friendly, helpful and generous and general a nice bunch of lads (and lasses). 2) Soldier through the lower levels. Yes, you'll probably suck the first time around (who doesn't), but playing through will let you get a handle on how to best use your powers. There is a learning curve, but it's not that steep. once you get the terminologies down and basic knowledge of game culture, you'll find your sweet spot. 3) Don't get tied down to your first toon. There's a reason why the game gave you so many slots for alternative characters. Personally, I had a dream character I was gunning for, but my skill level wouldn't allow me to make it... yet. After going through several toons, I "may" have found it. In fact, I went through three or four iterations of the same character (AT + Power sets) including several runs of the character on different ATs and slightly different power sets. 4) Just have fun. You don't need to min-max or go meta or anything. Any AT or power you pick will have its strengths and weaknesses, and they all pretty much even out. Sooner or later, you'll bump in to like-minded people who will either enjoy your particular play style or not mind how much you suck.

Portal corp bought theirs on line during a promo sale. didn't check the description nor the reviews.

Yes. a lot. more lately than before. can barely play. 2 more of my hardcore toons have died permanently because of it.

If you play bad music, don't blame the instrument.

Seek out @KaizenSoze or @Voltak if you have specifics in mind. Those two are practically gods when it comes to widows and forts.

I love me some spiders. But between SoA and Widows, I am far less adept at the latter. So far, I have 4: One is pure melee Widow. Basically a Stalker with less crit. Obscenely fun to play though... and quite stronk. Pure Fort. I think of her as a Blaster with tonnes of armour or a Sentinel that packs a helluva punch. I haven't got the hang of her yet, but I've seen others that handle them with terrifying efficiency (carrying an entire team on a hard mode ITF and not breaking a sweat). The third and fourth ones are hybrids that I've been toying around with and still tweaking. they're both plenty sturdy even with minimally slotting widow training. And with a mix of ranged and melee attacks, they're basically doms on steriods. I'm still trying to figure out the exact combination of primaries for a fluid chain, but I'm having fun in the process. My problem with widow-fort hybrids is that they have too many good powers that it's hard to pick... which is a good problem to have.

Really? I've been waiting for Illusion to be ported to Doms, and ever since it has, I've been having a blast. A little too much in fact that I had to dial it down a tad because I found it too OP in the lower levels that it didn't pose much of a challenge. It was either that or dial up the notoriety settings way up... but then I'd be gaining XP too fast that I out-level contacts left and right. Maybe you're trying to judge a fish by how well it climbs a tree. Personally, I take the dom primaries for pure control and not expect much damage from them. Nice if they do, but I rely on secondaries to bring the pain. In the early levels, I was quite happy with just Blind, Deceive and Superior Invis. Even when I got Phantom Army, I ended up not relying on too much and just having it as my Oh Crap power or as a tactic for EBs and AVs. Or maybe it's just me. (note that I'm on hardcore rules and while I did die... once... the only thing that killed me was getting mapserved and logging back in dead)

Welp. there goes the neighbourhood.

speaking of collision boxes, has anyone experienced gears (the little buggers spawned by the death of a Prince) pushing you or your pets out of Faraday Cage or similar rooted def/res bubble?

aye. sorry, getting my proc names mixed up again.

levelling up, I usually stick to SOs and some nifty procs. This is because attuned IOs level with you, so when you're at low level, their benefits are also very low. IO sets only begin to surpass SOs around level 35. So until then, I slot henchmen with the +def and +res uniques and maybe some other damaging procs Soldiers, I have Call to Arms +def L10, Acc SO, Achilles Heel -res L15, Shield Breaker +lethal, Sovereign Right +res L25, Dmg SO, in that order. Spec Ops, I have Neuronic +Psi dmg, Razzle +immobilize, Cloud Senses +neg, trap of the hunter +lethal, Dark Watcher -recharge, and Analyse Weakness -to hit. Commando, I just have Edict +def and Expedient +res, Acc SO and Dmg SO *I tend to prioritise acc over dmg because no matter how much damage you got, it won't do squat when it doesn't hit. this is just levelling up. I usually reorganise slotting once I unlock Patron Pool Powers. FF doesn't have heal, and the only other heal power you can get from that pair is Medicine's Aid Other. It's not as bad as you'd think once you get used to it. The Medic's heal is not as reliable as I'd like as it rarely fires when you need it most. So in the absence of heal, I find it really helpful to bubble up. FF's def is really helpful in keeping your mercs alive. That and Leadership pool. You'll notice I put Analyse Weakness -to hit. For me, -to hit translates to added def/res. hope that helps your cause.

Aye, the lefty kantana has bugged me quite a bit as well. Just do what I do and place a mirror beside your monitor then play off the reflection. It does take a bit of getting used to, especially reading the mirrored text. haha.

I suppose only beggars CAN'T be choosers... sitters can haha. While there are sure to be a few players in every shard who will not share your world view, you shouldn't let that get you down. Just keep doing what you find fun. The bloke probably wasn't aware how blasters can kick major buttocks. BTW, dp/ninja is one of my favourites. And I can attest to its awesome-sauciness... I have 3 of them. Mine didn't take self rez powers because they have no plans on dying. I've been on team wipes where my toon was the only one left standing and fighting while the others "walked it off" or walked back from the nurse's office.

All good. I have some toons that I keep at 45, 40, 35, 30... even a few that I keep at level 1. then again most of those are for RP purposes. Those that will never ding 50, I still play with XP on but not train after a certain level. This improves their powers and stats but limits power picks and slots--again for RP purposes and other eccentric reasons. As for the Epic Powers (Ancillary and Patron) I tend to take or not take them for thematic purposes. I don't expect much from them, although they do lend some utility (def mules, extra res, some form of control, etc) and dimension to some of my toons. Some of my sentinels get a sword or a pet or a power that broadens their character. At the end of the day, you get to decide how you want to play the game. As Dire Straits aptly put it: "There are so many different worlds, so many different suns. We have just one world, but we live in different ones."

I don't play the melee ATs much, but from my limited knowledge, attack or damage especially factoring the critical strikes in, it's Stalker > Scrapper > Brute > Tanker. However, if you're also considering toughness or sturdiness as part of being stronger then it's the opposite: Tanker > Brute > Scrapper > Stalker. Keep in mind that these are just broad strokes that I personally use with no numbers to back it up. And of course there are several other nuances that will factor in. Also, with the recent patches, I feel that Tankers are moving in (if not surpassing) on Brutes to the point that only the Fury mechanic is what differentiates them. Of course in a team, each one will perform a different role, although most of the time those roles don't really have clear cut lines. If you plan to solo a lot, I'd suggest a scrapper.

The most despicable, vile and torturous zone there is: the Friendzone.

Zag's right. You can only have a max of 7 active missions. When you switch alignments, say from blue to red, your current mission list from blue side is put on hold. they won't show in your mission list, but are considered active especially story arcs (book icon). regular one-off missions can be abandoned, but arcs need to be finished. If you switch alignments again, those arcs will be active again and sometimes reset to the first mission. And yes, Pillar can circumvent this as it treats the arc as a TF.