Six-Six

Oh. Ok. I'll keep all salvage for later or other toons. I'll get rid of the DOs I spent with inf from a rare salvage sale. What about Reward Merits? can we sell those off as converters? or save them to buy an ATO or two from the ATM?

Just dinged 16. Took Presence: Intimidate (which I won't use... not until the Time Eddy lets me at past level 40) to simulate taking Health. So, are we following the one Armour Toggle at a time rule? Also, is there a ruling on the AH, crafting, and selling recipes and drops? ATM, I'm ignoring all recipe drops since IOs supposedly haven't existed yet. I do sell salvage to fund my DO (and later SO) upgrades.

Corruptors are awesome. Though I feel they lag in damage behind (of course) blasters, and possibly dominators (debatable), I think they have a very nifty set of tools that sets them apart. In my opinion, they are most comparable to Defenders and like them, can be built not only to be survivable, but strong as well. I won't get into the details since a lot of factors go into one's build... play style being the foremost. (For me, thematic plays a huge role as well). So just some loose guides or pointers: 1) It's not all about damage. If you see yourself teaming most of the time, then damage will always be there. Heals, buffs and debuffs go a long way in a team, even though they're not always as obvious. The corruptor is a force multiplier. Now if you plan to go solo, then you may want to build a bit of damage, but also pay attention to secondary effects. Hydro Blast has KB; KB annoys a lot of people in teams, but I don't care I like KB as it is very useful when I solo. It gives me breathing space when I get mobbed. 2) Order of which power you pick first. Again this depends a lot on your play style. If you team a lot, then ally-beneficial powers take priority. Solo, they can wait. I usually end up not skipping some ally-only powers because I do eventually team a little bit with most of my toons. That said, secondaries like Infection and Lingering take a back seat. They are strong powers of debuff, but are also end-guzzlers. So I wait until my end can handle having them on until I take them. (Choking Cloud is the BOMB! -- it allows me to step into melee without fear). On most of my toons that play maybe 70-80% solo with just the occasional teaming, my order of priority is a) have enough attacks to defend myself--actually kill one or two at one go, b) enough def/res to survive... either through tertiary powers or set bonuses, c) address end issues and d) have something in my pocket for team allies. 3) I haven't tried Water Blast on a Corruptor yet, but I've played it on a Sentinel. On a Sent, which has the exact same powers as a Corr (just that Dehydrate and Whirlpool are switched between T4 and T6), water blast is very fun and strong both statistically and visually. One nugget of advice I picked up is don't sweat the Tidal Power so much. If it's there, use it. if not, it's no biggie. I don't think you need to have your attack chain centred on the Tidal Power mechanic.

Which shard are your Classics on? I'm on Reunion. I kinda like Acrobattle's idea of having a toon isolated in a diff shard from my other toons. 😃

Another clarification (sorry): do we need to do the mission/arc to unlock capes and auras before our toon can have capes and auras? The Red side one is through Rodney in Cap (I'm afraid I'm not so familiar with blue side contact).

oh. ok. thanks 😃

Question: Was Eagle Eye (Kings Row) a valid contact back then? I've set it to +0x1, solo Bosses and AVs as agreed. And I'm facing my first AV at level 8--Morana. can barely put a dent on her.

I wouldn't mind a knife-thrower. We already have the Natural Origin starting power, the enevenomed daggers, 4 Shuriken throwing powers from Martial Assault (Doms) as well as a small cone of knives from Snakes. So, the animation is there, just a matter of putting them all together to form a power set. Alternatively, I have a concept or two for axe or tomahawk throwers, but the animation for that is different. Hell chains would be cool as... well... hell. They can add Nature Affinity's Entangling Aura of leaves and change the animation to burning chains. A one-handed fire arm (either pistol or Ass Rifle) that you can pair with shield defence or a sword/axe/mace power in the other arm for that Old Guard, Deathstroke, Deadpool action.

Mu and Tarantulas can be reasoned with if you talk to them nicely. It's the Widows and Fortunatas that tend to be "difficult" 😃

Screw and Vile are spot on. and yes, totally depends on how you play your toon. Some of my toons never take Leadership Maneuvers as the end cost seems too steep for the benefit gained. (I do almost always take Assault and Tactics). Some of my toons double dip on Maneuvers (Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows/Forts) because they can and that's how they are played: just showing up in a team is contribution enough, any damage I do is just gravy on top. I haven't played tanks yet, but on my brutes and scrappers, I find that their armour is usually tough enough not to need manuevers. As for taunt, I usually skip it and take Presence: Provoke instead. Same basic power, but it opens up Unrelenting for me. Incidentally, I think slotting the full set of Gaussian in Tactics is way better than taking Maneuvers. When I do take Maneuvers, my priority is to minimise its end consumption rather than build for defence. Once that has been addressed, I look into set bonus or muling possibilities.

to clarify on what Vile said, turning off XP will longer gain double inf (in the same logic as double XP from P2W gain no inf). Once you reach 50 any double XP you bought is automatically discarded and you earn XP and inf at the default rate. your XP is used for vet levels. first you need xp to unlock each of the 6 incarnate slots. while you're doing that, you will still level up as you did pre-50. every 3rd vet level, you earn emp merits in diminishing returns: you earn 20 emp merits when you ding vet level 3, 6, 9... until 21 (IIRC), then it goes down to 15 for the next few levels until vet level 42(?), 10 until 63(?), then 5, then emp merit drops stop when you hit vet level 99. (something like that... don't quote me on the vet levels when they change, I haven't touched my veterans in a while). Again, the entire time, you're also earning inf. an ITF run at +4x8 will bag you around 10mil pure inf, 15-17mil if you sell off the recipe and salvage drops.

The things you ask for are available when you choose your path at level 24. Crab attacks are from the crab legs. Bane from the mace.

both. RoP has quite a lengthy recharge. so unless I'm heading into a den of Carnies, I just keep it on stand by until I need it. On my other toons that have no business taking Sorcery Pool, I just grin and bear it. You get used to getting mezzed after a while 😃

I've found my sweet spot to be: +4x1/2 for single target high damage specialists +1x8 for those with lots of AoEs and Nukes, but not so big on damage +2x4 for most other toons Those settings give me the most XP vs time when I solo and I try to get to those settings as early as the toon is able. Anything less feels too easy and slows down the levelling process, anything more becomes a bit too tedious for a daily grind. Every now and then I do dial it up to +3x8 if the toon has his/her incarnates or if I have time to burn.

another way to minimise mez, not avoid it altogether, is to build for range def. that's how mez gets to you. My blasters and corrs do this... and after a while, you kinda get used to being mezzed for a second or two 😃

lovely ladies 😃

updated some of my pics (because of asymmetric shoulders), re-rolls to gold-side, and added some recently finished bios 😃

Great! thanks. having fun with him so far. BLASTRO in Everlasting a creation of S.E.R.A.P.H in 2004. also S.E.R.A.P.H.'s fault he was thrown to 2020 Renamed him to Black Atom with accompanying costume change... in an effort to reinvigorate the toon after losing momentum due to RL stuff.

Awesome. Am I limited to +0x1? I try to run things at +2x4 as soon as the toon is able. Also, what's the ruling on The Hollows? I like the Frostfire arc, am I allowed to do the 3 arcs in the Hollows? A bit more clarification on Fitness pool (sorry). I usually slot running SO in Swift and a leaping SO in Hurdle. Does that mean I take 4 unnecessary powers to compensate? Or if I forego Swift and Hurdle, am I allowed just 2 unnecessary power picks (but still take Health and Stamina at 16 and 20)?

Heeh. Started him just now. Currently grinding the badge for the contaminated in Outbreak 😃 A few questions/clarifications: 1) as far as missions go, I go Outbreak -> Origin Contact then progress to the next introduced contact, so on so forth? Ignore "pop up" contacts like Shauna and Twinshot? 2) P2W lady does not exist. IOs don't exist. 3) can someone clarify this please? From my understanding, Fitness was not inherent then. So at level 8, 16, and 20 I would have taken Health, Stamina, Hurdle/Swift? And to approximate that, at level 8 I take a tertiary power that I will specifically never use to compensate for already having Health, same for Level 16 and Stamina and so on? Also (minor) Tertiary Power Pool opens at 6 instead of 4. Travel Powers are available at 14.

Thanks 😃

Wow. this is interesting. I didn't play CoH when it was Live, only when it came out with Homecoming. Would anyone have that list of ATs and Powers that were available back then? or... Since I already have a toon in mind, can anyone confirm if Energy Blast/ Energy Manip Blaster was?

Hello fellow newb. If this will be your first toon, I would suggest an armoured AT like a Tank, Scrapper, Stalker, Brute or Sentinel (if you prefer range attacks). The armours will keep you alive long enough to enjoy the game. And melee is quite straight forward: find a target, hit it until it dies, repeat. I would say Sentinel play style is fairly the same, but you now have the option to hit things from afar. The other range ATs may have a steeper learning curve, at least they did for me. Blasters and Dominators trade armours for a more diverse set of attacks. you have melee, AoE, PBAoEs or nukes and mini-nukes. Instead of being tough-skinned, you rely on your tool set, positioning and target switching. Corruptors and Defenders are similar, but have powers for allies. This could be harder to solo (but not impossible) since those powers will not benefit you. I have not tried Controllers or Masterminds in a capacity to offer advice on them. Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows/Fortunatas are Epic ATs. They are slightly harder to manage for a first toon, but again, not impossible. They are a bit more complex in the sense that they have melee, range, control, buffs, armour and pets. So if you think about it, they're all the ATs combined. But while they offer a wide range of powers, you simply won't have enough power picks to choose them all. So it is up to you to specialise. They start off fairly weak compared to most ATs (and a slog to level up solo). But once you reach the "path choosing" at level 24 when you get a forced-respec to your specialisation, you start the journey to become an unstoppable god! SoAs are my current favourite AT. I only started playing when HC came online early last year. I learned the ropes with Sentinels, then tried Brutes. After which I moved on to SoAs, Blasters, Doms, Corrs and Defenders in that order. I tired a Peacebringer and I'm currently learning how to tri-form a Warshade and keep my Mastermind's pets in order. Whatever you do decide on, there are tonnes of peeps here in the forums, in the discord and in-game that are quite nice and would be happy to help you learn. Enjoy.

If you consider how many ATs there are, how many different power set combinations, and how many different ways you can build each one, then I am much much lower than a newb. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of this game. 😃

From one newb to another: 1. For the build I have in mind, I'd like to skip taking taunt and play him more like a durable scrapper. Is that ok? ...or will most people I team with expect me to assume the tank role, especially when a tanker is not present? By all means, skip it. Attacking draws aggro anyway. I would like to add that for my toons that have a taunt power, I usually skip it and instead take Presence pool's Provoke, which can open up more useful powers for me. Also, I've seen players use the taunting ability very effectively, like taking the aggro off a team mate who's about to die. 2. Is "Hasten" considered a must-have for all archetypes? Of course not. I've taken hasten exactly zero times. I have 35 Level 50s and a couple of dozen more alts to go. Some people swear by it, but I don't deem it necessary. Keep in mind that while it quickens your recharge it will also drain end faster (because you're using your powers more often in the same amount of time). 3 & 4. With my current build (which is just the powers I chose...no enhancements yet), it shows my endo usage to be 2.12. Is this a good place to be before slotting any enhancements? I've heard (and can see) that dark armor is a real endo hog, but with these numbers, can I expect to get my endo under control so that it won't be a worry? Regarding question #3, is there a formula or "sweet spot" for calculating where you should be with endo usage? What you need to consider is how your consumption compares to your recovery. I usually monitor these two things and try to make it a ratio of 1:2 or I try to get my end consumption half of what my recovery is. Some powers, like toggles, tend to guzzle your end, so take care of those by slotting an end redux. Pay attention to your blue bar. It's normal to dip to half or less in the lower levels. but if you're constantly draining your end in the higher levels, then you need to address it. Set IOs are not necessary, I have toons that don't use set IOs and do quite fine. However, set IOs offer set bonuses that do add up. If you're suffering from too high end usage, shop around for set bonuses that offer end discount or +max end. there are a handful of uniques that are quite popular (like Performance Shifter +endurance, Miracle's +Recovery, Numina, and Panacea to name a few). Dark Armour on a brute is strong, but also tends to be high on the end usage in the low to mid levels. You can mitigate this by postponing taking some of the toggles until your recovery can handle it, or when you have enough slots to address it. Fortunately, Staff Fighting has a Form to make you more efficient IIRC. 5. For filling my Knockback hole....should I rely on enhancements or take Acrobatics? (currently I'm planning on relying on enhancements) Acrobatics from Leaping Pool isn't that great, TBH. You would be better off slotting IOs with direct KB protection, like Steadfast or Blessing of the Zephyr, and/or set bonuses (can't remember which set(s) offer KB protection atm). 6. Is there a way to see exactly how much the Form of Soul/Mind/Body affects my stats on Mid's? When I clicked on them, it didn't seem to make any impact on the numbers...even when I turn on "Combo level 3" and turn on one of the Forms. Haven't played staff in a while, but I don't think you need to go to MIDs. You can check it in game through the enhancement management screen and More Details. It should list the values with and without slotted IOs. You can adjust the slider on top for higher levels if you want to extrapolate.