Six-Six

I'm usually levelling up one or two toons through regular story content. those are usually new power set combos that I'm trying out, so slow levelling works for me. Then on weekends when there are iTrial runs in Reunion, I choose one of my toons working on their incarnates--I usually stick to just one until it gets all of its T4s. The rest of the week I try to catch themed runs. I usually have a dedicated toon for those, but those usually last for only a couple of hours at the most. Other than those 4-5 "currently active" toons, I work on one of my hardcore toons or my project toons (currently learning an MM and a tri-form WS) when I find that I have enough time to really concentrate on the play... that is if I'm not tempted by the costume creator. 😃

My take on it is the ability to have range and melee attacks, some control here and there and possibly a nice mix of ST, AoE/PBAoEs. The closest I've come to that is a Fortunata. Forts have several controls (some of which I deem redundant, but that's just me), some very strong ranged STs and AoEs, a few noteworthy melee attacks, and one helluva nuke. Plus it comes with a very sturdy armour set with buffs to everyone on the team. The problem I've had (am having) is deciding on the play style, as it will dictate which powers you take and how they fall into your chain. I have a fort with 2 builds so far that hasn't quite satisfied me yet, but I'm working on it. I like the option of attacking at range, then following it up with melee, or vice-versa, using ranged ST attacks to pick off runners. I've found a simpler version, not without faults, in Blasters and Dominators. With these two ATs, I armour gets bumped down in terms of priority, and I try to make up for it with set bonuses from IOs. They're not the toughest, but they can hold their own. I'm fine-tuning a Grav/Energy Dom to be sturdier at the moment, and seriously enjoying a Rad/Energy Blaster who is one of my fave AV killers.

@BalrogLord. No it's not. You suggested/demanded/pleaded for "Char Select should remember the last char you played and stay there when you log/relog. Instead it always goes back to Char 1... That can't be hard to change, can it?" It takes 2 seconds to relocate the last char you played to Char 1, then when you log/relog it will go back to it. "This is a tiny thing, but it bugs me all the time, which makes it less tiny.... Very annoying." Your sentiments, while may be valid to you, are subjective. Such a change to the character selection screen may not be appreciated by anyone else other than you. I haven't come across a similar request in the last year or so since HC let us play again, hence I'm not so sure others share your woes, that or they have either learned to accept what they can't change or change what they can't accept. Or would you rather impose several unpaid minutes or more of coding, testing, implementation, rolling out, and monitoring for possible repercussions from an obviously undermanned volunteer dev team so you can save 2 seconds?

I don't have the hard numbers or percentages for it, but stealthing to complete missions in the fastest times will result in higher XP reward as opposed to killing everything that moves within a map. So what I do is stealth or try in some way to complete the mission first, then go back to leave no witnesses. that's how I've been running regular missions for a bigger XP gain. I assume it is the same for TFs, and why speed runs became a thing. There is also the notoriety factor (again, no numbers or data), higher diff will require you longer to complete, and easier diff will be faster. Somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot for the optimum XP gain.

The only thing that makes an ITF a speedrun for me is a) 2nd mission, you get all the crystals without bothering with the ambushes... so much, b) 3rd mission, head straight for Romy, Riechsman, the control panel and c) head straight for Romy, then towers to kill the needed romans. Usually 20 mins is ample time, even with below 50 toons (no judgement/lore pets) though I've been on faster runs. 30-45 is already a kill-most (with the 2nd and 4th missions taking most of the time); 60-90 min runs would count as a solo or duo run. Now I personally prefer kill alls or at least kill most runs, but in your case if it was advertised as a speed run, it should've been a speed run regardless of what the team consisted of. IIRC, the faster you complete a mission regardless of kills awards a bigger XP bonus, so the leader's reasoning of the team wanting more XP was out of line.

Vertigo has precedent. might be a better fit than migraine 😃

@The Volt that's awesome! I had/have a similar (yet unplayed) tank if a similar concept. On a mission to the shadowshards that went awry, one of the soldiers (as noted by his helm) sacrificed his flesh to become a vessel of the Rularuu in order to save his squad. Kinda like an Illidan demon hunter turning demon because it seemed like a good idea at the time. 🙂 PS, I love the other concepts as well.

No, it's not hard at all. In fact, you can do the change. keep the first page of your character list free. slot your most played or most recent toons there. when you log in, it will select the top of the list, always. So if you're like me who cycles between 2-5 toons at any given time, depending on the mood, then those 5 will be on page one until such a time that another takes their place.

Hey Basher. Had some free time and connection was too slow to allow me to play, so... how's this? I took it that you liked green. The bow is an energy bow that comes from his left armament/glove, which adds to the tech feel and hopefully fits your power rangers thing. I've attached the costume file if you're interested costume request.costume

I can attest to /energy's awesomeness... enough to make my dom a melee one. And yes, it is a rather late bloomer. below 40, you just don't have enough slots to round off the character nicely. The change is startling once you hit the 40 threshold. I paired mine with Gravity, which is also quite fun. The problem I see with doms is the temptation to pick too many powers, because almost all of them are worth picking. I had to limit my control powers to make way for damage and def/res. I solo a lot, so it works for me to be able to hold my own. In times when I do team, the 3 or 4 primaries for control that I have are usually enough to contribute to the team effort and leave me some spare time to get some hits in. I've also played Fire/ and Ice/ to 50. I love Fire in general, but I was surprised to have more fun teaming with Ice. I'd have to take another look at the Fire build since that was toon I learned doms with. I'm currently learning Dark/ and Earth/ primaries, but they're too low level for me to give any feedback (though Earth visual and sound effects "feel" really strong).

never tried them, but if the super ones do, I have no reason to think why those wouldn't.

I like the idea of a shorter initial bio, but with a link to the database for unlimited pages of back stories. (they gave us 1000 character slots per shard, I think it's in the realm of possibilities). Why the shorter initial bio? this is your quick intro, your hook, and if you do a good job, people who do read bios will want to find out more about the toon. As someone who used to write advertising, it takes skill to keep what you're writing as short as possible--a skill that sadly not everyone can attain easily. It's much easier to lengthen a thought, to expound on an idea than it is to say things in six words. I like reading bios when I have the opportunity to do so. And I've seen some very impressive ones well under the limit. But I also have the itch to go on a deep dive character development that gives a whole new dimension to the toon. The in-game database is a great idea, and there's a precursor already in place in the form of that atm machine looking thing that gives some of your stats. If that could be made editable, with the files saved locally (like costumes and macro files), then I think everyone will be happy.

If those are the ones you buy with threads, then yes they do.

The hero/villain NPC in RV are quite tough to solo. On a full team of 8, they don't pose much threat so put out a friendly LFM in LFG chat and I'm sure people will help your cause. If you can't find 7 others, it is possible to defeat them with just a duo. I've done this with a blaster friend while I'm on my bane spider. We took a lot of superior insps (from Luna) with us as well as those special summons that are 10mil a pop from p2w lady and a heavy each. we still died quite a bit and the fights were long. Posi was the toughest one. as long as you can separate them to tackle them one at a time, then there's hope. Synapse tends to run away quite a bit. the rest are fairly straight forward.

Wow. awesome guide. Thanks TPK. A little late for me, had to learn FF on my first defender the old fashioned way =). He's 50 now, a homage to Green Lantern. The only thing I would like to add is regarding the Repulsion Field. 1) I have learned that a lot of people do not appreciate KB that much. However, slotting KB-KD into RF negates it altogether. enemies don't get knocked down, they just stand there unaffected. 2) I myself am fond of KB, especially when I solo which is quite often. In teams, however, RF can be used as a successful herding tool by running around the perimeter of the mob (also applicable to Storm's Hurricane). There was one time when there was a storm summoner with me, between me and him and a wall, we cornered the mob from two quadrants while the rest of the team did their thing. Again, awesome guide. And I am thoroughly enjoying my FF/Energy Blast Green Lantern. Defences are through the roof!

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around "most basic". Judging from your list, it alludes to most popular, maybe? Is it first thing you think of when you think of the archetype, or is it the easiest power set combo for a particular AT? It may also be you're referring to existing characters and force-fitting the ATs in place of their abilities. (Inv/SS screams Kryptonian to me). In any case, my interpretation of it are listed below. My upbringing and previous MMORPG experience tend to show themselves. Tanker: Shield Defence/Sword. When I think of a tank, it's a heavily armoured and often shielded character who can take punishment so the team doesn't have to. Blaster: Energy Blast/Devices. Things get blasted, things go boom. Defender: Force Field/Dual Pistols. FF is the first line of defence, DP is the last--doesn't pack a punch, but doesn't hesitate to get up close and nitty gritty. Controller: element/element. I think any of the elemental powers fit the bill (elec, fire, ice, etc.). For me, this translates to something like a Bender from Avatar. Stalker: claws/ninjitsu. The quintessential assassin. I only went with claws because they retract and would normally be invisible until the last moment. Mastermind: Thugs, Ninjas or Mercenaries/Traps. MM connotes someone who plans things and sends cronies to do his dirty work. the others fall under Overlord or something else not exactly mastermind. Corruptor: Dark Blast/Poison. Not too thematic, but both on their own just defines corruption to me. Dominator: Mind Control/Psionic Assault. I agree with Mind--it has Dominate as a power after all; Psionic, not so much, but it does fit thematically. Sentinel: Beam Rifle/Willpower. I'm thinking guard duty with nothing more than sheer determination. Brutes and Scrappers are the two I really had to pour some thought into. While quite similar, Brute comes across to me as one of pure brawn so I relegate melee attacks to him, while Scrapper is someone who will not hesitate to jump in and join the fray with little care for their own well-being. I delegate weapon attacks to scrappers... just something my brain does to keep order. So... Brute: Savage or Street Justice/Regeneration. He can dish it out and he can take it. Scrapper: Dual Blades/Super Reflexes. Taking a knife to a gun fight, he'll definitely need to be quick on his feet.

you are the awesomest of the awesome sauces! thanks 😃

Hey SV, I'm dying to get your new Rad SFX. could you be so kind as to post it in a zip file like the olden days? I can't get the CoH Modder tool to work on my mac =(

If you have already failed to see the light of Emperor Cole's ways, then Lord Recluse will have no use for your kind in the Isles. Go frolic among the so-called heroes. We villains have standards to uphold.

I play a grav/ dom and the grav powers are not so benign. crush, lift and propel can be slotted to become quite strong attacks, and further enhanced when your enemies are under the effects of gravity distortion. grav distortion and grav distortion fields are also strong enough to hold down AVs. I haven't played around with dimensional shift too much to give advise, but wormhole is fun. the pet is kinda meh, but comes in useful sometimes. I don't have a /time controller, but I think it's similar to a time/ defender, which is broken in a good way. you can carry the entire team with it. So you can pretty much focus on team support, which comes easy with /time's set of powers, and still not be busy enough to sneak in a few damaging attacks in. The problem I usually encounter with doms, defenders and controllers is that they have so many great powers that I have trouble choosing with the limited power picks we are given. On one dom, I sacrificed def/res and getting mezzed just to take most of the primary and secondary powers. And she's still quite tough... more than survivable, especially on a team. Solo is a bit slower and harder (requires a bit of strategic thinking--like don't go Leroy Jenkins on a mob), but still able to hold her own on +2x4.

Now that you have the power, use it destroy and oppress all who would oppose you. 😃 Long Live Lord Recluse!

the SFX mods have been tried and tested. and they will reside on a separate folder if you do it manually. If things go wrong, just delete the new folder. You can also mod it using the mod tool made by @The Philotic Knight. you can check it out here and yes, it will change the all archer powers, including your enemies'

Welcome to TWANG. They are a fun (and surprisingly strong) all archer group... and one of the quietest I might add. I'm Lightfoot (the tank) when I do catch TWANGERs on wednesday and weekend runs, although timezones tend to play a factor. While you're all creating archers now, check out the more realistic "twang" of the bow string SFX mod made by @Solarverse (it makes your arrows hit harder) 😃

I think it's intuitive to have a costume customisation option with the trainers. I certainly use it whenever I pick a power that cannot be pre-customised in the costume creator, like Combat Jumping Min FX or Sorcery Flight. So I reach level 4, pick up flight, switch to min fx in one stop. I suppose that's why trainers have limited customisation abilities as opposed to tailors/surgeons that can alter your body type and height. And yes, I agree with Jubakumbi. Customise Your Appearance in the trainer dialog is a just one more line in the trainer's menu option. I don't consider it much of a clutter.

Here's my take on it: The blacksmith in the back of the mocha race to the dawn I think there's an error here. if it is Estonian "targus" translates to "wise" according to the reliable Google translate, so... As the (wise?) blacksmith (who knows his stuff) works through the night (I assume to fix your battered armour and weapons from the day's adventure) toast the terra sky and carried it to the groove. [we] say a toast as another day ends (orange sun sets in the valley) The back of the fire passed on and you got to it, Night has come, and still here you stand always proudly winding the word that the wolf's blood was flowing. so keep the rounds of ale/mead/wine coming You knew who to keep and they kept us together while we were in trouble. because you, my friends/brothers-in-arms/party members once again had my back. ... and we fight another day (or do the same shit again tomorrow)