Six-Six

not that simple. this was the weekly discussion a couple of few weeks ago. bottom line is, not everyone is cut out to be a villain. 😃

Wow, I really like the effect. What paper did you use? The texture is awesome. I'm trying to discern whether it's from your technique or your paper, but my ancient eyes and crappy monitor won't let me.

and blue is much too bright. give me redside hospitals any day of the week 😃 As for Goldside, I honestly think they were on to something. Unfortunately, the devs never got the chance to finish it. I think it pulls ahead of redside content. Sadly, I have to leave at 20-25, which is my greatest frustration. Long live Emperor Cole!

I have a DP/Nin and I enjoy it very much. I saw this thread earlier and while I think I have enough (cough) alts, I figured I'd do something different-- picking a power set/combo and limiting it's power choices based on theme. For example, I have an AR/Dev Blaster who's a soldier and he skips the non-soldiery powers like Ignite and Flame Thrower (pri) and caltrops (sec); also just rolled a DP/Dev who's just a regular guy with a gun--he only picks the non-flashy ST attacks (T1, T2, T6, T7) and all of the Fighting Pool powers. Incidentally I have friend who likes doing this as well, but he's more of a fanatic than I am... like only choosing ignite and flame thrower from AR for a Firefly-inspired toon, or just the Mu Mastery attacks for his Mu.

you may have pressed an Fn key (I forget which one) that aligns an object to a surface. Sometimes when it's like that objects will turn sideways when you get too near a wall or vertical surface.

I never saw this as an issue. I have 5 level 50 VEATs, on my 6th now. And I always look forward to the L24 Choosing of the Paths. Then again, maybe it's just me. Sometimes I hold off on seeing a trainer even when I have 2 or 3 levels up for picking a power or slots, whether I'm on a TF or just a regular mission.

I'm with Yomo on this one. I don't see a problem that needs fixing. Some people farm comic con maps all day long. Some people like player-generated AE content (not fire farms). Some start with Matthew or origin contact, and progress through contact introductions all the way until Ephram Sha. Some do DFB, then Posi 1, 2, and all the TFs. And some to a little bit of everything. Isn't that the beauty of the game? there's no one way to play it? low-level content is there for those who like it, easily skippable for those who don't--with a butt-load of alternative content made by players themselves. How does it benefit the community if everyone plays the lower levels instead of power-levelling?

That's hardly fair. Not every AE arc/story is a fire farm. Some of them are really good, dare I say better than some of the "official" content.

Lose the cape, it adds drag. But seriously, if you took a fly power, either Flight's fly (not hover) or Mystic Flight, you will have exceeded your flight speed cap, even as Twisted said, having no IOs or even TOs in the power or swift. To raise your cap, you can take Afterburner. This is why most people prefer to run and jump or teleport, because it's way WAY faster. Flying is just convenient and fun and requires less attention to bump into things.

I have 60 alts, 17 of which are level 50. Only a handful have incarnates, and some toons will sadly be seldom played ever again. I enjoyed levelling them up, but I'm not enamoured enough to earn their incarnates. Of the 43 remaining, I currently play 3 (Levels 40, 33, and 14) plus my main and one whose incarnates I'm trying to complete... because altitis can be demanding on the inf. I have three that are stuck in their late 20s because I'm not enjoying them as much as I thought--either that or I can't get into the groove of their powers/play style yet--so they're "parked" for now. The rest are all below level 10 (as I test drive most of the toons right after costume creation, some more than others), but all of them I plan to play until 50, it's just a matter of which ones are picked for game time. I've found that I can only handle 2-3 active alts at any given time, since the controls and play styles tend to confuse me. Plus, I agree about the doing repetitive story arcs being a good recipe for burnout. So one plays mostly blue, one is red, and one does a lot of teaming. Also, I try to keep it as one is ranged, one is melee, and one is support/control so that I have a toon depending on what mood I'm in that day. I have two ways to keep my altitis at bay: One is not creating new ones until I've levelled up a few all the way to 50. I do play in the costume creator every now and then, but I just save a promising costume without creating a toon. The other is to not reuse a costume piece/power combination over... too much (I can only have three at the most that use a particular type of boots, for example); I could have a DP/Device Blaster but not a DP/Traps Corruptor because it would be basically the same. I could (and do) have a DP/SR, DP/Dark, DP/WP sent, which is fine because those are distinctly different power combos from the /dev. To date, I've only played Sentinels and VEATs extensively. I'm just now getting into Blasters/Corruptors and Brutes. I do have some Defenders, Doms, and Trollers waiting in line, but I've never tried them, same with Tanks, Scrappers, Stalkers and MMs, though I don't have ANY toons for those last 4 ATs... yet. 😃

I think the Patron Pools are fine as they are... to change them would warrant a change on the blueside counterparts... to be fair. Although if you think about it, redside has to put in effort to unlock Patron Pools while blue doesn't. maybe blueside should, too??? I've only played VEATs and Sentinels extensively, starting to get the hang of Blasters, Dominators, and Brutes (and incidentally, I think one of the best epics is the Energy Mastery for Brutes). On some toons, like a Fortunata that I have and a few other alts, I chose none of the Epics/Patrons. Reactions to some of the posts above. @Sir Myshkin, I think having a Lord Recluse Patron is a nice idea. Maybe not in the form you suggested (a few tweaks here and there) but in general, I would make it "inherent" to Soldiers and Widows/Forts. In the same vein as you get a mandatory respec once you reach level 24 to choose your path, maybe an auto unlock at 34/35 grants you the LRPP... then again, it might be unfair since HEATs don't get epics at all. (I don't want to get into nit-picking your fantastic idea, but wouldn't it be cool to instead of just summon Bane, you have summon Squad... of 3 or more huntsmen/banes, each one dealing a fraction of your damage and buffs?) @Katharos, I agree with you how the Leviathan is very thematically limiting. Although, unlike you I don't hate it. I made a specific toon (an Atlantean Water/Bio Sentinel) just for the Patron Powers. Other than that the powers themselves are underwhelming, I don't see how such a niche power can be popular. It would be great if they can make the animations for Spirit Shark and School of Sharks a tad more prominent and noticeable. 😃 I don't mind the vomiting at all. I think the only thing that I would change is the Mace Mastery. Scorpion is all about his armour, lore-wise. shouldn't it follow that his Patron Power would beef up your armour... instead of giving you a hitting stick? Don't get me wrong, Mace Mastery on my Bane is awesome and spot on. but an armour upgrade in the same vein as Muntions' Body Armour and Stone (controller) Rock Armour would be more fitting to his character. Just my two or three inf.

She might get frustrated with a blaster faceplanting most of the time. But if that's what she wants then you do might want an AT that can take aggro off of her, or something that heals or a controller/dom that ends the fight before it starts 😃 Ice blast and Ice manipulation focuses on slowing things down, but not locking them in place most of the time. You can play supplementary (another Ice, Grav, Time) or opposite/complementary like Fire, Rad, or Dark -- which lessens they're chance to hit. Storm might be a nice pair thematically, but not sure how it will perform in tandem with Ice. 😃 I hope you two enjoy... in case she does get frustrated with a blaster, she can go Ice Sentinel which is more survivable, but less punch.

A trend that I've noticed with all of my toons (I've only played Sentinels and Spiders extensively, Blasters, PB, Doms a little, and now just getting into Brutes) is that my brain can only handle a total of 12 attacks max excluding incarnates. so most attack/armour ATs, I tend to pick every single one except for the one with the end crash, and supplement it with power/epic pools to plug holes in the toon's build. Additionally, I tend to go thematic, so if a power fits the thematic, then it's taken. If not, it is skipped. power animation plays a role in this as well. And thematically, I've skipped epic pools (because a "normal" guy with a gun can't suddenly throw electric charges from his hands). Even when powers are popularly skippable (like T1 and T2 of dual pistols) I find a way to make them relevant and not just mules. On the other hand, as the case with blasters and doms (including fortunatas), most of the powers are attacks/controlls so it becomes tricky to prioritise which to pick since I can't pick them all even if I wanted to... well I can, but it would be too taxing on my brain to handle them effectively and efficiently (I'm looking at you PB/WS triform).

might help if you posted a pic?

I wish some of the travel powers (specifically Speed of Sound and Combat Jumping) would work together with ninja run/beast run.

New to brutes and melee in general. I started with a sav/dark (l17), then fell in love with EM/EA (mainly because of the concept... currently at L30). thanks for this. I'll use this as a guide... since I see expensive purple IOs in it... as I level up. 😃 Update: I'm slowly getting the much needed slots for my bloke, so slotting is becoming more complicated. So many IOs to choose from 😃 I find myself debating whether I should slot a power with an IO with a fitting sounding title (i.e. touch of death to Energy Transfer, Pounding Slugfest to Barrage, Focused Smite to Total Focus, etc.) without taking into consideration the set bonuses or level limits they have. But that's just me being petty 😃 Also, as I do with other ATs, I tend to make use of their inherent power. Energy Melee seems to be disorient and stun, so I've been working around that. (I mean they put it there for a reason... like Kb in Energy blast). So I have a bit of Disorient in most of his attacks. He's not the hardest hitting nor the sturdiest, but it's funny to watch him knock the senses out of his foes. Very enjoyable he is. Thanks again for the guide. Quick question. On set bonuses now... I'm thinking of 6-slotting the entire set of Numina vs Preventive. Which set do you guys think comes out better?

I like it. Demolitions Mastery or Grenadier. I would make all the grenades AoE's though. not ST like your gas idea. or one could be a cone like a claymore mine that you can control detonation 😃 Incidentally, have you tried an SoA? I think you'd like it. the toxic, frag and web grenades fire from the gun. 😃

I like caves. Why? Because they're hard to navigate (even with Reveal). It's easy to lose your way, get confused. You get caught in nooks and crannies. You have to look for your enemies as well as your way around. A mob might be waiting for you around the corner. Things get in the way of your shot. You can fall and lose your bearings. You can fall/slide and find yourself in the middle of a mob. You can't run away from a fight as easily. Which forces you to think before you jump into action. plan your actions, plan a plan b (escape route) in case things go south. be aware of your surroundings. Caves are my favourite especially on Hard Core (no deaths) toons.

I vote to have the power Reveal be useless in caves. 😃

DP/SR is one of my all-time faves. Thinking out loud here because... server maintenance 😃 SR "dodges" a lot of attacks, but when some connect they do tend to hurt, though this can be mitigated. So you don't really need a meat shield. SR also gives a heck of a lot of recharge so if you pick a tank/brute/scrapper for your duo, you might kill creeps before the melee can get to them. The only thing I would appreciate from a tank/brute in such a duo would be aggro... then again, if you're attacking them, you'll have their undivided attention. (some of my sents can tank and aggro as well) Controllers and doms can help with crowd control or to hold down bosses/AVs if that's what you're aiming for. however, a bit of control can be had from the sentinel epic pools (of course, not the same level as the AT, but they're there). DP doesn't pack a lot of damage, but it can debuff def and res. It's also got a good balance of ST and AoEs on a fairly short recharge (even made faster by SR). Not sure if sents' opportunity stack (as the write up claims) with other sents will be enough to be worth it, but that might be worth looking into. I would loosely say bring dps, but not recommend a blaster or corruptor as they might not be able to keep up with you. sure they pack a punch, but they die a little too often (with me at least). Mercs MMs might be a good fit thematically. just stay away from caves 😃 I would say duo with: 1) another DP/SR sent 2) a defender... (or offender) for additional buffs and heals. 3) a spider (SoA or Fortunata not widow). the additional double Leadership buffs will make you two very tanky as well as improve damage and to-hit. a huntsman (AR + nades) will go well thematically... with pets in case you need back up... and because spiders are my new favourite, and I'm biased.

I like turtles too.

I like caves

thanks JJ 😃

Hey guys. Slightly less of newb, but still a newb... So if I roll a brute, say sword/shield, would rolling a sword/shield scrapper be redundant? would I notice a difference (as a newb)?

I have a friend who did a Mu character. Started out with a spider, had to pick primaries, but never used them... as mules at the most, and only used the Mu Patron powers. if that counts. I don't think anything is "set". Yes we are forced to take power pools at certain levels; and the 4 you mentioned are quite popular among players, but they are hardly set. I've never taken speed on any of my toons. I do take Leaping's Combat Jumping on almost every toon I make because it can take travel and def IOs at almost no end consumption. On one toon I think I took all 5 powers from Leaping because that's his fighting style. Fighting and Leadership depends on what I need. I've used Fighting's Box, Kick, and Crosspunch (which are usually not what people take fighting for) as my "epic" pool for one or two toons. Leadership is not all that it's cracked up to be--more of a double edged sword. I often take one or more of Sorcery, Flight, Experimentation, and Teleport because they offer more than just travel powers if one cares to try them out. I tried Force of Will on a toon once, but spec-ed out of it. Didn't fit my toon at the time. I've also taken Concealment at low levels out of necessity, but spec-ed out of it as soon as it became redundant. I have yet to design a toon/build that uses the other pools I haven't tried. To think that it is pertinent to take the 4 pools mentioned above is to admit that there is a certain "recipe" all players must follow or perish. That, good sir, would be narrow-minded and unimaginative.