Nic Mercy

There is an invention set called Sudden Acceleration that has a special enhancement that, when slotted into a power with knockback, turns that knockback into knockdown. This enhancement is not unique and is of relatively reasonable cost to buy/craft. You could conceivably slot this enhancement in any/every power you have that has knockback thus turning them all into knockdown powers instead. There is also the Overwhelming Force set from the Summer Blockbuster event. This set can also be purchased from the Merit vendor. The pieces of this set are all unique so only one of each piece can be slotted. One of these enhancements in this set turns knockback to knockdown if the power has knockback OR adds a chance to knockdown if the power does not have knockback. This set is expensive.

On the topic of the Flight pool... We can only take up to four different pools. The Flight pool's advantages over Sorcery are: Hover for more defense and fine control, Afterburner for a speed boost and bootleg/personal force field, and primarily because both Hover and Afterburner can be used as LotG mules. Many builds shine when you can slot five LotG global recharges but not every build has enough defense powers to slot them. The Flight pool helps in that regard. Don't get me wrong Sorcery is great for many reasons, but Flight has its place/purpose too. Every character doesn't need Rune of Protection. As for pool attacks in general... Arcane Bolt is good, Crosspunch is really good with all the upgrades (equivalent to Haymaker but its also a melee cone aoe), Air Superiority is decent, Flurry looks cool. Understand that melee AT's are going to scoff at all but Crosspunch and even in that case, its probably not worth grabbing for them because you have to take boxing and kick to upgrade it. It's primarily controllers and masterminds that might be tempted by attacks from the pools because their attack options are often limited and the damage the pool attacks offer is often comparable to their other attack options. Could most pool attack stand to have their damage increased a bit? Absolutely.

For me... I tried Champions FIVE DIFFERENT TIMES and I just couldn't get into it. I don't like how it looks. I don't like how it plays. I don't like it feels. But City of Heroes? I love how it looks. It's one of the only MMO's out there where I can make a male character that has that real superhero body and can look attractive. Most other games the male bodies are either steroid junkie big or straight as a board/flat grandpa butt. I love how it plays. I'm old. I like my simple tab target "let math decide if I hit" style of combat. I don't enjoy "action combat" fps style gameplay. Sure it would be nice if animations didn't root you, but I don't find that too obtrusive to my gameplay. I love how it feels. I feel like a part of the world. In many cases I feel like I know the npcs in a real way. I feel powerful even at lower levels. I feel excited to level up and get new powers. So "Why is City of Heroes so much better than Champions Online?", it's simple. City of Heroes is the superior game in all the ways that truly matter to me.

You have just earned a great deal of respect from me. Thank you. Another thing we do not hear is tone of voice. So it is easy to take things the wrong way, depending on how it is read by the reader. I probably should have made it clear that my post was not a request of any kind, just a what would you have done differently had you been in charge type question. That might have made this conversation much more pleasant. :) Glad we could find common ground then! :D

Happy to help!

Wha??? Sentinel Psi ancillary has Link Minds! Providing defense, to-hit and psi-resist to the whole team! In fact, my psi/willpower Sentinel relies on it to softcap. Dark Mastery and Soul Mastery also both have Darkest Night which I consider a pretty awesome power. Rehabilitating Circuit in Electric Mastery is entirely unique too! I guess its subjective but I consider these "awesome powers"

You can fix this easily without a reset. Simply look at the base UI at the bottom of the screen. On the left you'll see three options on the UI, Chat, Room, and Object. Click Object. This opens the "Room Section" window. Then target the area you want to "unfill" and click off the segments you wish to remove. Bam you're fixed! I also advise unclicking the little pip on the "Room Section" window to detach it from the main UI so that it is always open. Here's a visual aid (click the pic to enlarge):

I recently leveled a Dark/Dark Dom and this was the build I used. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Witchlight: Level 50 Magic Dominator Primary Power Set: Darkness Control Secondary Power Set: Dark Assault Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Concealment Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Dark Grasp -- Dcm-Build%(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(3), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(5), SprAscoft-Rchg/+Dmg%(7) Level 1: Dark Blast -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dcm-Acc/Dmg(7), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(9), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11) Level 2: Living Shadows -- EnfOpr-Acc/EndRdx(A) Level 4: Gloom -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(17), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Apc-Acc/Rchg(19) Level 6: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 8: Possess -- CrcPrs-Conf%(A), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(19), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(21), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(21), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(23) Level 10: Night Fall -- Rgn-Knock%(A), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(25), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(27) Level 12: Heart of Darkness -- SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(27), SprAscoft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(29), SprAscoft-EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprAscoft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(31) Level 14: Stealth -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A) Level 16: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(31), RedFrt-EndRdx(31), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(33), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(33), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(33) Level 18: Haunt -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(34), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(34), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34) Level 20: Engulfing Darkness -- Erd-%Dam(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Mlt-Dmg/Rchg(36), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37) Level 22: Gather Shadows -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 24: Fearsome Stare -- HO:Endo(A) Level 26: Shadow Field -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(37), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(37), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(39), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(39) Level 28: Life Drain -- SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(39), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40) Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 32: Umbra Beast -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(42), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(42), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42) Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(43), RedFrt-EndRdx(43), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(43), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 38: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(45), UnbGrd-Max HP%(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46), UnbGrd-ResDam(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 41: Weave -- Rct-ResDam%(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Rct-Def(48), Rct-Def/EndRdx(48), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(50), Rct-Def/Rchg(50) Level 44: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 47: Personal Force Field -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 49: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A) Level 1: Domination Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(11), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(13), PrfShf-End%(15) Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Talons of Vengeance Core Superior Ally Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1601;712;1424;HEX;| |78DA65944953135114856FA73B4026024208A34898130869415C5A16932854B1D21| 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|D47D671641D47D603C87A20285479EF6E78BBA38A9DDFC065F90D077F81C7E09150| |3F116AECED83B7EF50B4A1037007DC85670FDC1736B037215E4A44E4AC7C0B12259| |14312CF410D4429682968ADDAF9D924425EB1334DEA95E2EEF9125F942A53F43265| |B84C192953669C5DF858CB3F604E739DFA8474E3AB393FF5A56D3FCFC3A374CAFCA| |EA379940E49C47F53B1DF22C1DBF2943B6E5F9FF8F6DCBE75D93FF8146F950DE16F| |4E4C471273BCBE84F1BC6B6CB8C68BAE71ACDEF14E459DF1699733DEE4E3A6E3D9B| |6628EFE0FAC780408| |-------------------------------------------------------------------| The nearly softcapped s/l/e defense provides ample survivability against the most prevalent forms of damage in the game making getting into melee less risky. I'm also more of a fan of staying at range so I skip the melee attacks in favor of staying at range as much as possible and simply zip in for Heart of Darkness as needed then zip back out. Also to note, assuming the plans for snipes get implemented (the whole no needing to-hit for insta-snipe), I plan to swap out Gloom for Moonbeam. My build is designed for enough global recharge to have perma-Domination without Hasten so I can just leave Domination on autofire and go. My build also makes use of enhancement boosters to ED cap certain powers with minimal slotting, and includes purple recipes, an ATO set, and a set from the Lords of Winter superpacks which makes it quite expensive to put together. Assuming you have the resources though, the build has a fair amount of survivability. If you use Attuned versions of the Decimation sets, the Red Fortune sets, the Reactive Defenses set, and the Luck of the Gambler enhancements, you'll retain all but 12.5% of your global recharge when exemping down as low as 22. Unfortunately the recharge requirements for perma-dom without Hasten are rather tight and even losing just 12.5% will rob you of perma-dom when exemping below 47. You could retain perma-dom as low as 27 if the Expedient Reinforcement enhancements were also attuned but attuned enhancements can't be boosted, and you'd lose enhancement value in Haunt and Umbra Beast without those boosts. Still its an option if you want to retain perma-dom when exemping as low as 27. As for incarnate stuff... the Agility alpha is my goto for the defense gains, with the recharge, and endurance modification being bonuses. I went with Degenerative for my interface for thematic reasons but you could just as easily choose Reactive. Both are good choices. I went with Ageless for my destiny slot since it provides debuff resistance to keep my defenses from be stripped away too easily, but I did consider Rebirth Radial Epiphany to have a big heal/regen buff. I chose Assault Radial Embodiment for the double hit mechanic (moar damage!). As for judgement and lore, I went with Talons of Vengeance for thematics and Pyronic for ease of use, but you can pick any judgement and lore you like.

I didn't specifically call anyone here "newbies" but I can see how my first post could be misconstrued that way so I do apologize for that. When I said "And while I understand this isn't going to be readily apparent to newbies" I meant that in general, not specifically you. We have a lot of people new to coh playing now. Much more than I ever expected to be honest. My post was meant to be broad and inclusive of those people, not a dig at your knowledge or experience. In this case it was probably just a loss in translation due to text vs. speech, and/or poor wording on my part and for that, again, I do apologize.

CC can be a pain in the butt at times for sure, but there are ways to mitigate its impact. First and foremost, learn what mobs are doing the CC and either CC them as your opener (assuming the sets you're playing with have such an option), or see if you can overwhelm the offending mob with raw damage such as with a snipe power (if available). Failing either of those, you can simply keep Break Free inspirations handy and pop them before engaging those foes that like to CC you. Those insps will render you immune to CC for a short while. Next, if you are a Blaster and can manage the inf necessary or have the merits available, there is a Blaster specific enhancement set called Defiant Barrage. One of the enhancements in this set is very valuable. It basically makes the attack you slot it in stack a status protection buff on you. You could slot this enhancement into one of your tier one or tier 2 attacks (the ones you can still activate when you get cc'd) and stack some status protection on yourself. Ideally you'd get a stack or two up before any of the enemies reacted with CC so you'd be protected. Another available option is the Rune of Protection power from the Sorcery pool. This power gives you status protection and some resistance to all damage. It has a very long recharge time but can be used preemptively to render yourself immune to CC and resistant to damage when engaging those CC happy enemies. Hopefully some of this info helps.

Let me touch base on a couple of things here. Most of us are Vets of this game and our knowledge of the game is quite extensive. As a player who has been here since I1 myself, I can assure you that you are speaking to a 43 year old man, who is also a veteran of this game. In fact, in most situations, I am the go to guy for information about this game and its mechanics. I thi k the days of calling people in this game newbies should be long dead by now. Having said that, I am well aware of the IOs that prevent knock back. In fact, we have two types. It's not just one. I am also well aware that if one does choose to use those sets, chances are he/she will be dissatisfied with the other set bonuses that come with those. So it's a catch 22. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. So yes, it is an option...however, that option should have came free in form of a toggle power that turns on and off knock back to knock down, not in the form of an IO. So in this case, I both agree with you, but also disagree. Allow me to touch base too! :D I'm 43 as well! We're birth year siblings it seems! I'm also among those "vets" you mentioned too! I was even in the CoH beta! So now that we've both established our "cred" (for whatever that is worth), let's talk about those IO's shall we? There are two KB to KD enhancement options. The crafted one which is not unique, is part of the Sudden Acceleration set (I recommend this one because its easy/cheap to acquire), and the one that is unique which is part of the Overwhelming Force Universal Damage set (these enhancements are expensive!). In either case, the set bonuses for the sets are irrelevant. You only need to slot the specific KB to KD enhancement for the effect (not the whole set), and I would personally suggest 5 slotting a set like Ragnarok or Positron's Blast (if you're looking for more recharge) and then slap in that crafted KB to KD enhancement in the 6th slot to get rid of that detestable knockback! Easy peazy lemon squeezy! Whatever options you think should be in the game in regards to how knockback to knockdown should be handled, should be posted in the suggestions forum. My post earlier was simply made to point out that a) there is a simple and affordable way to turn the knockback in Umbral Torrent into knockdown, b) that Tenebrous Tentacles does comparable damage to other Blaster cones, and c) that considering those factors and the overall kit of Dark Blast for Blasters, that there's not really anything "hurting" the Dark Primary for Blasters. You can "disagree" with c) all you like, but what I stated for a) and b) are both factually correct. You may not like the options you currently have for KB to KD, but that's beyond the scope of my post.

I'd say not to be scared so long as you keep a few things in mind: 1) Death Shroud is an expensive toggle in a set with many toggles. It might be best to put this power off until you have access to SO's. 2) Cloak of Fear (if you decided to take it, not all DA users do), is a "sometimes" power, not a toggle to turn on with the rest and leave running at all times (not unless your end recovery can handle it) 3) If you can manage grabbing a Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance IO early on, pop that puppy into Dark Regeneration 4) The standard "Slot Panacea/Miracle/Numina uniques into Health and Performance Shifter proc into Stamina asap" applies for nearly every character's end management easement.

Tenebrous Tentacles does comparable damage to Umbral Torrent and cone attacks in other Blaster primaries (see Energy Torrent, Buck Shot, Fistful of Arrows, etc). The fact that it does the same damage as other cones but also roots foes in place is a plus in my book. And while I understand this isn't going to be readily apparent to newbies, Umbral Torrent can be slotted with a KB to KD IO to eliminate the knockback for those who dislike it. Taking the above into account, and also considering Blaster's Dark Blast has a single target, high damage, mag3 hold (abyssal gaze) and a single target, high damage, attack/self heal (life drain), I think Dark Blast for Blasters is pretty darn good!

Correct. You still have to unlock them on the live servers.

As far as I am concerned, Reactive and Degenerative are the only real choices. Both are comparable in different ways, with Degenerative's -maxhp being quite effective against AV's and Giant Monsters. Any of the interface options that don't at least have a DoT attached are non-starters for me.

There's something in how doors work that makes them currently unfeasible for base construction. I am sure once whatever technical hurdles preventing their use are overcome we'll get them.

Gotcha, thanks so much. lol 14% isnt a lot but it's cute i guess. That's 14% for ONE stack... it can stack multiple times (I think up to 5?) :)

The Truly Outrageous Jem!'s costumes are all based on actual outfits from the cartoons, if not in actual shape at least in color scheme. I also named each costume on my popmenu after a Jem song he he. I have other costumes for her but those are either seasonal or close approximations to the actual outfits from the show and I just opted to show the ones I primarily use. Only The Beginning Glitter & Gold Like A Dream Dear Diary Gettin' Down To Business Named after her grandmother Jacqui Benton, Jacqui Pacheco inherited her mother's fantastic computer Synergy, an artificially intelligent computer designed to be the ultimate audio/visual entertainment synthesizer. Synergy was capable of generating completely realistic holograms and, with this wondrous machine, Jacqui's mother Jerrica became the outrageous Jem of 80's rock fame. When Jerrica retired from her music career and married long time love interest Rio Pacheco, she continued to develop the Synergy technology. As Jacqui grew older, and learned more and more about how Synergy worked and all the advancements made in the decades since it was first designed, she decided to take up her mother's old mantle as Jem but uses the fantastic technology of holograms and energy projection to fight the evils of the world. She eventually moved her company, The Starlight Corporation, to Paragon city to help the city recover after the Rikti invasion. (She's a Technology origin Illusion/Radiation/Primal controller ^_^)

Regardless of powersets, I always use my Dom's single target hold as part of their attack chain and slot that specific ATO into it so I keep the damage buff stacked. Basically toss in 5 pieces of the Apocalypse set and the +dmg ATO and I call it good. The other 5 pieces of the ATO set go in an aoe control for the 10% recharge bonus.

Also if you're a badge hunter and always felt Laura got a raw deal... do the arc in Ouro and look around more than you might normally. Pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to any clues that pop up during the ouro versions missions and you just might find a way to give Laura a better ending.

You click a button once every four minutes. It's easy to notice when you don't have it up. I don't understand what the issue is. This issue is I am a lazy absentminded old man! ^_^

Blasphemy! He he I automatically slot all four on every character as soon as they are high enough. It makes end issues non-existent for me while leveling and beyond. In my opinion, and from experience, Miracle and Numina don't give you a significant enough amount of recovery to justify spending two slots and millions of inf. Recovery Serum is something you will have to keep buying, but it's a very minor cost (50k per couple missions at the most) and it literally doubles your recovery. yea for four minutes... I prefer more passive recovery. Too much micromanagement isn't fun for me. Its the same reason I build my doms with enough global recharge to get perma-dom without Hasten so I can just leave Domination on autofire lol.

Did you see the part where dom snipe damage was nerfed dramatically? I did. I also saw the part where the recharge time was nearly halved.

Blasphemy! He he I automatically slot all four on every character as soon as they are high enough. It makes end issues non-existent for me while leveling and beyond.

The Panacea proc is available at level 7, and Performance Shifter at 27. They're both probably going to be around 5-10 mil, which is easily affordable (run a couple task forces, takes you a couple hours with a PUG.) Recovery Serum is 50k for 5 charges from the P2W vendor, and you can stack up to 50 charges (I've never run out, ever.) Between these two IOs and one temporary power, you will never run out of endurance, ever, even as Dark Armor with all your toggles up. Telling you how to easily solve your endurance problems is absolutely constructive advice. You know what isn't constructive? Strawman attacks. Correction: Pancea proc = level 7 Miracle proc = level17 Performance Shifter proc = level 18 Numina's proc = level 27