iBot

Yep fully understood that too. I will be using both actually. I plan multiple pop up menus depending on what things I need to have as actions that don't need to be a keybind but are just handy shortcuts for other things. The target macros were just an example because it would be nice to have a button that brings up the pop up targeting for say Malta and then when the next mission is Carnival I just click that pop up. Have all those in a window title targeting. I also like to have shortcuts for all sorts of common tasks we do all the time that are buried in other menus in the game.

I thought this was on live but couldn't for the life of me remember how. I figured maybe it was just something I confused from another game. Glad I wasn't wrong. This is very cool and awesomely handy. Thanks for laying this out for us. I plan on doing this in game tonight for all my targeting macros.

I couldn't disagree more about Energize. It provides a massive endurance discount in addition to a hefty regen bonus. Maybe the difference is solo vs grouped. I don't have any end problems at all and since I let the tank hold agro a huge regen bonus is not necessary. Must just be my play style ... which is fine. I'd say if there is any question run with it and see. Can always respec out of it if you never need it or vice versa.

I would disagree with not taking energize. I keep my blue bar full even running hover/CJ/manuvers while in combat. Don't know... Never used it on live and didn't use it 1 - 50 this time round. I run hover, stealth, and fire off as powers charge. Pop the occasional blue and good to go.

My first thought is: why should I care? My second thought is: Good. If we stay under the radar maybe we won't poke the beast. My third though is: Great. That means that there is less chance of high server load and log in queues.

First off you are a blaster not a defender. Drop hasten, tactics, maneuvers, and assault. You have end problems probably because of hasten. And those toggles will drain you pretty quick as you fight. Power push is not useless. Its main purpose is to knock a pesky mob away from you giving you a chance to either finish it off or focus on another pressing target. A lot of players for whatever reason don't understand that knockback is a form of crowd control and if used properly can allow you to juggle multiple enemies at the same time when solo. In a team, if used correctly it can help keep mobs bunched. Now granted if you fire off explosive blast into the middle of a group you'll scatter them to the wind, but it is up to you to know when that is helpful and when it isn't. Drop kick, weave, and tough. Again you are a blaster not a scrapper. Don't bother with power boost, energize, or boost range. Properly slotted you'll get the same effects and they'll be always on. I even skip Aim since when I did have it I always seemed to miss the very next shot I took after popping it. I know, confirmation bias, but still. Build up is all you'll ever need and use it in tandem with sniper. Do not convert knockback to knockdown. Knockback is your crowd control. Get good at knocking groups into a corner and the tanker will stop complaining. I personally pick up stealth, invisibility, recall friend, and teleport. Concealment lets you skip to the end of missions. Recall is just handy to have since I usually survive a team wipe and can gather everyone up to rez. Teleport is nice to have when traveling long distances or when trying to skip around a zone.

Here's what I've been doing. I don't claim it is the best, but it made sense to me. First 50 character I just slotted whatever dropped. Sold whatever salvage and recipes dropped that I didn't intend to use. Only slotted IOs when it made sense to craft them as in I already had the salvage and recipe. Left some slots empty. At 50 started slotting whatever sets I wanted. By this time I had around 45 million. Not enough to fully go all 50s but enough to get functional just buying off the AH. I'll continue to slot as I make more inf and continue on with incarnate content. Going forward for alts I plan on slotting attuned sets when I can afford them. This to me makes the most sense once you have the inf to do it. Those level with you, give those nice set bonuses, and never need to be replace. The only caveat there is at some point I may replace them (well remove them via merit reward or respec) and put in boosted ones instead. The attuned sets also have the added benefit of keeping their bonuses when I exemplar down which I do constantly. So eventually on my main I will most likely have one build that is attuned enh and one build that is all boosted. That way I am good when doing 50+ stuff and when running that Posi 1. So to answer the original question, I think it is better to just slot as you go and sell everything else. Do NOT under any circumstances buy TO, DO, or SO. When the devs originally added IOs it made all the other purchased enh pointless.

Having just gotten my first 50 since returning I would be interested in running these regularly. Well any of the iTrials for that matter. My suggestion would be to try to coordinate with those running Hami and MSR. It seems as though a lot of higher level characters run those too so conflicting with one or the other could cause lower turnout then otherwise would happen. If we can all get enough of us familiar with how to succeed at these, them I'm sure we can start running multiple groups of them at various times to try to cover most of the players that would like to participate. All this stuff was added after I left live so its all brand spanking new to me :).

So much this. While picking up some defense and resist certainly helps, blasters are all about offense. No need to have defense if the other guy never gets off a shot. And I'm not even talking about DPS here though that is important. I'm saying that a blaster's first, second, third, and probably fourth priority is to take out the enemy. If you get pinked once in a while by a stray minion shrug it off and shoot again. Pop an orange and a purple if there is concern about a fight being tough. Soloing I get it. But on a team with any form of CC where the blaster is not the primary agro puller, defense is pointless and a waste of slots / powers.

Best advice I can give: As you play, slot whatever enhancement drop that are useful to you. Don't forget that you can combine same type enhancements together to get a + or ++ for that type. This means you can stretch the usefulness of a slotted enhancement for up to 2 more levels past its replacement date. Do NOT buy any enhancements either at the stores or on the AH. It is a waste of inf. Unless you are constantly wanting to fight mobs at +4 it just isn't needed. You'll find plenty of drops that help you fill out your slots as you play. It won't be optimal but you can worry about optimal on your next 100 toons. Once you've got a good bit of inf from selling drops you don't need, then you can start to fill in weak spots by crafting IOs at the university. I use the university because you can access the auction house from there unlike when in a base. Don't go crazy buying stuff. Just focus on +ACC and +DAM with some +RECH or +HOLD as your powers need. Recipes and salvage drop enough that you can usually craft a few useful ones and then buy a few salvage pieces to fill in. Do not replace any IO. Keep those level 10, 15, 20, etc... Just craft the highest you can at whatever time you choose. Most players craft at 12, 17, 22, and 32. Then keep those all the way to 50. If you do manage to get drops for set items you can use them if you think they are really good for your character. Normally you'll get more bang for your buck just by crafting them and selling them on the AH. A few in demand recipes or salvage and you'll be flush with inf. And yes, there are optimal pathways for slotting. It is more complex and requires a decent bankroll of inf to accomplish. Which is why a lot of players just do that on alts once they've got a few toons that rake in the inf.

My 2 cents for what it is worth: First you have to define balance. In my opinion, balance simply means that given a primary power set, a secondary power set, and an AT can you complete the task given? It should not matter that each PS and AT combination perform the same actions to complete said task. Balance means that for a given task there are some that excel at it and others that are poor at it. I think too many developers and especially players get hung up on "They can do it why can't I?" Being able to approach the content differently to play to the strengths of a build and avoid its weaknesses is the essence of balance to me. The fact that a particular set of powers allows you to skip to the end while another set is better off fighting to the end is just good design in my book.

While it is true that the entire game can be played and enjoyed with any of the billions of combinations of power sets it can be argued that a group exists the maximizes all possible buffs / debuffs. I don't know if it can be done with only 4 players. Therefore I propose the following (and a single toon could be in more than one category): 1. Any AT with -ToHit powers 2. Any AT with +ToHit powers 3. Any AT with -Regen powers 4. Any AT with +Regen powers 5. Any AT primary DPS 6. Any AT primary CC (either hard CC or taunt) 7. Mix of all damage types (Smash, Lethal, Eng, Fire, etc...) I would think that make up would be able to trivialize any content in missions 1 - 50 and all TF/SF.

This wasn't mine but a teammate the other night. Teammate 1: I like your Bio Armor Teammate 2: Thanks I made it myself Teammate 1: ...

Will toss my hat into the ring for this one also. Seemed to be any time I would zone into a mission all global channels would disappear and then reappear when I exited that mission. I did not notice if the drop out only occurs during a loading screen or if it happens randomly while in a zone as well. For me, when the global chat channels would disappear, the active chat tab would be set back to local. When the GC came back, it would go back to whatever chat channel I had set prior. This was playing villain on Excelsior

My main since live was, and now is, an Eng/Eng blaster. Personally, I have not run into many players complaining about the knockback since the game's return. It might just be that most of the players I team with aren't concerned about it and I'm usually mindful of making sure I don't rocket a mob into another group if there is a debuff on it. Understanding the strategic use of knockback is key. I've been thanked quite often for knocking an annoying melee mob away from the defender or knocking a running boss back to where the tank is standing. I also make sure to not target through the melee player. Then there is little risk of me sending their personal target across the room. I'm quite content to just blast everything else in the time it takes them to kill the one they chose for themselves. And sniping that last mob that is running down the hall is faster than waiting for the tank to realize it is gone, find it, and track it down :)

There are no conditional commands within slash commands. About the best you could hope for is what you originally set up. One possible solution would be to set up 2 sets of power activation commands. One that has target_enemy_near and one that doesn't. That way you the human can act as the "if then" statement.

In the past my main was an eng/eng blaster. I remember well tanks complaining about it when first teamed up until they saw my style. Then the complaints stopped. I would make sure to do one of two things always: 1.) Fly.... turn knockback to knockdown instantly. 2.) Use knockback to send mobs that were trying to run away flying back into the fight. I tended to avoid using the one main knockback power when in a group unless I knew that the mob would be killed or at worse fly into a wall or some other barrier to prevent them from sailing clear across the map. The other thing I tended to do was be mindful not to target the exact mob that the tank was hitting. I wasn't always 100% successful but it certainly ended a lot of grumbling by others.

iBot reporting in Sir! 8) Guess I'll have to download the game now ;D

iBot checking in... recognize a few names on here. Can't believe someone started up this game again. Good times. SG: THE Legion Captain on Liberty. I can't remember what the CoV SG was called. Lets see... Doc.. Faith... AlQuirk.... GEL... I saw ArcLight posted about starting up SG... gonna pop over there and check it out. Still need to download game. Maybe this weekend... really busy IRL :)