Lockpick

This is exactly why I stated to use AE to create new content. I really don't think people (The Live Devs, the current Dev team, or the players) are realizing how powerful AE can be for the game. Probably because it has a reputation for being mainly for farming. We have a great community of people that are very creative. We could use AE to do things like: Story arc of the month with titles and badge awards Create incarnate content with incarnate rewards Create story missions with merit rewards Create new task forces Create hard mode content Create new badges to go along with the created content All of these things can be done with some minor tweaks and some time commitment by volunteers. Maybe some people feel this way, but I have a hard time worrying about someone else. I am interested in what I find fun. When I first came back I was on a DP tear playing DP on various characters to find one to be my main. No one is going to say DP is OP. Now I am on a stalker kick. I could care less if a TW/Bio scrapper can clear mobs before I can in a mission. I can find ways to benefit a team no matter what AT I am playing and at the end of the day it is about enjoying the experience. On another note, I did want to mention that I really appreciate the Dev team bringing back this game. It was a horrible experience when it shut down and I could never find a replacement. Extremely happy it is back and wanted to express my gratitude.

Surprisingly enough, I agree with some of the comments @Noyjitat is saying, although I would suggest the tone is aggressive, which dilutes the message. Agreed, same with SWTOR. Buff, buff, nerf, nerf, buff, nerf, ad infiitum. Game balance is extremely tricky and you will eventually find yourself doing nothing but game balance. We have so many combinations with ATs, primary/secondary power sets, and epic/pool powers that there are an enormous number of combinations. On the TW front, who cares if it over performs? The set plays horribly from my perspective, so I assume people are playing it for the extra damage despite the quirky mechanics and if it is nerfed, you will see fewer players playing it. If everyone was playing a TW/Bio character my opinion might change a bit, but they don't. I see very few TWs when playing. I agree that the focus should be on "new powers or proliferating npcs powers, making new powers for incarnate and tf bosses to make them more challenging in hard mode trials. You could be giving us more difficulty options and those mentioned hard mode trials and that would give us the challenge we need instead of breaking everything." Many people optimize their builds, then complain about how easy the game is. Once buffs/nerfs are done they will do the same. There is no stopping this element, so I would suggest more options for power sets and new difficulty modes are the way to go. I would also like to see more rationalization of rewards and the ability to propagate content from AE to Live or at least provide rewards. Example - There is some AE arc that is supposed to be extremely challenging, but I have not played it. If it is hard as everyone is saying, why not make it a new type of Dev Choice that provides merit or incarnate rewards? Shift the burden of story content to the community and focus on the easy wins like bug fixes and new power sets. Of course, this doesn't mean to not buff or nerf where warranted, but it should be rare and shouldn't be a core focus. If 90% of the population is playing TW/Bio Scrappers, ok maybe a nerf is needed. That is not the case.

Currently working on a KM/EA and I'm not really sure how to slot Energy Drain and Energize. I am planning on: Energy Drain: 3 End/Recharge Set IOs 1 Energy Manipulator - Stun Proc Energize: 3 Heal/Recharge Set IOs Absorb Proc I saw some posts stating that Energy Drain is great for defense, but I looked at putting defense IOs in Energy Drain and it didn't seem all that great. What am I missing? Build:

I would be okay with that if the recharge was lower.

I would be fine with that. It would be an interesting challenge...

When looking at Tier 9 crash powers like Elude and Overload it seems many people skip these powers because they believe the powers only add to already existing attributes (such as defense) so the use is limited and the crash at the end is a pain. It seems many people skip these powers (I generally do as well). My suggestions is to add a minor accuracy and damage buff to these powers. This might incentivize people to take them because they are not just getting endurance and defense (for example) but some extra accuracy and damage to help with hard targets. It might also lead to more build options because you may be able to skip Assault and Tactics in the leadership pool.

I like rewards! I like having a goal to chase and getting a reward that feels worthwhile. I always pursue the 4 passive accolades because the rewards are nice and the journey to get them seems just about right to me from a standpoint of time investment, risk, and reward. I was thinking last night that it would be nice to get a passive accolade for finishing the 4 shadow shard task forces. I don't think I have ever completed all 4 task forces on a character due to their length and the pains of traveling the shard, so it seems to me a reward would incentivize the TFs. The 4 TFs are: Explorers and Exploiters: Dr. Quaterfield The Legend of Ruladak: Sara Moore The Saga of Faathim: Justin Augustine The Saga of Lanaru: Faathim the Kind For rewards I was thinking about several options: A passive that reduces the recharge time of the Team Transporter and Mission Transporter prestige powers by 50% A passive that increases movement speed by 7.5% A passive that increases defense by 1.5% A passive that increases resistance by 1.5% In addition to the accolade passive there there should be a title and badge for completing all TFs. Any thoughts?

All true... I thought the speed buff issue was a bug and would eventually get fixed.

You should really try as an Archery / Ninja Tools blaster. If you haven't played blasters much you will find the survivability much greater than Live. I can usually get blasters with soft-cap Ranged and S/L which make them pretty survivable. Add Clarion incarnate and you will have few issues. Mez issues are not bad while leveling as long as you take your first 2 primaries because with your first secondary power you can continue to attack while mezzed.

Has anybody tested putting Endurance or Sleep Procs in Electric Melee Attacks? I'm curious how the Chance of Heal Self and the Chance for + Endurance will work in some of the attacks to help manage endurance and health.

Why?

WHUT!? I may have to check out PVP...

I don't know that I could limit myself to one thing, but I will limit myself to 2: Mutli-Power Set Builds I would love to take a character and use the additional builds to level additional power sets. Maybe force the Primary to stay the same and allow multiple secondaries. I start off as a DP/MC blaster, but I want a DP/Devices as well I can level one build to X level and then switch to an additional build where I can select a different secondary I choose Devices and then have to start again from level 1 I can switch builds as needed, so I might be level 50 on my DP/MC and level 20 on my DP/Devices I would also add additional builds, so I could have a DP/MC, DP/Devices, DP/Ninja, DP/EM, etc. Extra slots I would love to earn extra slots and expand total slots for powers

I rarely exemplar. I play the character to 50 through a combination of solo story missions and teaming (DFB, DIB, task forces). Once I hit 50 I work on any of the 4 passive accolades that I haven't yet achieved and work on incarnates. I'll play that character until all incarnates are T4 and maybe a bit beyond, but then I start a new alt or take one that is mid-level and go through the 50 journey again. I'll occasionally pull out a shelved 50 to move around for day job badges, an iTrial, or for Hami raids, but for the most part they get rarely played.

On Stalkers I tend to use Ninja Run + Sprint (with Stealth IO) as my ground travel power and I will either take Fly or a Jet Pack for vertical movement. I usually get SS on most characters, but that is more for the extra stealth than just the speed. With Stalkers I don't need the extra stealth, so usually go with Fly. A lot of my builds will have 7.5% speed sets to improve speed and I usually will only take Combat Jumping if I need the defense. Otherwise I will just keep Ninja Run on. It's expensive in terms of endurance to run NR in combat, but I can always toggle it off if I have endurance challenges.

I thought it was a global proc and doesn't need to hit for the BU recharge to happen, so you could slot it anywhere. I usually slot the AM set in the T1 power just because it is isn't a damage proc.

The Preventive Medicine Absorb proc is global, so it shouldn't matter if it is in a passive or a click, right?

My build goals for Blasters are usually the same: Ranged Defense S/L Defense Good damage and accuracy Good recharge I like to play my Blasters at Range, so I prioritize Range defense. I have an Archery/TA and a Beam/Dev that I play at Range. Can't speak to the Fire/Ice. My Beam/Devices is a Hover blaster and my Archery/TA stays on the ground usually. Thunderstrike and Artillery are nice sets for Ranged defense and are cheap to boot.

This is my target build for my StJ / Nin, so I haven't completed it yet. For whatever reason over the holiday weekend I created several stalkers and got them to the 20s, so I have a ways to go. I did look at my StJ/SR, who is 50 and fully incarnate and he is a beast. I took Rebirth on him though for the heal and took more recovery in the build. I find the 59% defense to be overdone. It is great if you can get it without compromising other areas, but in most content where you need it you are probably grouping and getting buffs. I haven't taken this StJ/SR into +4/8, but I am sure he can handle it. My Savage / SR is able to handle +4/8 DA missions easily enough.

I'm not sure on Greater Psi Blade procs. I had gotten to a decent place with defenses, so decided to proc it out and see how it plays. This is an end game build, so will be awhile before I get to check it out. On defenses, my plan was to use Shadow Meld prior to entering combat as that will soft-cap all. Shadow meld duration is 15 seconds and recharge is 30 (24 with Ageless) so it is up over half the time.

Here is the build I am targeting, but I'm still in my teens. I went on a tear over the holiday weekend and created a bunch of new Stalkers I want to level.

On another note, I looked at your build in Mids and there is nothing wrong with it. You have good defenses and good S/L resist. I played a Stj/SR and it is a great character and I am now looking at doing Stj with SD and Ninjitsu. The good thing about Ninjitsu is you get the Heal power, which means your Destiny incarnate slot can be used for Ageless. I do think the Stealth and Invisibility is going overboad unless you are planning to take Phase Shift. If not you might as well just add a stealth IO to Sprint.

Since you are already 50 I wouldn't give up on the concept. I do a lot of builds around the natural Batman-like characters. Here is a build you could consider for this character. I would also suggest looking at other options for some of the temporary type powers to flesh out your character concept. You can get a Smoke Flash temp power from the P2W vendor as well as a Grenade. You can also leverage Day Jobs to get some of the Day Job Powers to help the concept. I would say 45% is still perfectly viable for end game content. One thing I do is get the Blessing of Tielekku power from the DA story Arcs to increase my defense a bit (2.81%) and I also take the T9 for emergencies. You can, of course, use inspirations when needed.

This is an interesting build and much better than the build I was planning. You have used some unusual slotting to get to a good place with hitting softcap in all 3 positions. I really like the use of procs. One question is about the AM - Chance for BU proc, shouldn't that be in LS for the 10% recharge set bonus? That is guaranteed while the FF may not hit. I would have never thought to slot Deflection for Resist; nice catch. If you go Ageless that will solve the end challenges and get you to perma-Hasten, so you could switch Alpha to Musculature. How does this build play? Do you have enough Accuracy for +4/8? Also, do you nee the Fast Snipe IO? I thought that was irrelevant after the latest snipe changes. Adding my planned build in case Fatalplus wants to look at an alternative:

Stalker Epic: Pistol Mastery (using the same numbers as possible from Weapons Mastery) Immobilizing Shot (Pistols Primary Animation with secondary animations of Throwing Dagger or Shuriken) Physical Perfection Executioner's Shot Targeting Drone Bullet Rain Actually, I would be fine if you could just take the Weapon Mastery pool and provide additional animations like: Web Grenade Pistols Shuriken Throwing Dagger Physical Perfection Shuriken Dual Weld Shock Grenade Throwing Dagger Targeting Drone Exploding Shuriken Exploding Grenade Bullet Rain Empty Clips I'm not sure if it is easier to build a new pool or add alternate animations, but giving the alternate animations gives a ton of options for player concept without worrying about maintaining a ton of pools.