Scarlet Shocker

Congratulations on your marriage. Trust me, if you got married in Paragon, Recluse wouldn't dare show up! 😂

If you have a bad experience on one server, don't play on it. We've got 5 to choose from. I'm curious why you felt the need to relocate if you were happy. One thing I didn't get from your post is what your personal goals are. I've played on all servers and I choose them according to my need and goals. I'd add that you have 1000 slots per server and you get 5 swap tokens per.,, week(? somebody please confirm refresh rate) so you can take toons across. My own personal experience is that Excelsior farmers tend to be uber-focused on their goals so you may not get the best response to meet your needs. Try something different. Maybe? I have been playing on Excel recently because I've been farming Cupid and that worked exceptionally well for me. I am not naturally a farmer - my shortfalls are less about inf than about merits etc. Do what works for you.

Clearly this is such a positive assessment of the game I can say only one thing to the OP: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! whatever it is, however you do it, that is clearly not the way. Do something else instead. No I won't tell you what to do, you have to work it out yourself. But on a more serious note, welcome to one of the best games in computer gaming history. You've landed on your feet and I wish you many hours of joy and fun.

I actually think Spirit Tree works fine as is. I cannot speak to Triage Beacon because I've less experience with it but one of the biggest issues with this game is powers creep. They work. They are useable, skippable and slottable to your preference. You can use is as you will without a need for it to be buffed or given extra powers. It's clear that those who have posted in this thread who do not take it that they don't seem to be missing much but others who do take it appreciate the benefits it gives. There's also some middle ground so I'd suggest that the power is in exactly the sweet spot: It works. It isn't a "must have" pick and is skippable if you want. If your play style determines you should take it... then do so. If not... Personally I almost always take it. That's my play. Yours may differ and that's perfectly ok. Don't change the power

she's been nobbled!

I think I've seen that on a couple of maps, where they seem to be somehow incomplete and broken. I think mostly the missions ended quickly so it wasn't an issue, but my memory is hazy

Manticore Dickory Dock Justin Sinclaire's such a cock He got in some strife and murdered his wife but never got put in the dock

yes, but your stupid clown soon cheered it up again!

I think this discussion says more about playstyle than power efficacy. If you move fast and plough ahead you're probably not going to find Spirit Tree or any static power to be of great benefit - especially if you don't want to destroy all in your path. But if like me you're a player who prefers to go steady, get all the xpees you can then it's a great benefit. Horses for courses so to speak. As always that's one of the great things about this game that I don't experience so much in others - I can play may way.

It's science or tech movie magic

A friendly earworm for big teams! 😂

I'd also add I've used it a lot in the Weddings, and it's excellent there because the kill zones are close by. It'd fail horribly on Numina or similar but I am not one for speed running at the best of times so I'm happy to kill slowly. If you work well with a good taunter, you can do a great deal of damage fast. Plant has some amazing AoEs, so with Spirit Tree keeping you going and the tank keeping most of the aggro off you, you could breeze through most instanced maps Two Plant/Somethings and a good tank would be completely devastating in most scenarios I reckon.

you could get someone like Starlight from the Boyz to sprinkle fairy dust all over a giant green rage monster and then he'd be Star Spangled Banner I'm here all week!

Spirit tree is excellent It's doubly excellent once you understand its limitations. It's not a heal, per se. It's description is pretty accurate - it's a regen power that is fire and forget and it benefits your entire group so if you can get the mobs to come to you, and it's slotted well it helps greatly. Personally I tend to only stick a couple fo good heal IOs in it - if you have Hasten I think you can get it perma so it's always there when you need it. I have a few plant trollers and I always take it because its cost is very small for the benefits it brings. I would imagine pairing it with Traps and Triage Beacon would be fantastic. 100% regen

So.... he wasn't dead. He was just restin' a... snarkoleptic, if you will I was going to say I missed you but I've taken to slotting +to hit

Oi! Healix! No need to get salty! 😂

I never knew you could get cheese from cottaging!

ouch. I've made similar errors but not to that extent. I hope you have plenty of inf left lying around

I can see why you went there but that genuinely wasn't in my mind! The name is a clue but I'm afraid in this instance it wasn't that Eddie

I'm genuinely better informed now. Serious thanks forthcoming. I knew about the rabbit thing, interestingly due to Sir Stephen Fry and QI - but not about the culinary evolution of the sausage but it makes a lot of sense and many many cultures still have a huge reliance on saucisse as part of their culinary culture.

We get many many threads - and have since I've been a forumite, both on live and in the various successors that basically start; "How can I make XYZ character?" There'll be discussions of power sets, costume options, pool powers, origins (one of the few times that origin in this game has an actual impact, which I find interesting.) There will also be many admonitions based on "please for the love of all that's holy, just don't" and I'm very much in that camp so you will understand I have a certain bias in this thread. I hide my bias unashamedly for several reasons. The first is simple pragmatism. That is the best and fastest way to get the game shut down and the game's history shows that. The second is that... putting it politely it's boring. I can read comics about a guy who gets angry and turns into a green rage monster. I watch the movies (avidly I must add) and I've even played the games on occasion but those are less satisfying to me. But those stories, those characters... we know them because of their deeds written by others. We know them because their creators gave us a great fantasy gift that we love and cherish and take to our hearts. Before comics there were myths, legends, heroes of might and magic and even holy books. Perseus, Thor, Jesus are all great tales of morality and heroism in the face of adversity but they are created to dictate a tale to us, to give us a way to think rather than to think for ourselves. If we create those characters as replica we have nothing more than a simulacrum, homunculus, or more bluntly a cheap ass clone. That is dissatisfying on many levels, because we don't have our own story, nor do we have licence to create our tale for ourselves because ultimately we are handed the character from the hands of another. We are not in control and anything we do with a character here is going to be a tiny imprint in a macro image. But I do have sympathy with the idea that we are inspired by another tale and want to bring that (or something close) into our world. After all, we are all about stories, and stories of great heroes, deeds and world shattering events. So we look at that and think, what if...? I get that we love comics and heroic fiction and the costume creator gives us great options to create our favourite comic characters in the game. I've made great versions of Darth Vader, Moon Knight, Dr Doom and many others, just to see if I can and they look fantastic. But then I look at them again and think much as I enjoy the stories of Marc Spector, Logan or others that I love (and I do tend to prefer more left-field characters I admit) I recognise they ain't mine. What if I want them to be mine? That's the question. What if I want to take the story of a comic/hero I love and admire and make it my own? Concept is everything. Hulk is not original. It's simply a retelling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but done in a more modern age (actually fewer than 75 years after the original and we're almost that far ahead of Hulk.) And that tale itself reflects Gilgamesh and Enkidu, one of the earliest stories known to man. So you don't have to be original. In the 21st century that's very difficult and many would think it's crap because it has little or no context in which to frame it. But what if you find a character you really love and want to make it your own? How does that process work? What do you do? Where is the origin? What are the power sets? here is a character I've just created. It stemmed from a bit of word play, teaming with a good friend, plus a bandying of ideas. I will not tell you who the homage is to, I leave you to guess. I will say there is no input from Alan Moore. But it was clear to me that he was a vegetative character. Plant based and not exactly a warrior. So he had to look very plant-like in the costume creator (why is there not a mobile version of that? #rhetoricalquestion) Here's the origin story I wrote: Yes, that's very janky because that's his bio in game and I'm at my character limit (is that a pun?) That's my homage - but I hope sufficiently different to anything anyone's got in print with a (C) symbol to ensure that I won't get genric'd nor will our beloved game be imperilled. But I know what trumps all of the above: I get to write his story. I get to decide what his future path holds. I can mould it to my whim. I can take external events and decide what happens to him, how he evolves, is he going to be a hero, villain or something in between. And nobody's ever going to look at him and think "meh, Batman clone" So where, in your mind does that line cross? Homage vs rip? What makes your character original to you?

I am not worthy @Luminara /em does 23 cardboard salaams and tips hat backwards #bluebottle I genuinely love that what I posted as a throwaway comment turned into something educational. I know about the eggs thing - I have kept chickens in my time and we do not wash our eggs in the UK so we just stick 'em in the fridge or on a shelf and they almost never go off. But I have to say your description, whilst detailed, informative and yet concise left me wondering "WTF made them think that was a good idea?"

Suck, don't blow!

It looks similar because if I were to respec I'd reuse all the IOs as best as possible. Primarily for economics but also I don't think that build is so bad as is. As for damage, I don't mind killing stuff slow. I play a LOT of controllers so I'm fine with tickling stuff to death. I also hate speed runs so quick kills are not a thing I deem necessary. In most cases, the primary roll of a combatant is not to win, but more importantly, not to die. Sustainability is a major consideration. I do like the thought of test servering it. I've never tried it. I might persuade a buddy to join me to do some testing. This is a good question. I don't often exemp past 50 and if somebody needs help I will bring the character that best suits their needs if I'm exemping as a favour. If I'm doing it because of TF reasons etc or merits, they need to be good but they don't need to be the primary leader. A good example I just went from a Tinpex on her to a Manticore (see related post in GD) and she performed excellently on both. Not invincible but creditably. I do like the idea of takign down tough AVs either solo or in small teams.

so there we were on a Manticore (pronounced Man-tickory) TF and I happened to be zooming through Faultline when I was... rather perturbed to see this. I mean, what dead adults do in the privacy of their own home, I'm good with that. Die and let die as the saying doesn't quite go... But doesn't sausage go off when left outside for too long?