Scarlet Shocker

Angel of Mons is now 50 I'm struggling with a build. I thought I'd got something good but it proved to be a bit disappointing. Lighting OSA has been a challenge to date. I've only had Apprentice Charm to do it for most of that journey and on SBB that's not viable. I've been working in Mids and I can't divine easily how much I'm debuffing To Hit which is the main strength of this toon - is there a way to do that? I'd be interested in seeing your ideas for a build. I should also think about incarnate powers and I'm curious to know what you good people recommend

We know that every mob we come up against has a range of attacks. We know that the more powerful they are the more attacks they have. We know tht some signature characters have some interesting stuff going on (See Personal Stories if you don't believe me) So I'm building a char and it occurs to me that an enemy (I have an amorphous AV in mind) is attacking me back. Imagine for the moment we are one to one. S/he has a variety of attacks, probably about 5 or 6 at that level. What determines the attacks they use once we are in combat? How are the decisions made for an NPC to attack me? I understand that if I'm at range there won't be many melee attacks aimed in my general direction but say s/he has 3 range and 2 melee, I'm outside of melee distance, what actually determines the next attck used? Is it the next cab off the rank? The most damage dealt? A random choice? Cthullhu made me do it? A Nemesis plot? What I'm driving at is simple: Is there an attack chain that NPCs use? Is it predictable? Do they all use the same chain (or not)? etc etc Knowing your enemy's move can save the day.

This is basically it. I don't wanna be constantly button mashing but I actually want to be masterminding my pets, while they deal with the enemy

I have rolled a Beast/FF but I'm thinking a Bots/FF needs to be made too. I dislike the look of Bots... they look too dated for the modern game IMO (yeah I know, we don't even have fingers so why complain?) but they just do

You make some very interesting points. I'm not sure Stealth would work. I do use it a lot on squshies... I use it as a means to get from A2B with the minimum of hassle, as a mule for LotG, and as a last resort to boost my Def, which is less than efficient but if you got it and slotted a global rech, a +Def and the movement speed isn't so expensive for just one slot (though in my case my diverticulitis reminds me that movement speed isn't all it's cracked up to be) Group Fly: I have so much antipathy to it because of its rep and the fact I hate when folk use it on me... but I do see where you're at there. Storm is amazing as a set. I'm a big fan and you get Freezing Rain as a T5 - it's Sleet only accessible much earlier and one of the best single power debuffs in game. Plus I love knockback. I think those who bleat about it need their head seeing to... (although I do remember on live playing a scrapper and having an energy blaster target through me so I almost never hit my target) Let's assume I make a Bots/FF, what do I take as an APP, and also Pools?

I dislike Sonic for the effects (if you're a Brit and old like me you'll remember ReddyBrek adverts and understand some of this) and I think Liquify is seriously sub par. To my mind, Sonic is less useful than Thermal which isn't really a stand off set (but does have some yummy debuffs and helps keep the nastiness at bay. O2 Boost is delicious - provided that you keep reminding yourself that it's not a heal, it's a superior buff with a tiny heal component. It's pretty well like Clear Mind only faster and more useful. On teams with lots of Mez it's beautiful but nobody knows how useful it is because they never get mezzed and forget to thank you for keeping them in the game 🤣

one of the things I like about Traps rather than say FF or Storm is that it's got a good self-heal.

I've been interested in making some "Stand-Off" characters (you might see the thread in GD) By Stand Off I mean that I can stay relatively still and my enemies don't get close enough to me to do me damage. I'm having great fun with a Dark/TA troller currently but I wanted to try an MM. I'm not keen on the original MM pets but I'm thinking Beasts might be a very solid "defensive" choice - I've had experience with them before and enjoy them and given they are mostly melee, they'd be good at destroying anything that gets too close. I'm thinking maybe /Traps or /Storm as secondaries - Traps is probably a lot more "Stand Off" but Storm can just throw stuff around so if they get close they can be sent to the corner right away. Any other thoughts as to what would work as a Stand Off MM? I'm open to all suggestions despite my stated preference.

That's what she said!

In other news, moles are now in charge of terraforming our planet and creating new mountain ranges

There's a significant story progression between 1 & 2. I believe that Posi 2 is basically higher level to encourage players to choose them in order when at a playable level. If you've never done them before they add to your knowledge and understanding of game lore, so to have them equal or lower levels may give you the wrong orders It's clear as mud, I know but I believe that is the intent behind it

I genuinely didn't know this... we do a lot of the TFs with little time to read the missions and then ... we have to do them again! 🤣

Oh you poor dear. Let's go back to where it all began

Feel free to come up with something better

As you and others point out, it's imperfect. But as you have ably and eloquently also stated, nobody's under any obligation to use it. Personally I'm a bit of a fan - it makes my life much easier to get the best out of my toons and enjoy the game to the max. Are they amateurs? I do not know - I've no skin in the game other than as a user but I've always found the team responsive, helpful and appreciative of any input I've given them. But it's worth pointing out that a massive chunk of this project is run by amateur volunteers who give us a great gift and countless hours of joy. Mids and the team behind that are part of that joy in my book. Perhaps they need some particular skilz that they're lacking - if you have such, why not volunteer your services? (Not aimed at you personally but anyone who can do wrodecangling)

Slightly disingenuous considering it's a volunteer project run by people who have to build on what's gone before and collate their data from multiple sources. Yes it can be periodically problematic but IMNSHO it's an invaluable took that helps me enjoy the main game immensely. Patience young vampawan

Tommy Sabbath, with a big fookin' axe is probably ok, as is Salad Bloody Salad as a plant/pain troller

ok this is a slight diversion from the main topic but I'm getting a sense here that Doms may leverage Mag increases more? I have very limited experience of doms and generally find them underwhelming. Am I missing something there?

My God, man! you're asking me to recall a specific instance in almost 20 years of playing this game. Dammit, I'm a player, not an analyst. /em bones Truthfully I don't recall - I just remember getting stuck and dying because the BF I popped wasn't effective. It's not a singular occurrence.

I agree. I just don't like making people look stupid in public. Well... some people...

So... Break Frees I'm guessing that they remove Mag from status effects affecting the PC, holds, immobs etc. I'm guessing the better tiers of those remove more but do we have data as to what their actual effects are. I've known for a long time that often I'll need more than one BF to release myself but I'm hazy aobut the actual levels they "fix"

If a Troller or Dom is running ahead of a team with a Tank, I'd suggest something's gone a bit wrong in that scenario

Does Overpower and Containment affect Mag in any way? I have little idea how those things actually affect the game in a meaningful way. I suppose I should.. Overpower is weird because apparently it was always there but hidden, and then it appeared and then it seemed to go away and sometimes it shows up again

I forum on a different machine to the one upon which I game but I shall endeavour to sort something. It's a good point.

so... I guess the next question is how to increase Mag on a specific power. Is it just procs or can it be boosted in other ways? I guess there's no way to increase the duration of a power? (If there is I've been blissfully unaware of it)