Scarlet Shocker

Don't misunderstand me. I love Kin melee as a set. But I've heard from a number of sources that it's very sub par and it does seem slow but in playing it I never found it to be too lacking. That said I'm not an experienced tanker so I am not the best informed. Overall I found that particular toon to be very capable as a tank on a team. Solo she sucks. But more importantly I have a Kin character and I don't have a stick so the choice is swayed by trying what I've never done before

I have an Elec/Kin tank and I do really like her but I've found that Kin is VERY slow. Not just a bit slow but almost to the point of being a controller slow without the AoE dps. I like your thought process but I think I'll pass on Kin. I do like the sound and feel of Energy Aura - I've never played it and on live I did have a War Mace/SR brute which was quite devastating so I think I might try something different. So far I'm leaning towards a Staff/En Scrapper - that's three new things in one toon.

My instinction tells me you might be true. To cut a long story short this is gold.

surely if I'm hitting someone with a stick, I'd need to monitor my combat logs? Joking aside, that is an interesting option. I rarely play melee and I think I've only played Staff once if ever. I got bored with hitting people in their feet but... that with SR.... hmmmmm Thanks! 🤔

Gas Station!

Many of my concept toons start with a name. That comes to mind and then the build fits around the character as required until I'm happy with the overall idea and it gets built and then levelled. If you've read many of my posts you'll have recalled Mesmermaid, Glass Fox, Vitric Vixen, Red Fedora, Tainted Gloves and Voice of Scythia to mention but a few and of course, Scarlet Shocker. Many of my characters have a musical hint to their names (there's more than one in this post already) and usually I can find something that works reasonably well to give that idea some realisation in game terms. A good example might be Reservoir Frog who is a simple enough costume, a Frog face and a formal suit (Piranha face of course) and often sporting dual pistols and some kind of debuff power. But Spandex Ballet has eluded me since live. She came to mind listening to some 80s trash way back when but here I am with a great name and no toon upon which to hang it. I have tried so many different iterations but it simply hasn't worked properly - which is I freely admit basically a gut feeling. But this one... just can't get it to stick. I've tried Heats, Veats, all kinds of AT, even MM but nothing has yet gone "this is what it needs to be" and I'm stuck. So... throw it out there and ask you lovely chaps and chapesses what you suggest would be a great fit for it. I see it as a female toon, and probably quite energetic, fast moving but... that's where I'm stuck beyond that. Over to you and thanks in advance

Ice Blast used to be the most potent ST damage I believe. I think Stalkers have the highest overall burst for a single attack but I don't think they can sustain it over their entire attack chain but an Ice Blaster is devastating but does have some wicked AoE too. I have it in my mind that TW did get quite a hefty nerf - so pays your money, takes your choice.

Allegedly! 🤣

I quite enjoy revisiting characters I've not played in a while but sometimes I'll take a look at their slotting and be like "WTF?!?! What was I thinking?" and that in itself is a new lease of life as I rediscover their foibles, strengths and weaknesses and also what I liked about them in the first instance.

when you have a tiny hole in your pocket and suddenly you're pulled through that tiny whole WHILE STILL WEARING YOUR PANTS you might find yourself in Pocket D. The reason it's all pink and fuzzy is because you're actually right next to a giant DJ Zero's scrotum! Now all you gotta do is ask yourself "Why would War Witch be there?"

poor kittens

/jranger Unnecessary thing is unnecessary

to be fair, whenever I make a female toon, I always dial the tits down to their smallest setting and yet they're still mahooosive!

I've never really enjoyed costume competitions. I get why they happen and I've come up with some pretty good designs myself, even if I am blowing my own trumpet but the whole competition thing fails to move me - and it seems so random which costume wins. If I'm teaming with someone who's got a good costume I'll tell them that I think so and that's pretty well good enough for me.

I'm having a shit tonne of fun with this. It's got to be one of my favourite toons ever! She's only lvl 48 but is already very potent and feels quite tanky. Even without being properly slotted she seems able to lock all but the strongest mobs down and batter the living daylights out of them. Squishy as hell and if anything does get past she can faceplant suddenly but that doesn't happen too often. End use is just becoming manageable. It was difficult in the late-30s, early 40s but as I've managed to get some slots out there it's looking much better.

Earth/Poison is a strong combo but of course it has borked synergies. Earth has a lot of AoE to hit multiple targets and Poison is largely an ST Impresario. Proccing is good, but don't forget that you can also use your P2W attacks, get other Temp attacks fairly readily too, so you can mitigate that way. I find myself disagreeing a bit with @Wimbochismo - I am not saying he's wrong but we clearly have a difference of opinion here so you are the lucky one who gets to decide what works for you I'm a big fan of Quicksand - I would not lose that, but I don't know your play style. I always take Envenom, Weaken and Neurotoxic Breath and I will usually take Paralytic Poison - it's a non-damaging power but does add extra hold value. I do often skip Alkaloiod and Elixir of Life - useless when solo and not much help on an 8 man team. If you're in a duo with a buddy, then maybe. I will also skip Salt Crystals and Stalagmites - but that's my play style. Sorcery is ok, I'm not a huge fan of the attack powers, I prefer Force of Will but Sorcery does give one of the best travel powers in game. Pay your inf, take your pick. If you're somebody who likes to stand back and keep at distance, you probably won't get too much value from Venomous Gas - but it is good when mobs get up close and personal. Again; balance vs play style is your watchword here. You might also want to consider Concealment pool. Stealth falls off in combat, but it does allow you to get close to mobs (especially if you slot a stealth proc in on of your run powers) to catch them off guard with Earthquake etc. It also allows you to slot a LotG 7.5% recharge for not many slots. You'll want a lot of recharge. Hasten is almost mandatory here. When you get to your APP/PPP powers - Ice or Mace works nicely. Thematically I guess Stone works too but I've got little experience of that so I can't give you an opinion. Whichever way you go, have fun. It's a great combo and really comes into its own at higher levels.

Mind/Dark perhaps?

Quick update. I think the concept has failed. All the variants I've played are a lot of fun - one iteration of Glass Fox is 50 and Vitric's not far behind and they are fun to play. I'm actually enjoying Vitric as a brute, which is unusual for me. But the notion of them being one and the same person, sharing the same body - well I've just not been able to pull that off even in RP (which I am not great at to be honest) so I'm thinking I might shelve this for now. It doesn't help that my altitis got me distracted but that's par for the course in this game but I just wasn't able to work out how to make the two seem like one. I know I was pushing the boundaries in a game which makes individual characters the focus of the playing experience so I do not see it as a game limitation but I have definitely been overambitious and failed to really get this off the ground. That said, I have enjoyed leaving shards of glass in my wake as I much through mobs! Both characters are pretty competent and powerful and it's been fun to explore powers I'm not so familiar with so I've definitely got some great experiences out of it and I will continue to play them and have fun

I think you'd need to be a little careful there - if VEAT parts were available to all characters, there's little incentive to play VEATs - but I am a great advocate for VEAT characters to be able to mix and match their costumes.

some really great info in this thread!

because vampire?

odd name for a character

Doesn't matter. The name is enough. Imagine creating an Arachnos VEAT and calling it the Amazing Spider Man.

Agreed! There are instances where you'd just like to keep the outfit and take your helmet off. But as it currently stands you get one VEAT outfit and nothing else - which seems limiting. So far as I know the only specific Arachnos costume items available are the "Special Helmets" (there's a name for an SG right there) in the CC