Snarky

I am running a concept toon and Energy Melee fits it well. I actually like it which helps i am using the base invul build with blank attacks from Hyperstrike. Then added some Brute ATOs and 2 winter sets. I got Energy Res to 55%. To me the build looks sloppy still i use P2W jetpack for travel i took energy mastery both END powers, AoE cone and ACC (that got a Reticle in it) it’s not a horrid build. Probably just new builders jitters lol. On to the main topic; Energy Melee. I did not take the first power, or Taunt but grabbed the rest. Pretty standard Brute stuff. The set looks damn straightforward to the point of boring after playing SS, KM and DM. Just hit things or place the AoE and choose when do i hit build up. Which is kind if a nice break after SS and forced time outs, KM and its really odd attack chains, diff for range, melee, groups, and bosses. And of course DM which is always about planning

I ran ss/invul brutes and invul/ss tanks on SOs when i first started back on live. If you carry some blues you will find the sets are already monster strong by then on SOs.

No.

I just leveled and am starting to incarnate a invul/ kin melee tank. I am shocked by the good AoE and (gasp) range. The KM animations are....unusual. The buff power is mostly useful against tough bosses due to the building up aspect. I created him as a Magic Tank Mage and that is literally what he turned out to be crazy spell casting and all. Generous AoE no doubt about that

Isn’t this the hyperbolic chamber? Orchestra?

I run a lot of Dark Melee. Much like Super Strength ( in a very different way ) it is already a very strong set. It provides a swiss pocket knife for helping your build play well while still doing top not h ST damage. The changes to Tankers, honestly, are not well tailored to benefit Dark Melee. However, any benefit to Dark Melee makes a very good to great set (depending on playstyle and enhancers) a Great to Incredible set. As we all know moving the dial up once you near the top is not easy. This change gives more Damage Buffs easier to hit End replenishment, makes Shadow Maul marginally more useful (and i have learned to like the unchanged version) so, no, the Tanker changes were not spectacular for Dark Melee. But when you are already flying a little tailwind is just fun

I have a 50 Dark/Dark Brute i shelved with no I/O. I am sort of unsure how to i/o it. Since i get distracted about as easy as a kitten in a room of laser pointers i started thinking about the Tank changes and whether i should do the concept as a Dark/Dark Tank my questions for you good (and villainous) Tankers has to do with the strange Dark powers that semi-stealth the character. I really like the entire Dark Armor set. Does this not work well on Tanks and does it interfere with Tanking? any ither thoughts in tanking on dark i may need to look out for. oh and lastly does anyone have a real upscale dark/dark build. Pure resist. I dont trust Def on this as it evaporates. Or a Brute, i may end up there lol

I joined a Posi 1 yesterday led by a returning player. Yeah! Yes i kicked them some inf. Welcome Home they were level 10. I politely reminded everyone about the need for a level 15 leader or the Doc Buzz hatefest issue occurs. He threw the star to a 22. Who had their level at +1. The first mission was tough. They were like should we keep it for the rest of TF.? I am on a future fire farmer Brute and have just burned through every medium insp i had stocked to stay upright We set to +0 and continued. It went okay until the last mission. 2 peeps jumped up by city hall doors. Two team wipes. One person quit. Then we finished. Time 59 minutes. This is more or less an average Posi. There are a few 40 min runs but not enough to say that is regular. The three TF i do most are posi 1 2 and Synapse. I generally am throwing i/o on my Brutes from the go and know content. But the teams generally struggle with anything more than +0

I dont love speed runs. I like to get stuff done. Did a posi 1 and 2 tonight. They were both a little rough honestly and we wiped hard at the end of posi1. 2 peeps ran to the door while we were clearing. After 2 team wipes and one quit we got it completed. I will not quit a regular (speed?) run no natter how ugly it gets. But i prefer a regular run not a difficulty raised run. I earn the same merits at normal or +4. There will be no purple drops. Just get it done

I run a lot if Task Forces. Mostly pre-35 stuff because i alt a lot. I ran 7-8 Synapses during the week it was offered a bonus. I try to run Posi through Manticore on my alts pretty much in order to see if i like the concept and AT as much in order as possible Generally this is pretty smooth for me. I run in Everlasting and it is a spectacular server to alt on. Friendly folks. More than once a PUG team i joined has offered to level someone by running papers if they were just short of making the level cut 95% time it goes real smooth. Okay nothing is perfect though. Sometimes we load into a TF and are fighting enemies that are obviously +level. I go back check my conversation tabs. Did i miss info stating this was running at a higher difficulty? Nope. Sigh. i was just informed in another topic thread that if i want “speed” runs it is up to me to advertise for those. If i accept a place on a TF i am bound to whatever the team leader decides, And it is my fault for not communicating i want a speed run. i do not consider +0 speed runs. Especially on Synapse. I firmly believe if someone is setting up a team to run a TF at anything besides +0 they should mention that. what are the opinions of the wise people of Locker C18?

If you do bot advertise you are running a modified task force or bother to tell me before you lock the team and hit go do not expect me to stay. I am not captive to your whim. You advertise Synapse then i join i help you crush it. If you wanted peeps for a Synapse +1or +4 you are responsible for providing that information. My psychic powers are short one fuse and not working.

I hope you put it in your advertising for the TF. About 10% of TF i load into these days i hit the 1st mission and it is +1 to +4. Hmmm news to me. I will usually post something like “are we running at +2?” If i get the least blow back, lije “well of course”. I quit. Not rage. Just quit. I run a lot of low level TF for merits, badges and char power exploration. The only exception i make is ITF. That is a known AE type madness magnet. If it is not posted as +level i just roll with it. But anything else I am pretty much out after one question.

What levels and how do we reach you?

I Brute a lot more than i Tank. That si because my playstyle. Not because the Tank is not great at what it does. The thing is a lot of people do not realize what a Tank does. Really. It is a melee Controller with one if the most powerful forms of NPC control in the game. Played to this strength and in this role there are NONE better. Shoehorned into a ghetto Brute or Heavy Scrapper and then you start being able to talk about how crappy Tanks are. They are like a shield. Used correctly you will be ecstatic. Used as a club and you will be complaining about what a horrid club they are. Can we add spikes? Maybe put a gun on the outside? How about lasers? Its a shield. Period

I think Dark Melee will benefit more than it looks like at a surface glance. The set has always been odd and i run it a lot on Tanks and Brutes if the cone becomes more reliable to bit multiple targets with. Well nothing wrong there. But it is the PBAoE in the End recovery and Buff power where i believe the true benefits will be. Larger patches mean those powers will be way more useful. End recovery moderately so, being easier to maximize, but the Buff? I am guessing that could be the treasure here. Hitting more targets and getting more reliable large buffs

I believe i was thinking of a Decanus who did more out of combat organizing than anything i know most of my interest peaked around the time i read the book “ Ranks of Bronze” as i went through a David Drake phase. Cheers

Merits badge. Plus its how i learned the game before we had the options. I earn fastest at + 0 and i run these things endlessly. I am okay (not super happy but okay) with a bunch of Leeroy Jenkins at +0. Less so at +1. Not okay at +2. Angry at +3. And really pissed at +4. i used to run Brutes on SOs for about a year when i first started. Before level tailoring and when bridging still existed. I still remember being on a SS/Invul Brute in the low 30s on a team running at +4 to my SO build. We were about 4 missions into a bunch of papers when the leader sent me a tell. “Wait, you’re what level? I thought you were like 1 level below me?” I ran into every group picking the weakest targets that did the most debuffs, drains, or other special attacks. My armor allowed me to shrug it off and the SS allowed me to just hit the targets. So i can run hard. But i dont have any desire to carry a PUG team through madness because a leader wants a little extra experience off a Penelope Yin TF. Go find a farm or a PI team. I need my nightly merits. so boring? Maybe yeah. I jump into combat when i can even on Farms on my Brutes if they have armor for it. I still run a lot of Invul builds. But there i an not carrying the team everytime someone goes off exploring and pulls back completely new agro for me to somehow magically deal with

I try not to be a jaded WoW type player that looks down on people who dont know the mechanics or berates people who struggle honestly i am not a great player. I run mostly Brutes because i like to bumble through the game like a bull in a china shop i was in a team doing a Posi 1. Even at +0 we had some dicey moments and deaths. Team splits and just a fustercluck. We are in the last mission and it is hard to get everyone to focus on getting the 4 heroes. After i post “DONT GO UP STEPS please”. Then fly over and see a teammate hop right up to city gall doors. It was a ugly team wipe. We had to clear a lot to get the doors open. But we finished it in like 1:05. I am not happy with that but i am not spazzed out by it. But when you start a low end TF at +2 to +4 w/o even a courtesy mention you are doing that? You pretty much stand on my one raw nerve. And hop. I will stay with a +1 started that way. Grumpy. If the team is doing well. Or if in the AD it mentions the conditions and why they think they got it nailed. “Expert badge hunters with perfect team trying +2 synapse. “ Okay. I will Brute that. With a strong Brute. But just blind drop my butt into a +4? Nope. Not happening. But i snark for fun. Not to be abusive and bullying ti my fellow gamers. Just to poke fun at the universe. And i want fun. Not impossible grinds for little rewards

Been a long time since i geeked out on roman legions. Wasnt there a non com type at the end of each row about one every ten guys that more or less kept the line tight?

Masterminds. I half love and half hate the concept just from the ground up. Then there is the matter of non customizable pets never been brought up before i know. If you could make the Monarch from Venture Bros or a Necromancer who had ONLY zombies it would help. I do like Robots. oh and finally. I really really no really suck at playing an MM. i seem to vaguely recall desperately trying ti get my pets to help me outside Fort Darwin. In my memory they were attacking a manhole cover and i was getting beat down by snakes. Probably just a bad dream. But enough to keep me from going back for more

What? Wait! They did it? Am I reading that right? If so that will breathe some much needed enthusiasm i to my slowing energy on Tanking all Redside content lol

You never led anything that was boneheaded stupid?

I asked about this some weeks ago and after listening to some discussion was left with the impression it was all up in the air. is it still up there somewhere? Or has any of the dust started to settle?

Yeah i quit another one tonight unfortunately. I really wanted the badge on a lvl 20-25 redside tf. But it was set at +4 with no mention. I tried for half a mission. But CoT at +4? We were getting nowhere. It wasnt even a rage quit. I just sighed and turned off the comp. Did a ITF later on my main. Lot of lowbies so we cleared it Oldschool style. I am okay with that. Just not getting dumped into an impossible TF with no notice that it is dialed to FU. Did a lot of crafting when i logged back on. About 65 enhancers converted using the merits from the 7 Synapses i ran last week lol. Cash is good. Why are people making the TFs impossible?

Save the game? Looks around. So my game was dead for years. Now i play every day with any TF or team rolling like a non-stop train. I put a list of 6 oddball TFs i needed for my badger. Knocked out 3 in 2 days just responded to LFG ads. Have been running endless Synapses this week or would prob have them all done. Zero organizing on my oart. Just going with the flow. save the game? My game has been saved. I am grateful for the 1337 geeks who have saved it and are working HARD to ensure we have a future. save the game? Really? I’m too old for this crap.