Cutter

I'll ask about that.

So he keeps trying and still no luck. He is unable to access a shard - when he clicks any of them, the game goes to the character select/creation screen but it's blank and immediately displays the unreachable server message. I know he's on wifi, newer computer that should have zero issues running the game or maintaining a connection. He's able to join other online games issue-free. So it's gotta be something specific to COH. Honestly it feels like a lost cause at this point.

I'm trying to get a friend into the game but he is running into issues getting past the shards/character select. He has previously been able to get to the character creator and make a dude. When he tried to complete character creation & enter the city, he wasn't able. I don't remember if he mentioned any error messages, it's been a while since he tried. This weekend he gave it another shot. coming back a week or so later. He can get past the login screen and see the shards. When he clicks on the one he originally made his dude on, it displays the character page but it is blank and there's a message that the server is unreachable. Clicking OK on that message asks if he wants to go back to login and lose his place in the queue. Click yes. Back to login, the game gives a message that he is already logged in. Click OK to clear the message. Logs in a third time, gets to the shards page, clicking a shard just sends him to the empty character page with the same server message as before. Rinse and repeat. (He also tried clicking a different shard with no characters & it put him through the same loop.) AFAIK he has checked his firewall settings to allow the game. Is this possibly going all the way back to his initial failed attempt to get into the city after character creation? What else could we try to get him up and running? Thanks!

Never gonna win awards, but having discovered that the name Supererman was available (on Excel no less), I kinda had to. He's way better than the other guy.

I've been sitting on the name "Beaufort" on Everlasting for a while, trying and failing to put together something that clicks. So we'll see what I can do with this. Yeah Storm/Storm is obvious and kinda on-the-nose, but it might fit just fine. Dunno. I usually stay away from beta just so I don't end up tired of a set before it goes live.

Thanks for the insights both of you, and the build @Meknomancer. I'll have a look for sure.

Does anyone play this primary? I looked through the last 10 or so pages of forum posts and can't find anything about it. Did the i27p5 changes back in October make it terrible? Was it always terrible & the changes didn't help? Inquiring minds want to know! (if it matters, I'm looking to pair it with /Elec)

Oof, that feels rough. Good to know tho! Definitely sounds like a 4th ST attack is in order somehow, either Gash or an epic blast.

Thanks for the insights there, and the build to poach from. I expect I will take Gash while leveling and then see how it all feels come 50 & shinied out.

Great advice both of you, thanks! Looks like I need to find a space in my pick order to grab Gash, at least to try it out. Only L17 now so it shouldn't be too much of an issue I hope. (So far I've been relying on the prestige attacks to fill out my time between Chop and Pendulum activations.)

Thanks, that's very useful info! Re: attack chain & slotting into Gash if I may... the few builds I've seen posted all seem to skip Gash. Looks like ST chains are some combination of Chop > Swoop > Cleave > epic blast? Is that the general idea? Or should Gash be taken and slotted up as well (or instead of one of those)? All in your opinion of course.

I never played BA back on live. I am slow-leveling a /BA tanker and quite enjoy the crunch, so I thought I'd try it on a scrapper to see how it feels there. I found the dumbest name ("a ninja with an axe") and had to run with it. I've looked through some of the most recent BA-related posts and am not seeing much consistency in builds or ATO placement. Is there a generally accepted ATO wisdom for this primary after the rework? Thanks!

Thankful for all the respecs we get!

Yeah that would make sense. As far as the build goes, my struggle isn't so much the making, but the deciding what gets left on the floor. Like I don't know if I need both T1/T2 blasts, or both of the punches, to have solid rotations. And how to decide on the extras (like FoT) that don't fit into a damage role. That evaluation isn't one of my strong suits. And yeah full responsibility for the PL on this guy. I hadn't considered a resist-based epic armour. Something else to think about.

I'm naturally averse to powers with a low base accuracy, low mag/low duration effect, and high recharge. And on a damage AT, doing none doesn't feel like a plus either. All that said, if I've overlooked some obvious synergy or benefit, I'm happy to be steered right. Again, I built as I went along during very rapid leveling, so most of the picks and skips were based on quick, surface level evaluations.

Hello blasters! I'm dusting myself off after several months away, and figured starting a new dude was the best way to avoid falling back into a rut. I don't play blasters much, which seems like it should be another point in the "will this hold my interest?" checklist. Oh and also my Mids exploded so I am flying blind. I've leveled up to 42 on the back of the mapserver event, taking powers more or less as they come and worrying about rebuilding later. I do plan to exemp/Ouro down to run through low-level content so I need to be mindful of that. Finally, no real budget concerns to speak of. That preamble out of the way... how do I build this? Up to this point it feels like I have way too many powers and not nearly enough slots. I don't think that enhancing the build as-is will result in a satisfying experience. Or does it really matter now, since I'm likely pushing to 50 & filling in slots at the end before I start to actually play, making the "when I get slots" thing a moot point? (or should I bite the bullet & reroll post-mapserver and play this guy up the "regular" way?) From a quick search it seems like I've skipped the most obvious/consensus skippable powers in my primary and secondary, which means I'm now at a place where I need to start making the hard choices. I'd like to make room for Tough/Weave somewhere in here. Also picked Cold Mastery because I haven't run a patron arc, but I believe the general wisdom is to go redside to grab Scorpion Shield? Or, for blapping, is it better to go deep into Cold all the way to Hibernate? Many thanks in advance for advice and recommendations!

Thanks! I actually had it on a different character a year+ ago, but couldn't get into the groove so deleted and left the name out there. I tried it on her after I had kinda sorta settled on the mask, and was shocked that it was still available.

It's a tale as old as time: alien crash-lands on earth, gains superpowers due to <insert "totally normal phenomenon that interacts weirdly with alien physiology" here>, decides to use his powers for good, completely fails to grasp the concept of sarcasm believing it to be an entirely serious and meaningful compliment on his attire, takes on a hero identity based on this misunderstanding, completely fails (again, and repeatedly) to grasp that at least half the time he's being mocked for said hero identity, keeps fighting the good fight. It's a bird! It's a-- ow my eyes! What hideous pattern choice is that anyway? I mean, who even does that?? Oh yeah, it's... CAPTAIN SHINYPANTS! (in all seriousness tho, I really like the Malaise pattern & figured the best way to go about it was to pair it with a simple and classic heroic look)

In response to @Troo's latest Slot Machine challenge, I rolled up a Dark Blast/Nature Affinity Corruptor. This one took a while to come together, and it's no lie to say that I went through a good half dozen entirely different designs before landing on this one. She ended up being a departure from what I initially expected to be a "dark heart of the woods" kind of character.

Giving it a go for another year. I found an RNG site that rolls to 2 decimal places so I can take full advantage of the tables. Following the Troo plan of making 3 rolls and taking the "best" (with the personal twist that any combo I already have, as well as Brutes & Tanks in general (I have far too many of them already) are auto rerolls so I can actually have 3 options to pick from.) 22.98 - 29.54 - 97.02 = Controller, Elec/Trick Arrow -- uhhhh.... 40.44 - 5.17 - 53.29 = Defender, Cold/Fire -- would you believe I've already 50'd one? NEXT! 12.17 = Brute -- NEXT! 32.11 - 22.56 - 40.42 = Corruptor, Dark Blast/Nature -- hmmm.... and also jackpot winner apparently. 0.30 - 69.75 - 38.07 = Blaster, Psi Blast/Elec -- meh? So I'm not super down with controllering right now. And the blaster pairing really doesn't excite me. Which means by process of elimination it's corruptor or bust! I've got a Nature/ defender here on HC so I'm reasonably familiar with the set, but I haven't played dark blast since a D3 on early live. My gut says this will be hanging back and throwing cones for days, but I guess we'll see. Now to find inspiration for a look, which is of course the most important part of the whole process... EDIT Ceramic is up and running on Excelsior! Rather than repost all the pics, I'll just link to the costume thread for the finished character design. EDIT the second

Back from a break with another cow. Yeah, I know. I'm still on the hunt for interesting chest & back details to make the Ascension belt look a little more integrated. This combo feels pretty close. (As an aside, I would love to see more chest detail pieces with fronts & backs.) And I'm branching out slowly into more adventurous colour combinations. Took an existing name & re-rolled into an Elec/Atomic blaster... CATTLECLYSM

Sorry to make you wait, I haven't been on much in the last few months. Randomly hopped on tonight to see if I can find a new broot build to respark my interest. I don't have the build export but I'm happy to attach the mids file for you. Hopefully there's some nuggets of goodness in there for you! Mooclear Winter - Brute (Ice Melee).mxd

Of course. Just hope it was a cheap cut!

Dunno the cut, but that big slab looks a smidge overdone...

Sadly my Mids doesn't want to update so I can't see what you've got there. But I'm happy to share mine in case you're still looking for ideas. Maybe a nugget of corn in there...