Pious Heretic

Disconnected from Mapserver. Now I can't log in at all. In the middle of a Citadel TF. ☹️

I almost cried when this game came back. I immediately recreated all my heroes, including my first ever hero from 2004, which was an AR/Dev. AR/Dev is a ton better here than it was on live, and as yet, I still only have two max level characters. The only one I play regularly and work on Incarnates with is my DP/MA Blaster, not the AR/Dev, a character that despite holding a special place in my heart, is still only 41. It is astoundingly fun, and thematically, a great combination (to me). Forget how common they are or aren't. Just run with it.

I like it. I see you removed Eviscerate after all. I take it you're of the opinion that the activation time makes it unnecessary? Also, I thought the math didn't favor procs in toggles? I had considered Achilles' for Beta Decay, but I was under the impression that toggles just weren't a great place for them. I'll give it a shot, however.

This character is already well into Incarnate content, but as I'm not great at putting together builds, I'm wondering if someone else might poke around and share some thoughts about it. First, some notes: I'm largely chasing recharge. Radiation Therapy, Particle Shielding and Ground Zero all seem to beg for as much recharge as you can get. Shockwave helps with this, as Force Feedback procs frequently in large packs, and it doubles as a reliable soft control to stagger incoming damage. Shadow Meld is for alpha absorption, and can double as a panic button. Another reason I'm chasing recharge. This is where the build gets Schizophrenic. You'll note that I have a bunch of Melee Defense, but don't actually soft cap outside of Shadow Meld. My reasoning was that, as a resist set, I didn't need a full time soft cap if I could thin the herd by the time Shadow Meld wore off, and/or I were intelligently using Shockwave. For the most part that's true. Further, Particle Shielding's Absorb effect does wonders in mitigation all on it's own. I'm debating whether I should remove Eviscerate. When it crits, it's a beautiful thing, and it actually does work well as a single target attack against stronger targets, but it's by far the longest attack in the chain, and I can put together either an AOE or ST chain without it if I had to. Unfortunately, I haven't crunched any numbers to see what is mathematically optimal. I actually chased down Spiritual as my Alpha here. Again, Recharge was the key, and I thought the extra Healing might help with regard to Particle Shielding and Gamma Boost when health started to dip. Again, I'm open to other opinions. This is also the first build I've had where only one-auto fire ability is really annoying me. I want Hasten and Particle Shielding to fire every time they're off cooldown, and as an already busy build, it's more of a nuisance than usual. Anyway, undoubtedly most people around here are cleverer than myself so if they have anything they want to contribute, I'd like to hear it. Thank you. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: Claws Secondary Power Set: Radiation Armor Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Strike -- Empty(A) Level 1: Alpha Barrier -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 2: Slash -- SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(37), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(40) Level 4: Proton Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(5), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7) Level 6: Spin -- SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(11) Level 8: Super Jump -- Empty(A) Level 10: Fallout Shelter -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(43), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(43), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 12: Gamma Boost -- Heal-I(A), EndMod-I(15) Level 14: Follow Up -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(46) Level 16: Radiation Therapy -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(17), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(19), Pnc-Heal(19) Level 18: Focus -- Apc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Apc-Acc/Rchg(21), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Apc-Dam%(23) Level 20: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(48) Level 22: Beta Decay -- TchofLadG-DefDeb(A), TchofLadG-DefDeb/EndRdx(39) Level 24: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 26: Eviscerate -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(27), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(27), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Obl-%Dam(37) Level 28: Particle Shielding -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(29), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(29), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal(31) Level 30: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(31), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), UnbGrd-Max HP%(34) Level 32: Weave -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(33), Rct-ResDam%(33), LucoftheG-Rchg+(40) Level 35: Ground Zero -- SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(37) Level 38: Meltdown -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(39) Level 41: Moonbeam -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(42), StnoftheM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(42), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), StnoftheM-Dam%(43) Level 44: Shadow Meld -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Membr(45), HO:Membr(45) Level 47: Shockwave -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(48), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(48), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50), FrcFdb-Rechg%(50) Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13), Pnc-Heal/+End(13) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(15) ------------

I don't know anything about copyright law, but I'm not sure what the playerbase's bargaining chip is in this situation. While it's true that NCSoft would play hell trying to shut down every private server, they don't have to. They only have to cut off the head of the beast if they're really interested in throwing their weight around. Moreover, there's little indication that they care about, or even have to care about western markets. Finally, in this day and age, attention spans are short. There'd likely be some initial e-drama about NCSoft being the devil and a greedy, heartless corporation, but consumer's don't actually tend to vote wisely with their wallets, so I'm skeptical the negative press would affect their bottom line in any meaningful or lasting way. I'd like to see Homecoming stick around. The market and Merit Reward system are miles better than what we had in live, and I've spent an unhealthy amount of time with the game since I found CoX again, but I have little faith in NCSoft's ability to act in a manner which fosters good will toward a base they were eager to step on 7 years ago, particularly when I don't see a reason for it. I truly hope to be proven wrong.

If you're turning a profit, then buying converters isn't economically unsound. The only difference between purchasing them with influence vs merits is potential profit. Of course, this is also contingent on what Yomo Kimyata is saying. Even if one is inclined to use merits instead of influence, it's wise to treat them as if you just burned 100-300K per conversion. If not, you were likely better off just selling them directly.

I'm really bad at the market. I've made boatloads of influence, but I'm bad at it. I actually do get stuck on the in-set conversion game occasionally, simply because I have a deleterious visceral reaction when I want that one valuable piece of the set. Usually, this happens if I hit a good enhancement category right off the bat. So if I convert a terrible IO and get healing, and then on the second convert get a Miracle or Numina's, that's the situation that starts the crazy train rolling. For me, the probabilities (20% chance of hitting the valuable IO) work in tandem with the welling frustration that I'm not hitting the odds (several converts later, I still don't have it), and a blind spot develops to the fact that each convert is an independent event. Here, the overwhelming compulsion is to convert until I get what I'm after as a matter of "principle". Although I recognize how absurd this is, in the moment my mania is overriding better judgment. It's a niche case, but one I've gone through several times nevertheless. Even so, I tend to break even within the scope of that IO. In any case, given your average situation, it probably isn't worth your while to bother with in set conversions, although it seems to me there are edge cases where, confronted with serendipitous conversions, attempting one or two may be worth while. Luck of the Gambler is such a case. Most pieces will sell for at least 4 million influence, usually 5, with the global recharge often going for upwards of 7. Starting with a non defense set IO, if within 2 conversions you're sitting on any piece of LoTG (converting from any other category to defense, and then again within defense), one or two in set conversions keeps you under a million influence spent in total with a significant profit potential for hitting global recharge. I would find this acceptable. Whether anyone else does is up to them.

Smoke and Mirror's may be boring, but it's definitely the best bang for your buck when considering merits/hour. I've been running it on my StJ/Ice Stalker. My best time is just under 6 minutes. I'm sure someone else could do it in under 5 1/2.