Gulbasaur

Challenge accepted!

The Community Information Terminals let you see how much XP debt you've accumulated - I guess a screenshot of that?

Mediporter logs. Lord Recluse does not favour the weak. It would be better to turn yourself in and accept your fate.

I did that yesterday! Purple woowoo attacks from the psi blast set are typed. White ring mez attacks from the mind control set aren't You should be okay! I think that was probably the hardest mission so far for me, but I'm using control as mitigation and not defence and the added range that psi has made it pretty rough because they all basically got an attack in before I could set up the good stuff.

I think Mids assumes that all bonuses are on permanently, and that they stack, so if you have 3 powers with the FF +recharge proc, it will show you as having +300 recharge at all times. It also has some things that are just the wrong numbers. Report it and they usually fix it, though.

: O My gut feeling says you should do it the hard way. Hmm. My only issue (not that it matters what I think) is that there is no downside to this so it feels a bit shakey. Give yourself an additional challenge to "pay" for it and just be open about how you did it? Personally, I'd rather have an interesting and challenging gameplay experience than uphold the exact terms of the challenge or trying to find loopholes, like I am not levelling once per session (in fact I'm freezing XP at milestones) but I have to clear a zone's story arcs and zone events, meaning I'm levelling much slower and having to stay underpowered for much longer. I also can't avoid a mission I know might kill me - I have to take it on.

Yeah. I don't stream, so I mentally glossed over that. I mean, if I never stream then it doesn't apply, if I'm being obnoxiously literal-minded. I'm happy enough to give a Dogme 95-style confession of where I've strayed from the letter but not the spirit of the challenge as I interpret it. I have, after all, given myself extra restrictions. Perhaps not Iron... Stainless Steel? The same metal, but changed so that you can enjoy it over a longer time? Perhaps Fool's Gold given my character's location (iron sulphate, so it's extra punny)... anyway... One of the reasons I went for a Controller is that their powers tend to work independently of one another (once Containment is set up), whereas armour sets are often quite reliant on layering (additive improvements). That said, I had a couple of hairy moments today - Seers hit quite hard and psi attacks have enhanced range, meaning they hit me before I can hit them. I've also gone up against a couple of mez-resistant lieutenants, but they do most of their damage in melee and Time starts off with a pretty solid movement debuff.

Okay, thanks. I should be okay by the time I get to them. Yeah, same. I could hang out in Pocket D with enhancement converters trying to game the system, but that feels against the spirit of the challenge. My two luxuries so far have been the Energy Font proc and that super expensive +heal +end one because early game endurance is a pain in the bum. I've dipped below 50% health once or twice. Superspeed has definitely been worth taking a travel power for - getting far enough away while being under stealth has helped enormously. As lemming says, some ambushes follow you, some just hang out at your last known location. The other "ain't no rule that says I can't" thing I'm slightly unsure about is use of an XP freeze macro. On one had, I'm definitely using it to get more merits but on the other I'm spending longer at lower levels with fewer powers. It's the opposite of an XP boost and it's literally a game option that I've just shunted into a macro, so I'm on the side of "it's fine". Then again, swapping to -1x8 feels like it would be cheating because it strips out challenge, and that's a game option too.

I still think the way missions and contacts are handled could to with a standardisation pass. The Wards - you've got 10 levels to work through most of the contacts, which form a coherent narrative across two zones. The Hollows - Talshak the Mystic has a level range of three. The zone's story arc chain is actually quite good and ends in a trial, but it does it's best to make it inconvenient for you do to so. Striga, Croatoa and Faultline all have very good self-contained stories and the game does its best to make them seem like out-of-the-way backwaters. They each have missions in two halves, with two contacts for each half, and if you don't hit the level requirement for the next half the story just sort of stops unless you happen to go back there.

Oh good golly gosh this is very true of how I play. My ideal team is 2-4 people, still levelling. I do run my incarnate main around, but tend to do so in Atlas Park specifically so I can invite newbies who want to mooch experience when I just want to piss about a bit and kill skuls. There is no challenge to most of the game once you hit the top. I think there are three clear mindsets in playing MMOs (and games generally) that often interact but often have different goals: "Rewards are what makes it rewarding" - Some people judge how well they've done by how much inf/tokens/merits/gold/drops they end up with at the end of a session - they're the ones running AE farms, who poo their knickers if anyone suggests playing below +4x8, feign allergies to knockback and have amazing puns for names; "Challenge is what what makes it rewarding" - Some people will judge how well they've done by whether or not they've actually had to problem solve - they're the ones running Dark Astoria story arcs with a load of sidekicks and treating it like an escort mission, doing no-death runs and hitting 50 without using IO set bonuses; and "Fun is what makes it rewarding" - Some people just want to see the weird, unique maps, play being a superhero/villain and tell bad jokes in chat - they're the ones with multi-page bios, use knockback like a fine art and have six travel powers but can still hold their own. There are also players who will only do it if there is a badge to be won, those who haven't left Pocket D for anything less than a costume competition and those who enjoy the theory more than the practicality of build-crafting. Actually, the Bartle Taxonomy of Player Types springs to mind. All gameplay styles are completely fine and whatever you want to do is great, but for the love of Mot please use your words in the LFG. A speed clear attracts a different crowd to it than a chilled out Dad Jokes run. So, anyway... I completely agree. Mass sleeps can be a team-saver and can certainly be a solo-saver. I've had more deaths to poor tanking than poor control since joining HC.

They reverted the decision about a month ago. You can stream HC from your hot tub all day long. Edit because I don't want to spam this thread: I finished Nova Praetoria's four faction story arcs one experience point short of hitting 10 (not that it matters, I just thought it was neat). I hit 10 on an exploration badge and finally picked up my first AoE power which will help set up Containment and allow me to make better use of line of sight for safety. I slapped in the suddenly very expensive Energy Font ATO, which will hopefully be helpful (occasionally). It turns out it spawns on me, not the enemy, which makes it less useful than I was expecting. I had my first ambush-heavy mission and fared okay. I dealt with it by bricking it with superspeed to the exit and letting them catch up with me there, then methodically working my way back to where I'd abandoned the man I was "kidnapping". My next plan is to hit 12 and get that juicy debuff aura that Time comes with and using it to stay midrange for some extra security. Because of the Beginner's Luck mechanics, you can just about skip accuracy enhancements in very early levels but by levels 8-10 I noticed that misses were beginning to add up, which is important for Controllers specifically because the difference in damage with Containment is quite marked. I have to say, playing like this is really fun. Decisions definitely matter more than in tank and spank gameplay.

Do you remember the contact? I'm trying to plan for this mission specifically.

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I loved WoW's underwater zone of Vashj'ir. WoW, generally, is full of hits and misses and Vashj'ir was a solid hit for me. Sadly, I think I was the only one who enjoyed it. The story was well told and the added verticality was a refreshing break from WoW's turgid combat. Bioshock is interesting because while you are technically underwater, not once do you swim outside of the introduction sequence and that's strictly horizontal. The aquatic design in Bioshock is all flavour and doesn't impact gameplay at all (and that's not a criticism; it's a phenomenal game). Subnautica, on the other hand, has swimming (and later, piloting vehicles) in a three-dimensional landscape at its core to the point that the few times that you surface to explore, it feels a bit clunky. Add a zone with "pressure" as a debuff that adds an end recover debuff as you get lower. Add a zone-wide power that adds a flight power with the swimming animation set below the "surface". Floating islands with safe "pockets" like in the Shadow Shard but with Cimeroran architecture . Coralax doing whatever Coralax do. Give the Atlas Park blimp a whaley makeover. Slap down a few shipwrecks. Make all fire attacks elicit a quiet "tss". Bob's yer uncle - underwater zone. Please, contain your applause.

I've paused my XP at level nine to round out the Praetorian story arcs, roughly following Redlynne's guide. I feel like I've been bending the rules a bit, but I've been converting reward merits to inf to keep me in enhancements. I'm going to say it is okay as it's all self-generated. I'm toying with the idea of not using the /ah command as a roleplay thing. A downside of this slow gameplay is that there are no throwaway powers - I'm stuck with my choices for a while. There's no taking Kick so I can get Tough and Weave later - I am having to plan and reassess my choices as I go and base them on what I know will be coming up. It looks like I can put off the "ambush-a-gogo" missions until level 15, when I should have some AoE with me. At the moment, I have none. Crushing Field at level 10 feels like a long way away. My Additional Roleplay Rules Make a costume for every "faction" you join that has a defined uniform. If you've joined the Resistance, throw in a few resistance pieces, likewise Loyalists, Vanguard, Longbow etc. Wear it when working for them. Before you completely leave a zone (level out, complete all story arcs etc), get every exploration badge so you can code it into the Long Range Teleporter. If there are plaques etc, get those too. Before you completely leave a zone (level out, complete all story arcs etc), any zone events must be completed. Rules on teaming still apply. Entrusted with the Secret has be be got via story arcs. No respecs until you've done the trials. The free ones need to stay unused. You live with your choices. Miscellaneous tips: Superspeed's stealth field is good enough for most things. Ambushes will either lock onto you anyway or go to your last known location - not sure what determines which. Immobilise + corners = safety. Break up groups of enemies. Knockback + ledges = safety, although remember who you've knocked off where as enemies will show up later and try to get revenge. Several support sets are effectively midrange tanking sets - Time has a -ToHit and -DMG aura and solid -recharge (which is much more useful than I'd expected). Traps has Forcefield Generator, which has a mobile mez protection and defence. Kinetics can heal generously and does -DMG (though I wouldn't recommend Kinetics solo). Forcefields and Sonic both have mez protection. Storm has strong area denial. Day Job buffs are nice. Pocket D is a good place to hang out as you get ticks towards the VIP Pass power to code into the teleporter and the logged-off power is a nice, if short-lived endurance bump.

No doors. I looked. First, get onto the roof of the base. A good running jump with superspeed did it. Then you need to scale the decorative gold diagonal strut, jump onto the pillar, then work along the next strut until you get to the side. This is checkpoint one! The building tapers very slightly and the windowsills are standable onable - if you move back enough, you can jump up to the next ledge. Scootch back, jump up, get the next ledge, repeat. There is a second checkpoint plateau about halfway. At the top, you need to drop down again into the middle, get the badge and take a few screenshots. Superspeed's new jump momentum mechanic meant that I could make it as long as I kept going. I had to hop on the spot or pace along the ledge a bit to charge it up a couple of times. Think of it like your character trying to build up the nerve to do the next jump. Ambitious felt like an apt badge to go for.

Is this still going? I've got a controller I'm running Goldside I'd like to sign up. Character name: Brightwarden

Started up a Gravity/Time controller in Praetoria. Going pretty well, so far. I'm only level 5, though. Holds are better than armour because an enemy that is doing nothing is doing no damage and an enemy on the other side of a corner is also doing no damage. Took the first three attacks to get a semblance of an attack chain going. Will pick up the heal next, then the AoE immobilise, eventually a travel power and then the debuffs. Not a huge amount of need for them under level 10. I've decided I'm not allowed to move on until I've also go the zone exploration badge, which isn't too hard. I might try the zone events too, although they really need more people. Edit: I went for the Ambitious badge, because I felt it appropriate. I'm not a flier. I may come to regret that decision when I get to the mission where you have to record yourself at a media thing? I can't remember. What I can remember is that you get about 30 enemies at once because ambushes are hard-hitting. Last time I did it by standing on a building and sort of punting them off the side?

I go to my main, a blood widow fortunado. Fortunatas are such strong generalists that you can drop them into any team and they'll be useful. Running Tip missions in Atlas Park is my default "I don't know what to do" activity. Invite lowbies along, talk rubbish, nuke the minions and taunt the bosses. I've also got a storm/water defender I like playing, but he doesn't scale very well and needs harder content because setup on a stormie takes such a long time.

Procs that affect you are great in auras - if it goes off once, it goes off once... and that's enough for you to get the bonus. Procs that affect enemies less so - if it goes off once, it only goes off once and that's a bit rubbish. The Gaussian's proc in Tactics is great if you team because it rolls a dice separately for each player and pet affected and if one of those is a success, you get the Build Up effect. On a full team with a couple of pets, it can be equivalent to having Build Up active 25% of the time on average.

I don't care that I'm breaking the placeholder chain. That poster is gorgeous. Looking forward to it!

Even if they didn't, it's likely their lawyer(s) told them to act like they were under one. Making announcements prematurely or being too free with things that were discussed behind closed doors is usually seen at best as a bit annoying, and at worse as a breach of trust.

I mean, there's so little benefit to doing +4x8 unless you're farming that I really wouldn't bother, personally. Do what you enjoy. Looking at my build, I don't really use a lot of them. They tend to solve problems I don't have, if that makes sense. Lots go hard on fire and cold resistance (meh) or tox and psi resistance (you get a lot of psi resistance from Mind Link and toxic damage isn't enough of a problem to be a problem). My opinion: Contagious Confusion: either in Confuse (it has a good enough proc rate to be worth it) or Aura of Confusion (it only has to proc on one enemy to be effective and basically adds a +1 effect to the confuse, basically letting you confuse bosses. I wish there were more IOs like this, it adds mechanics, not just a flat bonus. The SoA ATOs are worth upgrading, because they're just the first set but better. This should be your priority. Hecatomb is pretty decent as a set. The +15% accuracy and +10% recharge are worthwhile. There are a few purple damage procs that are worth using. Non purples: The Preventative Medicine proc (in Health) is worth its weight in inf a thousand times over. Fortunatas have scaling resistances, so anything that gets better when your health is low is more valuable than it looks because it all multiplies. I quite like Power Transfer in Stamina as well - it adds a passive healing effect that goes off enough for me to think it's worth using.

I've just noticed you've skipped the single target Confuse - that's a power I consider unskippable! Enemies who aren't attacking you but are throwing round control effects, buffing you and nuking their former allies are one of the more fun parts of playing a fortunata, in my opinion. The Contagious Confusion purple IO is one of the better "special effect" IOs, in my opinion - it adds a second, no-notify AoE confuse effect. Confusing lieutenants is always worth doing, and going for support enemies (ritki guardians, shield bots, sappers, those longbow controllers etc) is a fun little minigame you can play. Confuse + Aura of Confusion is enough to get most elite bosses. If you get good at timing the purple triangles, you can also enlist AVs and Heroes to play with you.

The only thing I'd really say is to make sure you're whacking out control powers as much as you can. What you lose in hit points, you gain in the ability to confuse an AV. Your build looks pretty solid, otherwise. I generally try to fit at least one damage proc into all the attacks - sometimes two. Fortunatas a profoundly middle-of-the-road for damage, so more procs means you can be a bit crunchier. I think they're a bit all-or-nothing. Either they proc enough that it's near-constant (my storm/water makes good use of them, energy, peacebringers etc) or they only shave a few seconds off. Personally, I think damage procs might be better value. I use Provoke all the time on my fortunata! They can tank quite capably. I skip Hasten, as a rule, but I understand why people leave it in. Grant Invisibility can hold a defence IO, useful for LOTG or one of the +RES ones, and useful for keeping lemmings alive for a bit. Teleport Target (old Recall Friend) is very useful if you sidekick up lowbies and I use it more than you might expect. I'm a quiet fan of TT:Vengeance; you don't need it often, but when you need it you really need it. It's a fairly good defence buff with a decent-enough heal and all it costs is someone else's death. It's another one-slot wonder.