Gulbasaur

I actually have similar setup - defence hovering between 30 and 50%, scaling resistances (with IOs, I start at about 10-20%), a teeny weeny bit of absorb from procs and no heals other that one incarnate power and some inspirations... and I eat AVs for breakfast and I can tank if all my teammates are lower threat than me. It's a setup build that looks terrible on paper but in practice works really well. If the first shot from an AV knocks out half you health bar, the next one won't be any time soon and even then it'll only do a fraction of the damage. I've left my character on auto and gone to answer the door while fighting a +4 AV and been none the worse for it when I got back. In +3 or +4 stuff, I only really use my incarnate heal if my teammates are in danger - as long as my health is out of the red, I'm good to go. Living on the edge is a fair assessment, but you can live there for a reaiiy long time and once you get there it's hard to knock you off.

Preach, sister. I am, in game, a massive showoff. I know my builds. I know what I'm doing. I will make sure everyone else knows this, too. I like my effects to be obnoxious and I need flexibility. I love the epic ATs because their hybrid playstyle allows you to smack the proverbial biscuit out of the proverbial mouth of almost every single archetype at least once (then leave before anyone notices that if you had to do it any longer the flaws in your terrible plan would immediately become apparent). Need someone to tank for like 20 seconds? I can do that. Need someone to nuke a second mob we've pulled? I can do that too. I loved levelling my peacebringer because I can funking punch a funking boss across the funking room and then turn into a giant tank monster, teleport over to the floundering brute, gently lift all the aggro of his furious little head until he recovers then turn into a prawn and fly away. It's fun. It's cool. It's versatile. I like the visuals. I know they're sort of middling in terms of damage and I give not a single funk. Being able to one-up a brute like that is sort of magical (but you leave before anyone notices you're doing a fifth of their damage in dwarf form). My current love is a fortunata and I think part of it is that, with me on your team, you are guaranteed a pink and wavy time. People know it's me who just wiped out the second spawn we pulled. Before I was fully tricked out in IOs and procs, I'd been called a steamroller and literally had someone say "whoa". If you want to feel glorious and get noticed, psi is the way to go and fortunatas are so much fun. You can dye the whole screen shades of lilac and make your teammates thank you for it. I recently duo'd a bit with a really cool brute which was great apart from the fact that I could out-survive him in every single battle we came across and he knew it. He thought it was funny, luckily. I was fully IO'd out and he had just hit his alpha incarnate, so that's understandable, but it was still a "BEHOLD MY GLORY" moment. I had to go and answer the door while up against a +4 AV with him on the floor and when I came back I was still standing... I loved that moment. I got a brute to 50 and it was fun but sort of too easy. My stalker felt more technically complex but I didn't truly enjoy it until the epic pools and sneak attack fireballs for everybody!!! That was fun. Not quite fortunata fun, but still there's something very satisfying about a sneak attack explosion. I also took a few support powers from the pools on my stalker, which helped my hybrid obsession - spirit ward is an excellent "I forbid you to die" power and generally gets comments in teams. So... yeah. I need to feel flexible. I need to be able to kinda do everything, even if it's not for very long. Single-focus ATs really don't do it for me and even when I've tried with them they end up garbled mishmashes of power pools and epic pools. I feel a bit like a twat writing this all, but it's true: I have one criteria and that's "allows me to show off".

Honestly, at this stage I'd move my main over happily. I am getting the feeling that the people who joined me for a bit aren't going to come back any time soon.

No, I'm just saying they're the same. I also have a mind/storm controller and had one on Live, but the fortunata is the one I play the most. Both times, I sort of hit a wall with my mind controller - they sort of hit a wall.

I play fortunata, which has the same powers on the same cooldowns and I'm not sure I'd reduce them at all... I've got MC up every other spawn and TD would be about the same if I slotted it- I use it as a "oh dear, the brute's about to faceplant" power with a couple of damage procs. Unless I'm solo, I find it quite hard to justify using it. If anything, I'd increase the duration or something like that... 10 seconds is enough to get maybe 4 attacks in under usual circumstances... or maybe add a slow effect to it to follow on so they come out of it groggy or something. I agree it's a bit of an underwhelming power for anything other than a 1-2-3 with the mass hypnosis and terrify. Mind control peaks early and then sort of plateaus. I'd just be happy if Containment included fear as a status effect that triggers it.

Is there such a thing? I'm mostly solo, but have a SG for some friends who sometimes do join me so I sort of want to keep it... but it'd be nice not to feel like I'm in such an echo chamber. Are there any Coalitions of roleplayers out there able to take someone in on Everlasting?

Stalker ATOs are, admittedly, an anomaly as they are mechanic changes rather than little buffs now and again... but I can't start a stalker without buying the two ATOs; they're that good. I sorta think the ATOs need a second look generally as their vary between game-breakers (stalkers) and almost pointless (periodic tiny heal on a kheldian).

I'd say controllers were pretty easy. With Containment, they're just below blasters in ranged damage (1.1 vs 1.125)... but their first shot is much weaker (0.55) so even if they only get one shot with Containment, they're still pretty powerful from a raw damage perspective. Debuff sets are outstanding on controllers because of this synergy. There is a big difference between set choices, though, possibly the biggest variation in the game in terms of utility and attack chains (some controllers never truly get one, some are rocking around with a full chain by level 4). This is true of support sets generally as debuff sets will fare much better than buff sets solo, but controllers also have a fairly big variation in their primaries. A mind/rad controller is an absolute beast, or a fire/ or illusion/... but the secondary makes a huge difference. /time, /rad or /dark will have an absolute cakewalk... /empathy or /kinetics not so much (or maybe, but very late in the game). I'd argue that controllers actually find it hardest to have a clear roll within a team. Back before Going Rogue rewrote team dymanics, a controller walking onto a team was a sign that you were in for an easy ride. Now, we all play like villains (frenetic free-for-all) so sleeps and holds have less value as many teams just DPS their way through. The fact that dominators can, well, perma-dominate means that many controllers get to about level 40 and start questioning what exactly their role is on a team. Anyway, should they all be able to solo to some extent? Yes, of course, and they can. Should they all be able to take down +4AVs? No, but plenty of debuff support sets can and have been since the earliest days of Live. Back in the old pre-CoV days, rad/rad defenders had a reputation of being able to solo anything given enough time.

From experience, they're not buggy but the way they're implemented is a pain in the arse as each hit can cancel any subsequent ones. As soon as you can get one to T3, it becomes useful because there's only a 25% chance to cancel-on-miss for each hit.

That's fair - I didn't realise that controllers could crit for a +1 Mag... I feel they sort of lost their sparkle after while as it is now, much like tankers have to brutes. They're never the best at anything. I'd argue that's more because people perceive them as weaker because of their history more than anything else, and not realising the ATOs are transcendently amazing.

That would be so good. The idea of alternate inherents has passed through my head as well.

I've found the Cimemoran one very good - he basically hangs around in his undies dropping heals on you.

What would they be? What's your imaginary "if I were a dev, I would have done this differently..." balance patch? I have a real problem with the Defender one, but I used to main a kinetics defender so I was running round at damage cap with a "more endurance please" button. It was genuinely pointless. I would add a recharge boost to it - the problem is rarely a lack of damage or endurance, it's that the big-hitters are on cooldown. It's just not on the same league as the other inherents, or at least it's not consistently useful across the powersets. Dominators and Controllers have it the wrong way round, in my opinion: controllers, who have a hard and soft control focus, should have had the one that made them better at control and dominators, who have a DPS focus, should have had the DPS one with a lower base modifier to compensate. Stalkers don't need the additional 3% buff per teammate - they already crank out a huge amount of damage. At the moment, they have a 31% base to-crit on a full team as well as guaranteed crits from assassin's strike and hide. The fact that the ATOs synergise so well with their mechanics is a mixed blessing - yes, reliably being able to hit for 1k damage every 15 seconds or so is fun, but it slightly trivialises a lot of combat. Stalkers started out poor, but they were buffed so far beyond scrappers that I really wonder what they were thinking - they aren't any less difficult to keep alive than scrappers (and are easier in groups as they generate less threat) but can get their crit chance up from 31% to 100% by using a critical hit with the ATO and there is still a 31% chance the next hit will crit as well. I think scrappers are basically fine - it's a mechanic that just happens in play with no management, which suits the "I just want to run in and deal some damage" playstyle of scrappers. Brutes shouldn't have had the pokevoke - it has completely trivialised tankers (and dwarf-form kheldians) more than anything else. The fact that they don't have to work for melee-range aggro is just silly; the second they get an AoE tank, it renders Gauntlet useless. High threat rating, taunt auras and powers - fine - but a taunt-on-hit on top of that is too easy. Masterminds were originally envisioned as the CoV tanks with an evil mastermind sending her minions into the slaughter - so why did they make one that so clearly goes against that? Tankers are being looked at, but personally I'd have boosted their crowd control abilities as controlling the flow of a crowd is that they do best, but the range increase looks like it does the same thing from a different direction. The kheldian ones are interesting - there's a period from about level 20 to about level 40 when a kheldian, on a full team, depending on composition, can out-blast a blaster and out-tank a brute because they get a lot of passive damage and resistance bonuses on top of anything they get from powers. However, the difference between solo and team play is night and day so I feel like the payoff is justified. The VEATs have a really unexciting boost to regen and recovery, but it fits their theme and makes life slightly easier. I like the design of the VEATs generally - there is something elegant in the fact that they have fairly standard defence secondaries but share them with their teammates. It's a shame that widows are literally build from scraps with a total mishmash of powers... but they sure are fun. Corruptors; Scourge is decent - it's a significant DPS boost, with conditions. Masterminds - eh, a bit underwhelming, but fine. Blasters' stacking damage bonus is nice and the mez-proofing solves a major problem they have. I kind of liked the old 'seat of your pants' version, but I see why they changed it. For reference, I played a stalker and brute up to incarnates, and I think they're slightly too good at what they do for balance purposes. The EATs have it about right. My defender on live never, ever, ever noticed the inherent, even once - I remember the patch that introduced it and noticing zero difference before and after. Controllers are the only other one I'm really super familiar with and while the extra DPS was nice, being second tier at control and support puts them in a tenuous position.

I totally agree with you - the problem isn't the mechanic, it's people who play carelessly and you see that across all powersets. I think knockback gets a disproportionate amount of hate because its effect is fairly visible. Controllers/dominators who immobilise, hold, sleep or fear enemies before they can get into AoEs and people who drop AoEs in completely illogical places like the wrong side of a corner or at some arbitrary point in the middle of a room - I've seen that happen on many occasions. Do you think you'd have the same reaction to that? They're both impeding the same deathzone mechanics. I mainly play melee or control sets - I definitely think both of those are more harmful than knockback and I would argue that they're much more common - most knocked back enemies take one shot then beeline straight back into the blender, but an AoE dumped carelessly over a third of a group is an AoE dumped carelessly over a third of a group. I, like you, tend to lead groups when I can and I usually just ask people directly to be careful with AoEs and knockback (and brutes using aggro as a way of maintaining fury, not a way of controlling enemies... that's a big annoyance, especially when they run off leaving their teammates still fighting the enemies from two spawns ago because they don't notice that the bosses don't just fold like minions and then whole "Why should I take taunt?" thing, when "Because the three bosses at the back have chain-held your two corruptors for the last 30 seconds and they're not in melee so you haven't even looked at them" is apparently not an answer people want to hear). Anyway, sorry... I think I'm using this to vent about bad players more than mechanics at this point.

I know they're different. Something about mires. I don't know what a mire is, but warshades seem to talk about them a lot. What I liked about peacebringers: Master of none, flexible playstyle - the OG tankmage The self-sufficiency - the only thing they really lack is defence and psi resistance. You could sort of play whichever form you felt like, though in practice dwarf form gets outpaced unless you really need to taunt stuff Bright and flashy visuals, but I can tolerate emo purple Quantums were a challenge... They've been toned down and no longer one-shot you, but they're still a challenge. My other mains have been a kin defender (which plays range but sort of has to stay in melee range for buffs), a mind/storm controller (embrace the chaos), a rad/rad brute (I think I liked the costume more than the playstyle, but she did feel powerful), a stalker (fun but completely overpowered) and a fortunata (the gen 2 tankmage and hands down the most fun I've had in the game)... I really like the master of none playstyle of the fortunata and peacebringer and warshades seem almost the point where they crossover as it's an armoured semi-control/DPS hybrid that stays in mid range... So, people who've played peacebringers and warshades - how much do they differ in practice?

Well put. There are a handful of non-positional psi attacks, but they're so rare they're basically worth ignoring.

By that logic, no one should ever play a scrapper when everyone knows that stalkers do higher single target damage and controllers should be banned because they're the second best at two things, the scum. But obviously nobody is saying that. I'm saying that this game caters to myriad playstyles and most people can succeed in most circumstances with relative speed and safety. Knockback is fun - this is a game about superheroes and sending an enemy flying is fun. Knockback can, should, and often is used to put enemies into position. Knockback can be used as a control mechanism - it's a survival mechanism and a positioning mechanism. I'm not saying people should indiscriminately use any power they like just because - obviously a level of awareness is needed, but it's not the Great Destroyer that people seem to make it out to be. It's pretty hard to actively shunt a target out of AoE range and most autopilot back in pretty quickly. Yes, it can be annoying, but so can a numpty putting an AoE somewhere completely stupid - I've seen that a lot more than people seem to admit. Some people see an enemy and just plop their AoEs on the floor without thinking about aggro or positioning. A team is a collaboration and all players need to be aware of their teammates - leaving immobilises until enemies are where they want them to be, positioning AoEs mindfully and using knockback strategically. tldr: Knockback can be annoying if not used sensibly. AoEs can be annoying if not used sensibly. The entire mechanic of tanking can be annoying when the tank doesn't show any awareness of their teammates - I've seen people prioritising Fury generation over making sure their teammates aren't overwhelmed. Group Fly can be annoying, but it has an off switch and can be dealt with by shimmying slightly to the side.

It depends on whether you want a "meat tenderiser" risk-free playstyle or not. Yes, funnelling every enemy you can into the hotspot is an efficient way of playing, but I would argue it's not a particularly fun one. There's a substantial amount of players who avoid the "we stand here until the tank moves then we stand there until the tank moves" teams because, well, there's no challenge to them so there's no fun. I used to main a peacebringer - they have knockback coming out of every wispy, glowing orifice - far beyond what IOs could deal with - and I could hammer through enemies at a rate of knots and then shift into dwarf form to use AoE knockback as a control mechanism - it's phenomenal at mid levels when brutes draw aggro tankers but have scrapper defences. I also got a brute to incarnate levels who relied pretty heavily on AoE attacks and it never really bothered me. Likewise a stalker. There's a difference between farming and playing.

I'm going to do my usual thing and say "Have you tried a fortunata?" it's basically a psi/mind dominator with scrapper/stalker-level defences. You lose +Mag of permadom powah but gain a load of survivability, melee (strong single-target chain) and raw damage (5% higher base + 15% bonus from toggle). AoE and single-target holds, confuse and knockback/down, solid attack chain, high defence and medium resistances. Looking at the differences, the main thing you'd lose is sleep (and the permadom mechanic). The first costume is your uniform, but all other costume slots are normal. <- that sometimes puts people off.

Incarnate powers are not affected by recharge, at all. Ageless is so powerful you can pretty much wait until you're at about 5% endurance and hit it and be back to full, so I'd argue it doesn't really need to be perma unless you're really, really heavy on the toggles.

Defence calculations go off the highest relevant number... So the lower numbers won't could at all. The only one that is sometimes separate is psi. If you've got high psi, melee, AoE and ranged literally all the other numbers are irrelevant... So you're pretty much untouchable under most circumstances. There's a critical hit rule so at least one hit in 20 will get through. It might be worth wiggling things around to move some of your defence to resistance is you're really high in defence (45% is great, more than 60% is overkill).

To be honest, you'll always lose endurance over time, but the changes will prevent you from crashing a lot sooner. You've probably bought yourself an extra 50 seconds of combat. It's worth going for the accolade bonuses - you can do each one in an hour or so and it's 10% more endurance and therefore 10% more endurance recovery. With Ageless, you should be okay for a while, though.

By default, it affects anyone nearby. Players can opt-out with Null the Gull.

I know this is off topic a little bit, but I feel this way about knockback. Hitting tab to retarget isn't really that hard and you can set it up to target the nearest enemy. Melee archetypes don't get a special pass to demand others play the way they want all the time.