Gulbasaur

Awesome work across the board. Thanks!

Version 2: Such proc. Many stab. As before, all IOs are attuned unless stated otherwise. I've soloed even-level Positron at AV-tier with this build, but I was using envenomed daggers. I've also been 2-shotted by other AVs, so the low HP and scaling resistances can be problematic. If you're min-maxing single-target damage, I imagine you're not playing fortunata, though. I still shines brightest in groups with the controls and strong AoE ranged damage. Note: Mystic Flight has the same endurance cost as Fly now. Nonetheless, free teleport is handy. Changes: Overall defence without Mind Link lowered by 5-8% to make room for procs, and lost some psi resistance (have lots anyway) and tox (can't poison me if they can't hit me). For the doubters: remember that all defence has value and even if you're not at the soft cap at every second, you're still very well protected. AoE defence is the only weak link, but in high level teams you're normally drowning in defence buffs and I'd hazard that that's only really the stage when you'd really crank the difficulty up enough that it'd make a difference. In +4 missions, it never felt like I was in danger. Two +recharge procs. Nice, but not mandatory. I throw around psychic tornado a lot, so it procs often enough. I use TK thrust less, but it's still solid. Absorb proc in Hold - around 15% of total HP, procs often enough to feel like inf well spent. Nice, but not mandatory. I wasn't sure what to put here and +absorb is something of a rarity so I went for that. Damage procs in all other attacks except Follow Up. I've got for whatever is cheap, but I'm happy with my choices. Use whatever is available. This makes a colossal difference to DPS. I've had the proc and spider's bite and sneak attack damage all go off at once, which is pretty glorious. The melee attacks come round so quickly, there's always a steady stream. Moved the -dmg +fear proc to Psychic Scream as it's a cone and I can sacrifice some tox and psi resistance. Reliably hits 2-4 enemies and the fear effect is a good short-term control power. Swapped a full LOTG set for Reacive Defences and moved LOTG recharge proc. Overall higher recharge (ML now 31-second downtime without recharge procs). Dropped Medicine. May be needed if you want to solo AVs, but that ain't the way I roll. Recall Friend 4 eva. That said, I duo'd the Assault Siren's Call and held my own. The enemies are Hero-tier, although I'm not sure if they're scaled down as they attack in high numbers. I suspect they're fancied up Elite Bosses, but I'm not sure. Maybe I will try an AV... Melee hybrid incarnate adds 7-10 global resistance at tier 3, which is better than nothing. At T4, it goes up to 16-20% - very worthwhile. Picked Arachnos lore for thematic reasons. They are very squishy and you need to drop Mind Link after you summon them, but not right away because they seem to be intangible for a few seconds. The invincible ally arachnos widow is completely useless so go full DPS with them. With Mind Link and TT:Maneuvers, they're passably useful. Musculature is a boring but functional alpha that covers a multitude of sins in terms of slotting. For some reason, my ATO bonus on spider's bite wasn't proccing properly before and now is proccing all over the place. As it's about the only proc I haven't moved, this remains a mystery. Stats! (psi resistance is wrong for bottom two as I turned off a toggle: it's still very high) - The widow damage resistance is often overlooked. The top box is effectively all IO bonuses, apart from the psi resistance. By half-health, all your resistances have effectively doubled. The Preventative Medicine absorb proc works well with this mechanic because the damage resistance applies to the +absorb barrier as well. Melee Hybrid Incarnate not in use. Power Bar Setup (because no-one asked): Build in box.

Most, though not all, enemy groups scale over a wide area. We know that from AE. Is it possible to unlock the upper level limit on contacts? I know the Flashback system exists, but it locks you into a pseudo Task Force so you can't deviate or add new teammates in of it's a longer one. I half recall Thunderspy working on this, though I could be wrong. Is it possible on Homecoming?

GW2 has some interesting things in Fractals (basically dungeons) where existing levels are made harder by mechanic changes applied as global debuffs. Things like enemies having a +DMG aura to encourage use of positioning and immobilises, or players having a small repel aura, so stacking is punishing in some mission, or enemies having a change to explode on death (or resurrect on death) so you're forced to go ranged for some attacks or save some attacks for later. Enemies leaving trails of poison, enemies that have access to Secondary Mutation... Or player buffs that do double damage if an enemy is/is *not* in their aura I think things that would cause a break from the tank-and-nuke tactics we're all used to would be good. We've got missions with in-mission buffs, so would it be mega hard to add a +1/2/3 random modifiers from the modifier pool? Can enemies take temporary powers?

Of the invulnerable ally ones, I think the Cimemoran surgeons are one of the best because they just hang out nearby and heal you. I've got by with it as my only heal power. The arachnos invulnerable ally, as far as I can tell, does nothing and stands with her hands on her hips until it's time for her to leave.

As always, that's solid advice (I see you everywhere on the forums and it's all useful, so thank you for your contributions to the community and tiny dancing woman), although I do stand by "powexec_location camera:max Translocation" as a travel power - point yourself where you want to go and bash away at it and you travel wherever you're looking. It works well with autorun/autofly because you're pointed at it anyway. I sort of got put off strategic teleporting after levelling as a peacebringer as the tank suddenly vanishing tends to sent people into panic and you'd be surprised how rude people can get when you do something other than stand in one spot and bash things, even if it's to consolidate enemy groups. It does have its uses, though. Also, I have seriously thought about running the melee hybrid taunt aura... who wouldn't want all the aggro all the time? (Note that much of my current gameplay is mother-henning lowbies through story arcs on +3x5s so it would probably help with that, although I gather the melee hybrid aura might not work properly.)

That is magnificent.

I've taken on board your feedback and made some changes - the knockback recharge procs are nice (thanks KaizenSoze), swapped out a full set of LoTG and put in Reactive Defences for the recharge boost, lowered melee defence (it's still absurdly high but changing too much drops S&L resistance too much), picked up Arcane Flight (thanks Redlynne) and, after some deliberation, ditched Medicine in lieu of Recall Friend as I used it so rarely. I've picked up the Rebirth destiny incarnate as it's only when I'm really pushing it that I ever need healing. Observations: Arcane Flight and its teleport is handy if you set up a macro to teleport in the camera direction - you can just click it every few seconds and skip ahead. The 5-second 100% recharge procs trigger often enough to not feel a waste, but not so much that they're a game-changer. I was hoping they'd trigger more often in the AoE, but that's not the case. The Chance for Build Up proc in TT:L, which I hearby dub the Pauper's Crit, gives a slight and occasional DPS increase. Nothing spectacular but nice when you're teaming with masterminds. Mind Link has a 36?-second downtime but is still a team-support power more than a keeping-me-upright power. I didn't realise how much I missed Recall Friend in redside zones, even with ATT and the mission transporter. Sometimes you gotta move a lowbie across a zone. The incarnate power more than makes up for the loss of Medicine, especially as I took it so late. Melee hybrid incarnate is a bit crap, but none of them are life-changing. I might go down the taunt aura route, even though there's wasted defence in it. I tried soloing the Terra Volta task force last night, not realising you could buy respecs off the AH. I almost did it and I think it would have been possible if I had the Rogue confuse power to allow me to stack confuse on groups of bosses as they ended up accumulating over the course of the fight and making a beeline for the reactor and eventually it reached critical mass (so to speak) and I couldn't keep up with the reactor healing and fight the bosses at the same time, but alas I went Vigilante to get some accolades at the weekend, so I'm less confusing than I really want to be, but that'll resolve itself in a few days. I'll post Mark II of the build later. It's still a powerhouse, but apparently "can't take down 15 bosses at once" is a weakness of the build.

Oh, totally. I have mystic flight on my stalker and I just never really use the teleport so I went for the old skool version. I didn't know about the lower endurance... thanks! They are attuned, sorry. Forgot to set it in the Hero Planner. This is a build I've been using for a bit - not a hypothetical one - and it doesn't do too badly in flashbacks, although I tend to run them at +1 because I'm just there for the story. In Task/Strike Forces, it exemps down well enough for it not to feel underpowered. What I'm saying is that it holds up well enough. That's a very valid concern and one I forgot to mention. Thanks True. I think it was sat around from another character.

See below for alternates builds with more damage and less resistance and defence as well as a Flashback mission review - it scales down very well and performs well at high levels. Version 1: Most survivability. Version 2: More damage (lots of procs), lower overall defence (but still more than enough). Version 3: Similar to V2, but with more AoE focus. Machariel has an alternative build below with Hasten for perma Mind Link and a different approach. Version 4: Good all-rounder. May 2023 version found here. It's just the version I'm currently using after the redraw changes. I'm working on a third and final version using more damage procs, but the core of it is the same. The Build - Version 4 All IOs are attuned. Travel power can be changed freely. I've taken Recall Friend and Provoke as pool powers - you can change those without any impact. Click to Download, Open Spoiler for Code: The Plan Create a build that combines the best of both worlds: strong melee chain for DPS and decent ranged control, without compromising survivability. Maximising what damage resistance is available and generally being amazing. It must both scale down well in Flashback missions and task forces and feel stupendous at higher levels. What's it Like to Play? Really, really fun. Open with a confuse and watch your enemies start attacking each other. Sneak attack the boss with lunge then boost your damage with follow-up and alternate between your four melee attacks with no down time or much overlap. Hold a lieutenant or two, nuke from stealth with no crash, save your team with Mind Link and use Aura of Confusion to turn a risky situation into one you've already won. Runners get pdonked with TK thrust and then immobilised with Subdue, if they survive. Throw Psychic Tornado for some disruptive DoTs and follow it up with Psychic Scream to thin out a crowd. Surprise teammates by healing them, and then yourself, in the middle of battle like nothing is happening. Go pewewewew a lot. Feedback from Other Players "Steamrolls everything" - some brute this morning. "Whoa" - some tanker yesterday after we pulled two groups of longbow and I removed one of them. "Stay with the tank" - some blaster as I accidentally ran off in a +4x8 mission and didn't notice that no one else was fighting the same group as me. What's Good? Single target damage, both stabby-stabby and pewewewew. Solid attack chain in either, so you can avoid redraw animation. Solid AoE/multi-target ranged options. Single-target knockback and multi-target "knockback" that actually knocks enemies up. Hold as part of normal ranged attack chain. Confuse your enemies for fun and profit buffs. Good DoTs with the ATO proc and interface incarnate at 50. The same team buffs you know and love. Mind Link has a short cooldown. Defence gets very good very early. Melee over cap most of the time. Resistance is respectable (~50-60% typically), with the caveat that it doesn't really kick in until you hit about 50% health, which creates a strange "if I heal, I might die" playstyle. Endurance-friendly, thanks to bonuses and IOs. Enough stealth that you can run through a pack of enemies bumping into half of them, thanks to the proc in Sprint. Good recharge speeds without Hasten, which always feels like a wasted power to me. The build is quite cheap. I do have purple ATOs and one purple proc, but if I can afford them without farming then you can too, and in any case they are optional. 22.5% Defence Debuff Resist - better than nothing, but Mind Link sends you so far over the cap it doesn't matter (AoE is lowest at 59%). Can confuse Elite Bosses for a bit, which is just a nice little bonus. The ordering of the powers is planned so that is scales down well - Certified Flashback Friendly. What's Bad? Reliance on Medicine incarnate heal for healing once you're out of inspirations. I mean, it's not bad bad, but it's inconvenient. The plus side is you almost never need to use it and you can convert all your defence inspirations into healing ones if you feel so inclined. Pewewewew all the time. The sound will haunt you. Limited power customisation, but you know that already. Damage resistance only really becomes noticeable when you've already been beaten up a bit. Detailed examples below. Combat jumping changes how responsive flight is so I crash into things a lot. Lethal, toxic and smashing are all slighly more resisted as damage types, and when things resist psi they tend to resist it hard. In reality, you won't find much that resists all four so it's less of a "bad" and more a "just think about what attack you use with which enemy". Everything else... kind of feels like a let down afterwards. Even peacebringers, which are probably the most mechanically similar as melee/ranged tankmage nuke machines feel a bit sad now. Any Weird Choices? No Hasten - no need for it. No perma Mind Link - honestly, you don't need it. People with "soft cap or why bother?" attitudes to builds just don't understand mathematics. I don't need it up 100% of the time and that includes tanking AVs. No Leadership pool - enough other players take it that I ended up not using it half the time to conserve endurance. Most people use IOs to build up defence, meaning that adding even more defence is of limited use when you have Mind Link up every two minutes or so. No Widow Training ranged or multi-target melee attacks - no need for them as it has plenty from the Fortunata Training. If you're in a tight spot, either one of your nukes or psychic tornado will get you out of it. No Total Domination - between Psychic Wail and Aura of Confusion there is no need for it as your enemies are either on the floor, staggering around or attacking each other. Picked up in V3. Flight - I'm lazy so I go up high and just let autorun take me places. Yes, I know it's slow. No Combat Training: Offensive - it is a 10% accuracy buff, enhanceable up to about 14%. Take it up to 50 then respec out. I've got a 52% accuracy bonus from IOs, so it's not really needed. Picked up at L50 in V2. Scaling damage resist proc and absorb proc - you're strongest when you've been beaten up a bit, so you might as well make the most of the mechanic and abuse it with procs - absorb synergises well with resists. Contagious Confusion - I took this on an expensive whim after a trading post windfall. I think it's worth it, but you can leave it out quite happily. When it procs, it hits 2-4 extra enemies and is a nice little bonus. The Build All IOs are attuned - I'm a numpty and forgot to set it up in the Hero Planner - thanks Redlynne for pointing it out. SEE BELOW FOR VERSION 2 OF THE BUILD: More Damage, less absurd survivability. Archived V1 Build: Hero Planner code: Image of the build with stats. Why the Name? Blood Widow refers to pre-24 widow builds. A widower is a male widow, and Doctor Fortune is a man so he gets the man words (applied inconsistently and without judgment). Fortunado because he's a fortunata tornado that steamrolls everything. Blood Fortunata is valid and more technically correct, but I like wordplay and puns. Credits Super mega thanks to Gameboy1234 and Lobster for their guides on the old forums. They were instrumental in some "is it just me or is this terrible?" decisions.

I think I was part of the same attempt as you. We ran a zone-based raid, then all gathered in KW for comparison. I was 50+1 or +2, I had the Member of the Vanguard badge. I was a rogue (if that matters - you never know - could be a blue-red split or something in the LFG process). I was one of the 50% or so who didn't make it into the raid - I got the loadscreen (off-centre, I noticed), then the KW loadscreen and I and about 20 other people were dropped out of the league.

That's a fair assessment. It's fairly easy to add about 15-20% defence or resistance through sets, only 20% defence is great because of the way it's calculated and the way it runs off whichever number is higher so you can focus on two or three stat, while 20% damage resistance is merely better than nothing as you need an even coverage for it to be meaningful.. You have to compromise a lot to reach 45% defence through just IO sets and power pools (damage and utility are usually the first to go, looking at other people's builds), so I really do prefer the hybrid sets that give you a solid base to build off, but yeah. I recently respecced out of a few defence powers because I was sitting at 55% melee defence before any click buffs and picked up medicine instead.

Can I make a suggestion? Try the game with as opposite as you can get to your normal playstyle. Find different things to minmax. E.g. If you play a brute or scrapper, try a controller. For example, did you know that ritki guardians buff your team with accelerate metabolism if you confuse them? Surgeons heal you. Menders give you force fields. Force field generators buff your whole team's defence. Find another confuse-capable character and go on an adventure with your new pet AV. A fortunata can keep a whole team alive with no healing - just a load of defence buffs and control powers. A rad/rad defender can solo AV's with about half the base damage output of a scrapper.

Yes! I would definitely read that article. I've done some (very minor) game mods in the past and I'd love too see if it was something I could even think about doing, as well as knowing more about the writing process - I really enjoyed the mission arc.

(Just wanted to say thank you for your guides from the Olden Days - really useful and still up on the Internet Archive and absolutely helped me get started). I have gone 50% melee and 50% range and I think it makes a really good compromise. I mostly go melee if I'm DPSing, but can fall back and start throwing around holds and do ranged damage if I need to. Start off with a crit on Lunge, then go into a fairly quick rotation while my damage ramps up from Follow Up and toxic damage procs. Mass Confusion, Psychic Wail and Psychic Tornado (technically knockback, but it seems to be based in the ground so it mostly knocks up) are all very powerful AoE dps/control hybrid powers. I did think about posting my build, but I keep umming and ahhing about something trivial so I've never done it. Tanky enough that I have tanked for groups of squishies (health gets to 50% then stops moving thanks to scaling resistance, can be improved with absorb proc and scaling res proc so at 50% health you have ~70% resistance and easily capped defence). Confuse is the most powerful control power in the game and I've got lots of it (go for the "annoying" mobs, like menders, forcefield generators, surgeons etc - make them heal and buff you). Soloing has never been an issue, though I haven't exactly been going up against AVs. Elite bosses aren't a threat if I have a few inspirations. No purples other than the ATO sets, a few yellows in there for some quick bonuses... nothing out of reach if you do a bit of converter flipping in your down time.

I play a fortunata, which is another lower HP archetype, and I'll throw in another vote for defence as when it gets above about 30% you're pretty untouchable, although in reality you want a bit of both. I feel like you need more resistance for it to feel different because defence gets a bit of a head start as enemies have a fairly low chance to hit to begin with. I have tanked with my fortunata, which meant that both of his hit points were important and I don't think I could have done that if it was resist-focused. However, with IOs, it's easier to add significant defence into a resistance set than vice versa and defence buffs are everywhere so resistance might be a better call long term. I had trouble fitting in IO sets that didn't add melee defence after a while and I'm way over the cap with it. I've hit a wall adding more resistance, whereas adding defence to my rad/rad brute felt quite easy and lots of people run maneuvers at higher levels so I end up swimming in defence while my resistance stays the same. tldr: It's easier to add defence to a resist powerset than the other way round. Defence buffs are much more common that resistance buffs. If you're min-maxing for end game play, mostly resistance and a bit of defence is probably a good bet. If you just want to rock about solo, defence will feel more impactful.

Yeah. It is much easier to add significant defence than significant resistance through IOs. I definitely don't use them all unless I need to or someone can boost my endurance regen significantly. They are, however, great for giving lowbies a boost, which is handy for level 50 Atlas Park tip missions (which I run in protest to people doing DBF ad nausium and also tip missions are fun). I've had level 1s go up against +3s under my fortunado's supervision and live to tell the tale. They're like any other armoured AT, except you share your armour with anyone nearby.

Before I was properly kitted out and couldn't hit anything in +4x8 missions led by incarnates, my strategy was to float near the group so that my buffs landed on people spamming confuse on any mobs with heals or force fields. I eventually apologised, saying I felt useless, but the response was "no, your buffs are great". I'm properly IO'd out now and heading for incarnate stuff, so I feel useful again.

It's more than cosmetic, they do different kinds of damage (which normally has a different secondary effect like reducing damage resistance or defence) and have different skills. For example, robotics has a robot that gives you all a force field so is a good defensive set, whereas beasts are very focussed on melee damage. The game scales you down for lower level stuff, so I'd say that if things aren't populated it's because they're boring, rather than low. DFB is good for people who want to skip the first ten levels or so, which can feel very slow if you've done it before. It depends on the powerset more than archetype, really. Some sets are quite single-target focused whereas others are more AoE. Radiation melee, for example, has a feature that turns all single target attacks into AoE attacks when it triggers. I think one of the arachnos spider sets is technically the leader for AoE damage. They're quick use buffs - the healing ones heal you, the defence ones give you a bit of defence for a short time, the endurance ones give you a bit of endurange and the break free ones break you free out of control effects. Use them, love them. If you have three of the same kind, you can combine them to make one of another kind, which is useful if you have lots of one variety. They drop so often I wouldn't worry about saving them. Levels 1-12, slot whatever drops. Levels 12-22 maybe buys some ones that make sense. Level 22+, try to use Invention Origin enhancements, crafted at the university (Steel Canyon South is one of the easiest ones to get to). These scale with your level so you don't outlevel them ever. I think level 22 is the point at which they become mathematically worthwhile. Note that enhancements lose their effectiveness if you have more than one in the same power - three seems to be the sweet spot, so you might want to put 3 damage, 1 accuracy in an attack power. Recharge reduction is useful as well, and it is sometimes better to put an endurance reduction enhancement in an attack you use a lot than in a toggle power. There are also named Invention Origin sets that give you bonuses if you have more than one of the same set slotted in a power, like a bit more defence or a small damage boost. End-game builds make really good use of these to plug holes in power sets, like adding more defence, resistance or recharge. The shining star of these are Archetype Origin enhancements and each set of those has one that does something unique - these vary between god-tier (stalkers) to mediocre boost (defenders). Most are worth getting when you can afford them, though, even if you leave the rest of the set for much later. Hugely. I'd argue that some are similar, but they all play differently. Tankers, brutes, scrappers and stalkers can all take very similar sets of powers, but they have a different playstyle. Tankers are slow and steady and unkillable, brutes need to keep a quick pace up or they start losing damage, scrappers favour "I just want to stab things and watch them fall down" play and stalkers can set up absurd damage spikes by playing in a structured and methodical way. Of the ranged ATs, defenders get higher bonuses for support powers and corruptors get higher bonuses for damage but otherwise they're pretty similar. You can feel the difference between them in teams, though, as a good defender can make a team godike but can't put out the same damage output. Controllers get crowd control and support stuff and do double-damage against controlled enemies and tend to be either really good at soloing or absolutely terrible and can carry a weak team to glory because their skills can entirely change the flow of combat. Dominators have more damage output than controllers from the get-go, and can magnify the strength of their control powers, so they're better at control than a controller but don't have the support skills so are more DPS-with-control. Blasters are the extreme in that they (mostly) are all about damage with no defence but the damage they do is colossal. Sentinels are sort of like scrappers, but with range (I just want to blast things and watch them fall down). Masterminds are unique in their very pet-based playstyle and have useful support skills and, like controllers or blasters, tend to be either winning or dead already. Of the "epic" archetypes, they're all a hybrids in that they all have high defence or resistance (or both) and a mixture of control, range and melee options. I think, in a weird way, the epic archetypes are actually the most balanced but they also often don't have a clear role in a team, which some people prefer. PB and WS favour tank-mage playstyles and SoAs are kind of high damage support with good defence. It doesn't really matter at all. You get a low-level power that's meant to help you and a few flavour differences here and there, but that's it.

Ah, okay. The Fallout 3 Train Hat gave me an appreciation of the amount of trickery you have to do to get the game to do what you want it to. Thanks for clarifying.

Is it possible to get the arachnos pieces working on *other* characters (or even in the normal slots)? Or is the spaghetti too tightly tangled even for that?

Honestly, there is so much wrong with that sheet that I'm surprised people are using it. It has methodological issues everywhere and presents a very unrealistic view of things. For example, the peacebringer attack chain seems to be based on repeatedly toggling on and off Bright Nova for zero damage while you spam your weakest attack and consequently peacebringers come dead last in DPS - because two thirds of the powers listed in the attack chain past the first few step are switching on and off a toggle with a timed transformation. It's not finished and there is so much about it that looks like someone filled it in randomly. ATOs are applied whether or not the creator liked them or not (scrapper and stalker, no one else, even where they provide a flat or statistically predictable damage boost), which is, again, bad methodology. The spreadsheet looks like a noble attempt, but enough of it is unfinished or placeholder information that I really don't trust the rest of it.

Rogues get a mass confuse power (after a little wait, I think - vigilantes get a fear power) and my first thought entering that room was well, now is the time to use it.That's the only way I made it out of that room in one piece.

I accidentally left a sale amount starting with a comma - I deleted the first digit of a 7-digit number and it did not update to move/remove the comma. When I tried to amend it by clicking to move the input to the beginning of the number, it caused a CTD. Basically, where | is the little blinky text input thing: 1,234,567|-> 1|,234,567 -> -> |,234,567 -> (clicked somewhere else like enhancement conversion or something) -> ,234,567 -> |,234,567 -> Crash to desktop.

For realsies. Kheldians are complete powerhouses in teams due to their inherents, but solo they need some building, especially if you avoid forms (nova until you're nearly dead then pop into dwarf to heal up and rest a bit). Fortunatas are pretty much the same in and out of groups. High control and decent melee options. I tend to confuse a lieutenant, hold someone else and then start stabbing away, throwing AoEs and stuff about when I can.