New Player

[AdzRobinz]

Only recently discovered this game and im struggling to contain my excitement since I played the original as a wee lad. Ive made my char and done the tutorial but wanna ask a question about 'meta'.

 

I play as a beam rifle/devices because hes a rikti war veteran patched up as a cyborg super soldier. I may go vigilante because it fits my character and looks hella interesting. Oh who am I kidding ofc I will lol

 

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char? I understand this game doesnt lean so heavily on the tank/healer/dps triangle of gameplay as much as other games but wanna know I can be at least useful for when I eventually reach higher levels and start doing events and group content.

[Bopper]

4 minutes ago, AdzRobinz said:

Only recently discovered this game and im struggling to contain my excitement since I played the original as a wee lad. Ive made my char and done the tutorial but wanna ask a question about 'meta'.

 

I play as a beam rifle/devices because hes a rikti war veteran patched up as a cyborg super soldier. I may go vigilante because it fits my character and looks hella interesting. Oh who am I kidding ofc I will lol

 

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char? I understand this game doesnt lean so heavily on the tank/healer/dps triangle of gameplay as much as other games but wanna know I can be at least useful for when I eventually reach higher levels and start doing events and group content.

You should always play your way and have fun. Especially with your first character. In time if you want to pursue min/max type builds, you can. But like you said, the holy trinity isn't needed in this game and anything can be viable.

[Dr. Voltage]

It sounds like you really enjoy your theme and head canon, so by all means, definitely stick to what you enjoy! The game is 100 times easier to play if you enjoy who you're playing. 

 

For example with myself, Bio armor is a killer powerset. It looks great on paper and has excellent reviews. But I literally can't come up with a satisfactory backstory for an ablative armor toon with how it looks. Best I've come up with is mold themed, or Hershey's chocolate shell themed. 😅

[Oubliette_Red]

Just stopping in to say Welcome back!

 

[biostem]

54 minutes ago, AdzRobinz said:

Only recently discovered this game and im struggling to contain my excitement since I played the original as a wee lad.

Welcome back!

 

55 minutes ago, AdzRobinz said:

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice?

The blaster secondaries have gotten a lot of love since they were first rolled out.  Devices seems very fitting for your concept, but I personally really like the temporal and ninja ones, but go with what you think you'll most enjoy.  You get like 1000 character slots per server, so why not try a few out!

 

58 minutes ago, AdzRobinz said:

I understand this game doesnt lean so heavily on the tank/healer/dps triangle of gameplay as much as other games but wanna know I can be at least useful for when I eventually reach higher levels and start doing events and group content.

I can't speak too much on the highest level or hardest content in the game, but everyone can be useful, and if you find a group you enjoy playing with, and you all get along well and watch each other's backs, you'll do just fine!

[Troo]

and don't forget to send Yomo a note.. if you want to..

 

 

[UltraAlt]

2 hours ago, AdzRobinz said:

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char?

 

Welcome home!

 

Beam Rifle/devices can work. I have one.

Want to try something else? Just make another character.

You can make 1000 per server.

 

Alt out! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by UltraAlt

[starro]

Welcome to the game! I love your post but you are locked into your power sets. 
 

I liked Devices on my mastermind and blaster secondary when I wanted to solo play but have a tough boss to take down between acid, web and land mines. In team play those stationary objects seem less important but force field and the healing pyramid helps. 

 

 

…however, you do have 1000 free character slots so let the character creating madness “alt-itis “ take over.  

Edited December 15, 2021 by starro

[Hew]

The only bad choice is the one you make playing a char you don't like!!!

[Chrono-Bot]

Nice! I love beam rifle and devices is fun! And I like your concept!

[Ukase]

There is no "wrong" way to play, and no "wrong" power set combos to play. Enjoy the journey. I encourage you not to rush through it. Savor it. 

Over time, a bit more of what CoH has behind the figurative curtain will reveal itself. I keep thinking I've played every mission in this game multiple times, but every now and then, I find some that I've forgotten or never did.

With the invention system, there really aren't any true Cookie-cutter builds. There's so many different ways to build a character, that if you find one combo, like fire/fire blaster fun, you can re-roll another one and instead of focusing on one facet, like AoE damage, you can focus on hit points and defense and see how different the experience is. 

There are still probably hundreds of power set combos I've yet to try. Stephen King once said, "Everything old becomes new again". 
I'd put off electric blast - my very first character on CoH live...never made it to 50 on that one. But now, the time has come to revisit with the new changes.  

 

Welcome and I strongly encourage you to email @yomo and insist he give you 20M or you'll sing "Paper Roses" by Marie Osmond to him. He will gladly give it to you. 

[momentarygrace]

Yay! Glad you found your way Home! Your character concept sounds fun and perfect for this game. 🙂

 

You already have the right powerset for solo or teaming - you want to have fun and you want to be useful when you are teaming - you will be! 

 

You also have access to Pool Powers to supplement your build, and they are accessible earlier than they were on live, plus there are some new ones. 

 

See you out there!

[Doomguide2005]

Welcome home.  As others have mentioned you have 1000 character slots per shard.  On top of that each character has the option of multiple builds and respecs are easy to come by.  The extra builds can allow you to have one build which focuses on solo play and another build which can focus on team play.  And while your power sets (primary and secondary) remain the same you can change your pool and mastery (epic) power choices completely between builds.  In short options are nearly endless so create the character you want the rest will fall into place as long as you're having fun.

[DoctorDitko]

I love /devices! Every power in it has its uses, except for Time Bomb.

(Which frees up a power pick for a pool power.)

Check out the new pools, you'll find some thematic sets.

Have a blast!

 

And, as others have said: Welcome home!

 

 

Edited December 15, 2021 by DoctorDitko

[Snarky]

META....  The true META in CoH is being able to take anything (including the new meteor blast set I was just disparaging...) and play a character who is straight from your imagination.  You want the BESTEST?  Run a Fire/Fire Blaster and learn to speed run.   Game over.  Yawn.  You want years of enjoyment?  Write two sentences (or two books....) describing your character and then craft the character in CoH choosing Archetype, powersets, power pools, incarnate abilities, alignment, enhancer set build out.  Design your character in one of the most generous character creator screens in the MMORPG universe.  Level the character.  Slowly (I have a project soloing every contact, since October, now at 29.  Or get to 50 in a few hours and start running Incarnate Trials and exemplar down to run all the content you breezed past with a twinked out 50 that is nerfed (but not completely) to the level range of the content you want to run.

 

META.  Having a great time! Enjoy the City.  Glad you made it.

[Albion]

10 hours ago, AdzRobinz said:

Only recently discovered this game and im struggling to contain my excitement since I played the original as a wee lad. Ive made my char and done the tutorial but wanna ask a question about 'meta'.

 

I play as a beam rifle/devices because hes a rikti war veteran patched up as a cyborg super soldier. I may go vigilante because it fits my character and looks hella interesting. Oh who am I kidding ofc I will lol

 

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char? I understand this game doesnt lean so heavily on the tank/healer/dps triangle of gameplay as much as other games but wanna know I can be at least useful for when I eventually reach higher levels and start doing events and group content.

Welcome home!, i would say you first enjoy the game and get your bearings about, then you will have time to get into min maxing, practically every single combination can be done viable or even great with the right slotting of enhancements, and on top of that you can add incarnates for most of the end game runs, so be at ease, if you happen to be on the Excelsior server send me a shout out to @Albion or let me know your global so I send you some starting funds for when you begin hunting for sets.

[AdzRobinz]

Thanks for all the great replies guys! Guess ill leave him as is and just do content lol 

 

EDIT; Im on Excelsior btw names Murphe any help is appreciated!

Edited December 15, 2021 by AdzRobinz

[Techwright]

5 hours ago, AdzRobinz said:

Thanks for all the great replies guys! Guess ill leave him as is and just do content lol 

 

EDIT; Im on Excelsior btw names Murphe any help is appreciated!

 

Welcome home!

 

The game is most forgiving nowadays, so I encourage experimentation if you have any lingering doubts.  For example, you can make a duplicate of your character, but pick a different secondary. Go talk to the P2W vendor next to the side of the Atlas statue and under the Temporary powers options, find the settings to run at 2x for experience points (which means no currency as a trade off).  You can load that or either of the two lesser settings up to 8 times.  Run your alt through "Death From Below" (DFB) with an Atlas-based team a few times, or get a farm team run for those under 20 to rapidly advance to the same level as your current character.  If you don't like the powerset combo, fine.  Drop any enhancements or salvage you've earned into in-game emails to yourself (your "@global" address), and erase the alt.  But if you do like it, then simply rename your original to [Name]OLD on the character login screen (it's free and quick!), and quickly rename the alt to the name you wish.  Then login, grab the stuff from your e-mail box, use or sell for INF (currency).  As I said, the process can be very forgiving now.

 

Enjoy!

[Ironblade]

20 hours ago, AdzRobinz said:

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char?

Firstly, let me say welcome.

Secondly, if you enjoy playing the Devices set, then it was an excellent choice.

Having said that, I have a dual pistols/devices which I have taken all the way to 50 and beyond, getting tier 4 in most of the incarnate powers.  So it is absolutely a useful set, especially after getting some buffs.  For example, 'Web Grenade' is now 'Toxic Web Grenade' and does significant damage.

 

And, finally, no you can't change your primary or secondary power sets (or your origin).  You can use a respec to change what powers you have within the set.

[Dazl]

15 hours ago, Techwright said:

 

Welcome home!

 

The game is most forgiving nowadays, so I encourage experimentation if you have any lingering doubts.  For example, you can make a duplicate of your character, but pick a different secondary. Go talk to the P2W vendor next to the side of the Atlas statue and under the Temporary powers options, find the settings to run at 2x for experience points (which means no currency as a trade off).  You can load that or either of the two lesser settings up to 8 times.  Run your alt through "Death From Below" (DFB) with an Atlas-based team a few times, or get a farm team run for those under 20 to rapidly advance to the same level as your current character.  If you don't like the powerset combo, fine.  Drop any enhancements or salvage you've earned into in-game emails to yourself (your "@global" address), and erase the alt.  But if you do like it, then simply rename your original to [Name]OLD on the character login screen (it's free and quick!), and quickly rename the alt to the name you wish.  Then login, grab the stuff from your e-mail box, use or sell for INF (currency).  As I said, the process can be very forgiving now.

 

Enjoy!

Or you can build anything you want for free on the test server.

 

Welcome home. Play what you want and you do you. I’m sure this won’t be your last alt.

[Hyperstrike]

On 12/15/2021 at 12:07 AM, AdzRobinz said:

Only recently discovered this game and im struggling to contain my excitement since I played the original as a wee lad. Ive made my char and done the tutorial but wanna ask a question about 'meta'.

 

I play as a beam rifle/devices because hes a rikti war veteran patched up as a cyborg super soldier. I may go vigilante because it fits my character and looks hella interesting. Oh who am I kidding ofc I will lol

 

I understand the BR is great for single target damage but was devices a good choice? Can I change it to another secondary or will I have to reroll my char? I understand this game doesnt lean so heavily on the tank/healer/dps triangle of gameplay as much as other games but wanna know I can be at least useful for when I eventually reach higher levels and start doing events and group content.

Welcome back.

Okay, as a blaster, your HP limits will generally hurt.  But you're bringing decent BOOM.  And, built well (especially once you hit Incarnates), you can be pretty Tanky on your own.
Also, teaming takes some of the aggro pressure off you.  Since your secondary is somewhat of a "soft control" set, you shouldn't be doing so much damage you're ripping aggro off dedicated aggro controllers (Tanks, Brutes, etc).  And enemies deciding to shoot the obnoxious Tank instead of YOU is armor.  Of a sort...

As others have said here, play what you like, and what seems interesting to you.
You can make just about ANY combo in the game work for you.  ESPECIALLY when teaming.

And, no.  You cannot alter your primary/secondary.

If you wish to play a different mix of powers, you have to reroll.  Either a delete and recreate with the same name, or a "just roll another character".