Goodbye inspirations

[MoonSheep]

hey everyone, happy easter

 

since returning to CoH i've been a serial insper - the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one.

 

my email inbox is kept full of T4 insps, my trays permanently full of T3 def insps, damage etc. this has been good fun on the mind/fire dom as it takes an overpowered combo and makes it even more insane, however i feel now it's spoiling the fun slightly

 

back on live, one of my favourite experiences was soloing a katana/invul scrapper to 50, i enjoyed it so much i did it twice!

 

with that in mind, i've just rolled my 3rd alt in 3 years - an elec/shield stalker and have taken the measure to disable all insps from level 1 and level it within CoV for a totally new experience. there's certainly better combinations for a solo alt, however this will add to the challenge

 

anyone else drunk on insps too much?

[Li_Sensei]

'Fun' is entirely subjective.

 

If you're enjoying the game (and here's the important bit) and NOT impacting anyone else, then go for it.

 

Personally I save large insps for a rainy day, and when it starts raining, I'll use 'em.  I've never been bothered enough to store them in email, and I usually keep a few insp slots free to cycle through drops to restock.

 

The 'Oh grud, it's raining' moments can be some of the more memorable ones, like on live when I was on a Shards TF and the rest of the team wiped to a large Rularuu spawn, I burned through a load of T3 Orange/Purples on my Katana/Regen scrapper, and by the time the rest of the team had hospitaled, I'd finished beating down the spawn through a combination of insps, Instant Healing, Dull Pain and MoG.

 

Having zero insps would deny that sort of moment.

 

TL;DR - play the game how you want, good luck with your new experience.

[Shred Monkey]

I always thought the badge names for rejecting inspirations and completing oro arcs without using them were hilarious.... some might call them inspired.   

[Snarky]

I actually have the opposite issue.  I use inspirations too sparingly.   I hoard them sure.  They are in my email. They are in my character items from super packs.  I collect them in my tray and combine them to what i think i will need.  Then I wait….   To some extent it is the same with Hybrid.  I wait too long too often.  Once i know fights i am better about it.  But just in general i am more of a hoarder and less of a user of inspirations and powers.  

[SaintD]

41 minutes ago, Snarky said:

I actually have the opposite issue.  I use inspirations too sparingly.   I hoard them sure.  They are in my email. They are in my character items from super packs.  I collect them in my tray and combine them to what i think i will need.  Then I wait….   To some extent it is the same with Hybrid.  I wait too long too often.  Once i know fights i am better about it.  But just in general i am more of a hoarder and less of a user of inspirations and powers.  

Yeah I pretty much only remember to use greens, and will start potting like it's Diablo 2.

[Ukase]

I have a 2 insp storage bins in my base. One is full of team insps, the other full of ind. insps. My alts will use the singles as desired. But...you've given me an idea, dammit. 

[TheOtherTed]

I used to keep, and use, full "columns" of insps on live, one insp type per column.  These days, though, I just convert mine to wakies when I can, then sell them to a vendor.  The only exception is when I fight Veles.  For that cheating *mutley mumbling*, I load up on Defense insps and change my battle-cry either to "Can't touch this" or "Naa naa na naa naa," as the mood strikes me.

[Glacier Peak]

If soloing a Giant Monster is taking too long and there aren't any takers for assistance in chat, I usually crack open the auction house (with the slash command /ah) while I am in the zone and buy a couple stacks of Reds to speed up the process. I know it's cheesing the system, but I've got nothing to prove and I want those reward merits! 😄

[oedipus_tex]

The only inspiration I store is the Rezz ones. I email those to myself as they drop so that I have a reserve. No reason to ever keep them in the tray, just get them from email when they're needed.

 

One kinda nice thing about that as someone who plays way too many alts is it allows low level alts to contribute to the overall roster. They are as likely as any other character to get a rezz to drop, and into the email it goes until I need it.

[Lazarillo]

I don't use much in the way of inspirations.  Part of that is being kinda OCD about having a messy-looking tray that I can't tell how many/what I'm really carrying around.  Part of that is just generally preferring to build characters for more or less universal utility, and figuring anything I can't handle anyway for one minute needs to be very, very rare anyway.  So I tend to disable small inspiration drops starting around level 25, and mediums as well at level 50, just to save myself the trouble of managing them.

 

To say nothing of not storing them in email.  That's one spot it's probably better that I ain't in charge, because the whole "carry 6 trays worth of inspirations using mail" mentality that so many people seem to have strikes me as more exploit than anything, and while I try not to judge when folks play the game the way they prefer, it does bug me when it's suggested as a legitimate alternative to more proper game balance (e.g., frequently seeing "armor sets don't need terrorize protection, they just need to mail themselves a bunch of Break Frees").

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

I don't use much in the way of inspirations.  Part of that is being kinda OCD about having a messy-looking tray that I can't tell how many/what I'm really carrying around.  Part of that is just generally preferring to build characters for more or less universal utility, and figuring anything I can't handle anyway for one minute needs to be very, very rare anyway.  So I tend to disable small inspiration drops starting around level 25, and mediums as well at level 50, just to save myself the trouble of managing them.

 

To say nothing of not storing them in email.  That's one spot it's probably better that I ain't in charge, because the whole "carry 6 trays worth of inspirations using mail" mentality that so many people seem to have strikes me as more exploit than anything, and while I try not to judge when folks play the game the way they prefer, it does bug me when it's suggested as a legitimate alternative to more proper game balance (e.g., frequently seeing "armor sets don't need terrorize protection, they just need to mail themselves a bunch of Break Frees").

Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one with that inspiration tray OCD!!!! 😄 

[Luminara]

7 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

anyone else drunk on insps too much?

 

I typically forget they're there until after I'm doing my best impression of a rug.  If they were removed from the game entirely, I probably wouldn't notice unless I read the patch note.

[golstat2003]

I just use them as needed depending on the situation. No sense hoarding or worrying about a resource that drops like candy from the sky.

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, Lazarillo said:

To say nothing of not storing them in email.  That's one spot it's probably better that I ain't in charge, because the whole "carry 6 trays worth of inspirations using mail" mentality that so many people seem to have strikes me as more exploit than anything, and while I try not to judge when folks play the game the way they prefer, it does bug me when it's suggested as a legitimate alternative to more proper game balance (e.g., frequently seeing "armor sets don't need terrorize protection, they just need to mail themselves a bunch of Break Frees").

 

yeah that’s the behaviour which has driven me to make an “insp free” alt - i’d often log a second account and feed myself insps via email if my main was in a mish

 

when your two alts - both squishies - are tanking the 4 AVs at the end of the MLTF it makes the enjoyable nuances of each AT/set feel a bit meaningless

[PLVRIZR]

2 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only one with that inspiration tray OCD!!!! 😄 

 

Nope, add me to that list, but I have one column with a rez, breakfree and the two most other emergency needs, for that particular arch/toon.

[MoonSheep]

an update that nobody asked for

 

have played my new elec/shield scrapper to the lofty heights of lvl 14 (4 month old baby delays gaming somewhat!), the no-insps regime is making things quite strategic. the stalker can’t simply hop into any mob or battle and survive through smashing a ton of insps with /ah open - even bosses are quite challenging

 

have just kitted him out with SOs which was a surprise, forgot they bought them down from lvl 25 min. things feel a bit too easy now - will have to up the difficulty a bit next time i’m on

 

in summary, so far so good. a new playstyle

[arcane]

I’d prefer you not compare my totally-normal use-what’s-there inspiration habit to your all-night email-chain T4 binge you snowblower you 🙂 let’s not impugn inspiration usage as a whole just because some have developed substance abuse disorders that prevent them from popping in moderation 

[Techwright]

I tend to wolf down any yellows or reds to make room for precise columns of green, lavender, orange, blue, and purple.  This sometimes means I've got a lot of yellows and reds deployed because, for reasons I've never investigated, the "randomized" drops tend to harp on a theme.  For example, in one extended fighting session a few days ago, it probably gave me about 7 or 8 reds before delivering any other color.

 

I also tend to prize the larger inspirations, so I hoard those and keep on using the smallest ones.  I say "hoard" because I have a tendency to not want to crack open a large one as long as I've space, and therefore potential, for a small one to drop.  But eventually and reluctantly I'll use the big one.

 

As mention early by others, I also move all rez inspirations to the email.  No sense in them hogging a spot in the inspiration slots if I can access the email when down for the count.

[Bill Z Bubba]

On 4/18/2022 at 5:12 AM, MoonSheep said:

anyone else drunk on insps too much?

 

I never let myself go down that road. I'll eat as they drop like I did on live for normal play and during testing they're always unused. The exception, of course, is my farmer with her binds to combine and eat reds.

[Oubliette_Red]

I forget that I have them, that's how often I use them.

 

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, arcane said:

I’d prefer you not compare my totally-normal use-what’s-there inspiration habit to your all-night email-chain T4 binge you snowblower you 🙂 let’s not impugn inspiration usage as a whole just because some have developed substance abuse disorders that prevent them from popping in moderation 

 

“i only recreationally smoke crack” 😛

 

i’ll probably give in with my inspiration abstinence, though it has rekindled the fun of playing a scrapper-esque archetype.

 

elec is quite a poor choice for the experiment as it has no secondary mitigation like knockback, stuns etc. running like a coward is an effective backup though

[Riverdusk]

From teams I've been a part I hardly ever see people use them.  Myself,  I tend to see that "inspirations full" message and immediately use 3 or 4 of my non-purple ones whether I need them or not.  So, I tend to have some going most of the time.  I always do try to have some purple ones saved (which I find by far the most powerful when you get in trouble).  Rinse and repeat.   Oh, and my squishes will also save some break frees.

 

The only ones I ever grab from email are rezzes.  I also always just turn off rez inspirations from dropping as I find them a pain to deal with since you can't just click on them to use and clear them from your tray (have to rt click and then delete).  When I want to stock up on rez inspirations I just buy them from AH (and go for the more powerful ones), and put them in mail.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Riverdusk