I'm not new....but I care now? Need some help

[Morgaren]

Okay I played this game back during live, it wasn't my cup of tea at the time, I had a dark/dark melee fighter, I am assuming scrapper, this was when city of Villians just came out, and I had city of heroes, not Villians. 

Then I came back a few years later, made a new character a dark/dark melee type, I am assuming brute cause I was a villian. Good fun, was still kind of slow.

So now here I am I have come back and before I really interacted with the community, I wanted to make sure I was going to stay a while. I am digging this, what I used to think were downsides are now the reasons I want to play. I like the slower paced combat, I don't mind the aesthetics, and the community here is well, I have been called a crotchety old man since I was 13 years old, and when I see posts about the age range of the players here, I am still technically a young pup, but I am with my own kind.

So I have a series of questions I want to ask the players who know what the hell is going on, cause while I am enjoying the game, I am not enjoying not knowing what to do.

I made a rad/fire brute, because I wanted to use Corium in the name (radioactive lava made in meltdowns) Then after playing a bit I figured out this was a good combo to pick. I am currently level 17, and the difficulty of the game is changing so I think that I am not doing some things right. If there is a good guide somewhere that answers all or most of these just point me there, I am trying to look for stuff, but between the old live advice that is not current, and my inherent sex daily, I mean dyslexia, its sometimes hard to find what I am looking for in big walls of text. (Yes, yes, I know how I write, the irony is not lost on me.)

Also some of the guides I read, well, they are obviously written for people who understand all the lingo and the what is there, but not the why. So it makes no sense to me to retain.

1) Where should I focus my enhancement slots while leveling? Do I dump them into one power so I have a few that are mega hit hard things? Do I space them out over all of them? I have been basically putting two in whatever power I got last, I don't think this has been a good way to do it.

2) Is there an in game way to find out what I need to do to get badges? and are they really worth it? I mean, I want them, so I am going to go get them, cause I want them. But do they actually do anything meaningful, when I am looking up badge info I see that some do something, but well, I haven't had time to read through all of them. Should I just focus on a few for game mechanics, and then others for fun? if so which ones?

3) it seems like some missions I blow through and others eat my lunch, what am I missing? (besides other players) I saw a warning that said for only one mission "I might want team mates" I blew through that one no problem, but then some random mission later the mobs just slaughtered me. 

 

4) Seems like inventions are the shit. this the case? also should I spend the time and effort to build these instead of enhancements while leveling? first major problem I had was when I out leveled my enhancements and my powers went to poop, after upgrading I was back to being okay, and inventions don't go down when I level, I think that may be slightly more valuable than the extra 10% an at level enhancement gives me.

 

Thanks in advance to any answers.

[InvaderStych]

Welcome Home.

 

9 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

1) Where should I focus my enhancement slots while leveling? Do I dump them into one power so I have a few that are mega hit hard things? Do I space them out over all of them? I have been basically putting two in whatever power I got last, I don't think this has been a good way to do it.

 

Brute section down in Archetypes.  Tons of info on Rad/Fire in there including finished builds, leveling advice, etc.

 

9 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

2) Is there an in game way to find out what I need to do to get badges? and are they really worth it? I mean, I want them, so I am going to go get them, cause I want them. But do they actually do anything meaningful, when I am looking up badge info I see that some do something, but well, I haven't had time to read through all of them. Should I just focus on a few for game mechanics, and then others for fun? if so which ones?

 

There are badge tracking tools available to players.  Best source of raw info is the HC specific wiki:

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Main_Page

 

Are they worth it?  Depends on which badge and who is answering the question.  There are some badges that come with either temp powers or permanent buffs.  Generally I always grab the 4 passive accolades on any toon that is a keeper.  Badging is a mini-game unto itself for the collector/completionist types. If you're into that sort of thing there are forum threads a-plenty on the topic.

 

12 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

3) it seems like some missions I blow through and others eat my lunch, what am I missing? (besides other players) I saw a warning that said for only one mission "I might want team mates" I blew through that one no problem, but then some random mission later the mobs just slaughtered me. 

 

Really depends on what missions/groups you're going up against.  Using IOs you can build up defense on top of the resistance provided by your secondary (see next reply).  Some groups are going to be a cake-walk for /Fire. Others with will drink your milkshake.  You're likely getting eaten by groups with debuffs or stacked with a damage type against which fire is weak. Or both.  Not all groups are created equal around these parts.

 

15 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

4) Seems like inventions are the shit. this the case? also should I spend the time and effort to build these instead of enhancements while leveling? first major problem I had was when I out leveled my enhancements and my powers went to poop, after upgrading I was back to being okay, and inventions don't go down when I level, I think that may be slightly more valuable than the extra 10% an at level enhancement gives me.

 

There is a cross-over point where Common IOs make more sense than SOs available from vendors.  But the big game changers are invention sets.

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancement_Sets

 

Lots of different methods for the approach here; some will add what are called "Unique" pieces during leveling or start adding attuned sets as they are available if the player already knows the build ahead of time.

 

Some folks will just respec at 50 and do their finished build all at once.

 

I need to slow-play anything to decide if I enjoy it before building it, so I usually add key pieces as I go along.  If I shelve the toon I just email them to another for later use.

 

Check down in Guides.  There are solid guides at building up some Fake Money Units using various methods as well as what IOs are good to pepper in during leveling and other such tips and tricks.

 

Hope some of that helps!

[Zhym]

Welcome home!

 

First of all, Corium is a great character concept.

 

As for enhancements and leveling, it depends on how you're going to be leveling.  Although it's possible to grab an XP booster at the P2W vendor and grab a whole bunch of levels quickly through DfB ("Death from Below") and the Task Force Commander TFs (Positron, Synapse, etc.), I wouldn't recommend that for the your first toon back.  Slow down and enjoy the content.  But if you do level up quickly in teams, you can pretty much just rely on SOs until you hit about level 27.  That's when some good uncommon IO sets open up.

 

Speaking of which, invention enhancements are good, but IO sets are where the real action is thanks to the set bonuses.  Load up on those as soon as you can.  The wiki has lots of information about what the set bonuses are, but it's hard to go wrong.  Any IO set is better than not using IO sets.

 

BTW, you don't ask about money, but the way the economy works is kind of weird if you aren't used to it.  The inf you get from beating up bad guys is a pittance compared to what you can make on the market.  The easiest way to make your first million inf is: (1) get a jump pack, (2) tour all the exploration badge locations in Atlas Park for the 5 reward merits (and the Passport travel power), (3) convert the reward merits to enhancement converters at a reward vendor (there's one in City Hall), and (4) sell the enhancement converters on the market.  For more money, repeat the process by getting access to Ouroboros and collecting all the exploration badges in Echo: Atlas Park and Echo: Galaxy City.

 

Re: badges, some of them do things.  The "Big Four" are Received the Atlas Medallion (+5% End), Freedom Phalanx Reserve Member (+10% Health), Task Force Commander (+5% Health), and Portal Jockey (+5% End, +5% Health).  But there are other badges with effects.  The unofficial wiki has a list here: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Gaining_Hero_Badges_with_Effects.  The Day Job powers also have effects.  The ones I usually get first are Monitor Duty (log out next to a portal), which grants a teleport to base power, and Caregiver (Hospital) and Professor (University) for the Physician badge.  Once you have that and have been logged out in a hospital or university for long enough, you get a rez power that you can use on other players.

 

Oh, and if you want to hunt badges, the wiki is your friend.  So are the Vidiot Maps, I'm told, but I never managed to get around to installing them, and I've done fine.

Edited August 24, 2022 by Zhym

[Morgaren]

What the....helpful answers, sorry just not use to this kind of treatment in MMO forums.

Thanks to both of you I am going to look some of this stuff up, it helps knowing "this is the right stuff to look at"

[Sovera]

Welcome back.

 

My signature has links you might find of use for the money and some tips and tricks.

 

As others have mentioned above the reason certain misions are harder are all due to the factions that you fight. A armor set strong against fire will do well against a faction that focuses on fire attacks, but if weak against psi attacks then a faction heavy on psi will be a problem.

 

IO builds usually focus on fixing these holes.

 

For a new player I usually recommend a fire armor/ice melee tanker, but tbh anything will do as long as the difficulty setting is kept low. Brutes will do more damage and substantially more so until level 20 but the tanker will plod on doing decent damage. A fire armor tanker in particular has Burn to narrow the damage gap, but at best an offense oriented tanker will match a defense oriented based brute.

[Morgaren]

So hey I am still looking at this stuff, and I really appreciate all the help. So I am going to copy and paste one thing I found, I seen the same type of stuff for each build, and this is giving the old sex daily a workout.

Level 1: Radioactive Smash -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), FrcFdb-Rechg%(7)

I am fluent in english and american french (shit, damn, etc.) What lanuage is "sprbrtfur-Acc/dmg(A)" I am currently searching for a language primer for this (I am actually googling things like "COH enhancement lingo") but still not finding an explanation on this, I did find the difference between SO's and IO's (while looking for the other, but thats good to know too.

Thanks again

[High_Beam]

Sprite Brute Furball.

 

But to be helpful its a shortform abbreviation of Set IOs found in Mids (or Pines).  CrsImp is Crushing Impact.  FrcFdb is Force Feedback.  SprBrtFur is Superior Brute's Fury.

 

There is no master translation list.  You just have to kind of HC Wiki-fu your way areound the Set IOs that match the power type  (in this case melee) then find one that looks like it.  FInd the power on the wiki, then look for the hyperlinked Set IOs it can take which will sent you to the page of all of the appropriate type and there you go.

Edited August 24, 2022 by High_Beam

[Sovera]

You use this program to open the builds you find in the forums, or to build your own: 

They will usually be max level builds and not for leveling, but asking can net you a leveling version.

[Morgaren]

Okay awesome, so while leveling I can just focus on the part that is the "ACC" or "DMG" to know what to slot in what powers

 

That I get, I can work with that.

I think thats it for theory crafting, now I just need to play some more. One more quick question (at least for right now)

Every build I see does not list flying as a power. But.....flying is cool. Out of fighting, leaping, leadership, and speed, which one is the one to drop? Seems like fighting is a staple for most brute builds, I don't have it currently cause I thought "why have fighting, I got a melee power set"

If It's really in my best interest to drop flying I can, I do enjoy going straight to a building to enter a mission area though.

[TheZag]

They take fighting for the tough and weave toggles.  Leaping is for the combat jumping toggle.  Leadership is for the defense toggle.  And speed is for hasten.

 

I would drop leadership or leaping in favor of fly or mystic flight.  I prefer mystic flight to get access to a teleport power as well.

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

Welcome back!

 

Very little of this is rocket surgery, but there are a lot of moving pieces and there are confusing names for a lot of stuff.  Just playing will help, and eventually making new alts.

 

If you go to the guide section of the forums, there are a number that are geared up for new(-ish) users.

 

Happy hunting!

[Sovera]

13 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

Okay awesome, so while leveling I can just focus on the part that is the "ACC" or "DMG" to know what to slot in what powers

 

That I get, I can work with that.

I think thats it for theory crafting, now I just need to play some more. One more quick question (at least for right now)

Every build I see does not list flying as a power. But.....flying is cool. Out of fighting, leaping, leadership, and speed, which one is the one to drop? Seems like fighting is a staple for most brute builds, I don't have it currently cause I thought "why have fighting, I got a melee power set"

If It's really in my best interest to drop flying I can, I do enjoy going straight to a building to enter a mission area though.

 

The builds you see in the forums will too expensive to begin with. I suggest reading the guide in my signature on how to make money because you can play the game as you'd like, be it running missions or doing taskforces, and still earn with what to buy gear. But at the start you will want generic IOs (invention origins, and yes, it's a silly name). Something like two accuracy, three damage, and one recharge or endurance reduction. These are super cheap.

 

I'm a big fan of flying so I read you. You get to have Flying, Jumping, Super Speed, Teleport for moving around in the game. You also have more-of-the-same-but-with-a-different-flavor such as Mystical Flight (which also lets you teleport) from the Sorcery pool, a clone of super jump from Force of Will pool (which allows to knockdown enemies when used), a clone of super speed from the Experimentation pool (that lets you run through NPCs and cars and also do small teleports).

 

As a rule just swap which ever you see (Leaping/Speed/Teleportation) for Flight. Some small changes in the build will be required but it's not too complicated to fit everything in.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Sovera

[High_Beam]

I have some form of fly on almost every toon I have ever.  Not a Teleport as a travel gal.  Leaping is only for Combat Jumping and Astral projection is right out 🙂

[InvaderStych]

13 minutes ago, Morgaren said:

If It's really in my best interest to drop flying I can, I do enjoy going straight to a building to enter a mission area though.

 

If you only want fly as a travel power and not Hover/Evasive Maneuvers for constant use, and if this idea fits within your thematic limits/tastes, then the Small Longbow Jetpack temp power is a great option.  Other Jetpacks/Temp Flight powers are available as well.

 

Once the Fake Money Units roll in they are cheap to maintain, relatively speaking.

 

I have a mix of Fliers and Ground Pounders in the stable.  It sort of depends on the toon.  The Ground Pounders usually cart around a Jetpack though because I like to cross zones hands-free if I can.

[srmalloy]

16 minutes ago, Sovera said:

They will usually be max level builds and not for leveling, but asking can net you a leveling version.

What will be most confusing about a max-level build that gets posted is an artifact of an old change to respecification (re-picking and re-slotting your powers). Originally, you did it the same way you did while you were leveling up -- at each step, you got a power pick or slots, and assigned them to what you had available at that level. This was changed so that you picked all your powers, then allocated all the slots, so that the 'slot levels' (which the game doesn't actually track) are irrelevant -- you can put the slots you received at levels 5 and 7 into the power you picked at 49, and Mids lets you do this, too. Which makes following a build as you level really difficult if you don't already have a good grasp of distributing slots as you level. Sovera's correct, though; if you see a build you like, but don't understand how it would be slotted as you level, ask the person who posted it for help.

[UltraAlt]

3 hours ago, Morgaren said:

1) Where should I focus my enhancement slots while leveling? Do I dump them into one power so I have a few that are mega hit hard things? Do I space them out over all of them? I have been basically putting two in whatever power I got last, I don't think this has been a good way to do it.

 

a) Depends on the player. I generally slot 2 accs in all attacks to start with. Anything that costs more than 10 end per use or is a toggle gets an end reduction to start with or after the accuracies. Everything gets at least 1 of whatever special that power has (defense, resistants, to-hit buff, -def debuff, -to-hit debuff, hold, immobilize, slow, knockback, etc..) Then I go looking for IO's because I have the loot. Otherwise, if a damage dealer, slot up damage; if damage-soaker/taunter, resistance and defense; heal for healers; defense/resistance for bubblers/shielders; more control/buff/debuffs for characters specializing in that.

 

b) I feel its a balance of trying to keep damage adding up over time and not try to do spike damage. That is to say, I want all my powers to be able to hit the enemy.

 

c) Yes. I build up all bit by bit across the board unless I'm slotting in IO sets for bonuses on something, but this usually doesn't happen until around level 27

 

d) I try to make sure whatever seems most important at the time has at least 2 before I go higher with other powers. Stamina generally gets 2 by level 10 and a third by level 15 or so.

 

3 hours ago, Morgaren said:

2) Is there an in game way to find out what I need to do to get badges? and are they really worth it? I mean, I want them, so I am going to go get them, cause I want them. But do they actually do anything meaningful, when I am looking up badge info I see that some do something, but well, I haven't had time to read through all of them. Should I just focus on a few for game mechanics, and then others for fun? if so which ones?

 

a) You could go into the badge menu and look for closest to completion and that would generally tell you what you would be hunting for hunts and how many defeats you had obtained, but not what plaque or component of a badge you may be missing.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Badges

 

b) The Accolades are the main ones that give you permanent powers/buffs. There are some badges that give you temporary powers.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Accolades

The main one that I would be concerned with is the https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Hero_Accolade_Powers#Long_Range_Teleporter . To unlock this, you must get all the exploration badges in a zone. 

First link below is map. Second link has specifics to where the badges are located.

c) After I get the long range teleporter, I generally go to get one exploration badge in The Pocket D (heroside in the monkey fight arena, go up the ramp and to the couch directly in front of you), [travel to the following through a sg base - don't have one? yell out on /help] Talos (on the hill near the tram), and to Peregrin Island (into the middle portal corps building, and walk through the metal detector). After that, I get badges, but I'm not a badge-wh...er... badger.

 

4 hours ago, Morgaren said:

3) it seems like some missions I blow through and others eat my lunch, what am I missing? (besides other players) I saw a warning that said for only one mission "I might want team mates" I blew through that one no problem, but then some random mission later the mobs just slaughtered me. 

 

I don't know if you are fighting different enemies or if you are talking about missions along an arc.

Missions should be getting more difficult as you go through an arc.

I don't know if you are getting to confident in yourself because of going through a mission easily or not.

The ones that warn that you might need teammates are ones that - depending upon your level - may be too difficult for you.

Also, I don't know what difficulty level or mob size you are currently set at.

 

Really we would need more information to be able to make a good call about what is going on.

 

4 hours ago, Morgaren said:

4) Seems like inventions are the @$&. this the case? also should I spend the time and effort to build these instead of enhancements while leveling? first major problem I had was when I out leveled my enhancements and my powers went to poop, after upgrading I was back to being okay, and inventions don't go down when I level, I think that may be slightly more valuable than the extra 10% an at level enhancement gives me.

 

a) IOs are deficient at low levels. The + is that they don't turn read and always keep their same % of + regardless of your characters level. To me, the change between SO to IO is at level 45 and 50 where their percentages are higher.

IO sets get better bonus when you have one or more of the same set slotted. Procs or multislotting can gain you advantages that you can't get through SOs or IOs.

 

Check out the link below that can help you out on keeping your SO's up-to-date. 

Also check out the "upgrade" function in the manage window versus buying a level 25 to replace a red level 20.

 

- Yomo's Give-Away -

 

[Ironblade]

1) Where should I focus my enhancement slots while leveling? Do I dump them into one power so I have a few that are mega hit hard things? Do I space them out over all of them? I have been basically putting two in whatever power I got last, I don't think this has been a good way to do it.

No, that's not the way to do it.  Some powers may only need one slot (Assault in the Leadership pool, most travel powers), while your attacks will need 5 or 6 slots.

For starters, figure that your shields will take four slots, your attacks will take at least five.  Most other powers will only need one or two and you'll need to look at what they actually do and how you intend to use them.

2) Is there an in game way to find out what I need to do to get badges? and are they really worth it? I mean, I want them, so I am going to go get them, cause I want them. But do they actually do anything meaningful, when I am looking up badge info I see that some do something, but well, I haven't had time to read through all of them. Should I just focus on a few for game mechanics, and then others for fun? if so which ones?

Up until yesterday, my main character had every badge.  I expect to have all of them again in a couple weeks (we got new badges yesterday).

There are only a few badges that actually do anything and there are even fewer that do something worthwhile.  I mean, who needs a one-shot hold with a long recharge?

The good ones are often referred to as "the stat-boosting accolades".  These are badges that require you to get multiple other badges and they increase your endurance or hit points (or both).  The easiest ones to obtain, which I get on most characters, are the Atlas Medallion and Task Force Commander.  Freedom Phalanx Reserve and Portal Jockey are even better, but a LOT more work to obtain.

3) it seems like some missions I blow through and others eat my lunch, what am I missing? (besides other players) I saw a warning that said for only one mission "I might want team mates" I blew through that one no problem, but then some random mission later the mobs just slaughtered me. 

Probably a factor here is that every armor or defense set, by design, has some kind of weakness and the right kind of enemy will kick your butt.  And then there are Malta Sappers who will drop your endurance to zero and everyone hates them.

 

4) Seems like inventions are the shit. this the case? also should I spend the time and effort to build these instead of enhancements while leveling?

First, let's clarify that there are "common IO's" and "set IO's".  (IO stands for Invention Origin.)  Set IO's are huge.  They are amazing.  They can completely transform how a character plays.  They're also complex and expensive.  Don't worry about them for now.  Just starting out, I would use SO's until I could slot level 25 or 30 common IO's.  These will never expire and they're relatively cheap.  They will probably cost more than a set of SO's, but way less than new SO's every few levels up to 50.  You can often find some of the common IO's cheap on the auction house because people have to craft HUNDREDS of them to get badges.

 

Every build I see does not list flying as a power. But.....flying is cool. Out of fighting, leaping, leadership, and speed, which one is the one to drop? Seems like fighting is a staple for most brute builds, I don't have it currently cause I thought "why have fighting, I got a melee power set"

Okay, this may get some criticism, but I say drop Speed first.  So many cookie-cutter builds include Hasten because people seem to think it's the most important power.  Meh.  I think I have it on three characters (out of like three dozen).  Some builds really need it, but I mostly avoid it because it blocks me from too much other fun stuff.

 

Most brutes and tanks will take the Fighting pool.  I have it on six of my eight tanks, plus a brute, scrapper, stalker.

I think the Leadership pool is overpowered and take it if there is any way I can fit it into the build.  Even on characters that will mostly solo, I'll get Assault and Tactics.

 

Leaping and Speed are both 'travel pools'.  Combat Jumping and Hasten are both useful, but most of my characters have neither because there's other stuff I want.  If you want to fly, take Flight.  I have several characters who fly because it fits.  I have several who teleport, several with superjump or superspeed.  I also have a lot of characters with NO TRAVEL POWER because I wanted to take other power pools.  They'll visit the Pay To Win vendor and get something like Ninja Run and a jet pack.

 

[Ironblade]

Okay, having posted the above, let me list what I do on every new character.  I'll omit things like buying the Team Transporter since that costs 10 million inf.

 

Go to the Pay to Win vendor (if you are near Ms Liberty, facing City Hall, the vendor is on the left of the big platform that has the statue of Atlas).

Get all the free stuff and cheap/useful stuff.  Get the five free enhancements that never expire.  Get the Inner Inspiration power.  Get a running power.  Get a jet pack.

 

Run around Atlas Park and get the 8 exploration badges.  I have the locations memorized but you'll need a map for this.  Besides the 8 exploration badges, this will give you some XP, an accolade for completing the zone, 5 reward merits and it will unlock the Long Range Teleporter - SUPER USEFUL.  Initially, you'll only be able to teleport to Atlas Park (and Echo Plaza but that's not important).  All you will need is ONE exploration badge in a new zone to add it to the teleport list.

 

At that point, I will run Death From Below but you said you were already level 17.  After that *MY* personal preference is to run a lot of Task Forces when they are the 'Weekly Strike Target'.  That gives you bonus XP and the end and double the normal number of reward merits (which can be used to make serious money to fund your characters).  Yeah, somehow I'm tired of the Atlas Park and Hollows arcs but I love task forces.  (shrug)

 

One bit of content you should probably do is tip missions in a zone that matches your level until you get a call from a detective to do a Safeguard mission.  They are a lot of fun, have badges you can't get anywhere else and give at least one temporary power (if you break up the arms deal, you'll also get a weapon temp power).  There are NINE safeguard missions (one is available every five levels starting at five) so they'll be there at whatever level.  And you'll be able to go back later and do any that you missed but that's a little involved.

 

One final thing, if you haven't come across the Homecoming Wiki yet, it's super useful and is at https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Main_Page

[Lines]

6 hours ago, Morgaren said:

 

Every build I see does not list flying as a power. But.....flying is cool. Out of fighting, leaping, leadership, and speed, which one is the one to drop? Seems like fighting is a staple for most brute builds, I don't have it currently cause I thought "why have fighting, I got a melee power set"

If It's really in my best interest to drop flying I can, I do enjoy going straight to a building to enter a mission area though.

 

I'd add to answers above that there is quite a lot of freedom and forgiveness for you to experiment in CoH. Builds you find on the forum may be optimised in some way, but I'd say it's worth picking up the options that those builds aren't mentioning so you can see for yourself how they work. You can quite easily and cheaply respec later, or adapt builds if you find different options you like.

[Pyriold]

I just wanted to comment on your specific choices for powers. Rad/fire is very common, but it's for a different reason than what you might think. This combination is very good at doing fire farms in the AE building to get levels and inf fast. This combination is great at avoiding fire damage while at the same time dishing out lots of area damage.

 

/fire is considered a rather weak set when it comes to mitigating general content. It misses some status protections and it's numbers are not great from a pure protection point of view. You can make it work for all content, but that takes a lot of effort.

 

Brutes with other sets are usually tankier right out of the box in more scenarios, but of course you pay for it with less damage (usually). Pretty much any armor set does have *some* weakness built into it though.

[Shred Monkey]

The problem with forum builds is generally they're endgame builds for when you hit level 50.  You need something for a level 17 (or.. maybe around 20 now?) 

 

I'll give you one tip I use on almost every toon I make, but especially melee builds:  Air Superiority from the flight pool.

 

I slot it with 1 acc, 1 end, and 2 recharge.  (you can add damage later, but as a brute, the benefit from slotting damage is relatively smaller then other ATs.. your damage comes from fury).   The beauty of Air Superiority is that it does knockdown every time.  And it recharges enough that you can knock things down non-stop to prevent your target from hitting back.  Fill in between Air Superiority with other attacks.  Usually 2 attacks between each Air Superiority.  Generally I have an attack chain something like:

 

AirSup >att1 > att2 > AirSup > Att1 > Att3 > repeat...    Where Att1 is my fastest recharging attack and Att 3 and 4 are slower, big hitting attacks.  You may need recharge enhancements in the other attacks as well to keep hitting without any gaps in the chain.  I sometime add 1 more AoE attack to my early build just to be able to hit everything when surrounded, but it's not a priority.

 

Once that attack chain is built, cruising through solo missions becomes much easier, usually only resting every few fights to regain endurance.  I don't take other attacks until later on...maybe around level 30-32 when you get some new attacks and I'm ready to start working toward an endgame type build.

[Grouchybeast]

1 hour ago, Pyriold said:

/fire is considered a rather weak set when it comes to mitigating general content. It misses some status protections and it's numbers are not great from a pure protection point of view. You can make it work for all content, but that takes a lot of effort.

 

Brutes with other sets are usually tankier right out of the box in more scenarios, but of course you pay for it with less damage (usually). Pretty much any armor set does have *some* weakness built into it though.

 

On the other hand, if you're playing in teams and you have support backup then /Fire is brilliant, because CoX waves its magic support wand and sprinkles some buffing dust and suddenly it's all strengths and no weaknesses.  A lot of forum builds and forum theory is based around soloing on high difficulty, which might not match the way you want to play.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Grouchybeast

[Morgaren]

I want to thank everyone again for all the helpful advice. I did a respec, I switched up my slots so I had more in my main attacks and armor, took a few more utility toggle abilities, set my enhancements as all IO's cause well, one I sold some of those converter things, and just bought what I needed, then while doing it some guy asked me if I was new and working on my build, I said yeah, so he gave me a million inf. WTF, okay I hope to pay it forward one day.

Captain Canada if you see this, you da man

But yeah, I am SLAUGHTERING stuff now.....well I am a hero, so maybe not slaughtering, but I went from dying a lot, to I died once cause I was like, screw it I am invincible. Apparently I am not, but a lot tougher than before.

[Six-Six]

Some answers that may or may not help 😃

1. The allocation of Slots and placement of enhancements is your build. And you can build anyway you like. A general rule is to prioritise accuracy (your damage don't mean squat if it doesn't connect) and endurance (being able to actually USE your power is always a plus). Then you address damage/controls, recharge, +chance to something. Some powers require an effort to make them shine, some can be great with just one slot, some you want up all the time, and some powers are skipped.

You can check out or request certain builds from people here in the forums (Yes, the community here is awesome). But keep in mind that there are no right or wrong builds. there is only what works for you. I usually peek at builds as a starting point, then tailor fit it to my style of play and/or concept.

2. On your map and contacts window there is a tab called badges. You can keep track of what you've got there. Some if you collect a set, you get an Accolade which gives a power or attribute. The wiki has the information you need to get certain badges; some you can find, some you can earn, some you need an entire league to get.

3. This may have to do with the enemy type and thereby their damage type. Your specific defences and resistances to those kinds of damages will determine how easy or hard a certain mob is. Most of the game content can be done solo, so unless your difficulty settings are off the charts, then you should be faring as well as the next bloke.
One of the best remedies for this is to kill everything before they get even get a chance =). 

4. The game can be played all the way to 50 on just Single Origin Enhancements (SOs). Invention Origin (IO) sets give you set bonuses. On one hand, set bonuses can really add up to either strengthen a certain attribute (i.e. dmg) or plug holes (i.e. Def/Res for Blasters and Dominators); on the other hand, the choice of IOs and their different combinations can be quite overwhelming.

And as a tip from one newb to another, keep an eye on your Fury Bar. As a Broot, you want that bar always filled. one way to do that is to always be fighting, so surround yourself with foes. Also, while you'll see a lot of speed runs being advertised in Looking For Group channel, there are still a number of us who like taking things slow. I hope you bump into your kind and find your tribe. It will definitely lift your enjoyment factor.
 

 

[Megajoule]

16 hours ago, Morgaren said:

But yeah, I am SLAUGHTERING stuff now.....well I am a hero, so maybe not slaughtering, but I went from dying a lot, to I died once cause I was like, screw it I am invincible. Apparently I am not, but a lot tougher than before.

 

Yeah, the game likes to throw these encounters at you now and then.  "So, you think you're hot stuff (literally, in your case)?  Try this on for size."

And sometimes you beat it (by the skin of your teeth, and have to take a moment in-game and out to catch your breath afterward), and sometimes you wind up eating floor, and medi-porting out, and coming back (a little wiser and more cautious) to dish out some payback.

 

Welcome back.  Glad you're having fun and getting some help and good advice.