Biscuits_EU

Giggling? At a Dark 'fender? Dark Miasma's all kinds of awesome.

Firstly, don't laugh at the concept. She's my main, and it's about time I gave her a proper go at PvP. Sure, I could make an alt to use, but that would mean I'm not using my favorite toon/main badge toon. (I'd like to at least *try* to get the PvP badges the way they were designed).

I'm expecting comments like "lol dark", which honestly don't help me. They just show how arrogant and elitist some PvPers can be, which has put me off trying in the past. So please, if that's all you have to say, save and look less like a jerk for a change.

Right, onwards to the request. I'm not asking for a mids build or anything, as I can faff about with that later. I'd like some advice on which powers are essential, which can be skipped, which would be the best APP to take, and what sort of tactics to use. Generic tactics or specific to an AT's fine, but I'd like her to be able to stand a chance against the majority of opponents.

I'd also like some advice on what areas to concentrate on, regarding IO's. (Not necessarily which sets, but which bonuses would be the most help and why).

She's great for PvE, and thanks to dual builds, I'd like her to be a little less hopeless for PvP, too.

Thankies. ^_^/

Stryke's asked us to post these for you, GR.

On my main, I only have the IP detective (useless as she's 50). Was in IP, zoned to ouroboros > Atlas.

On my other 50, I logged into Ouroboros, with no contacts/missions. The Ouroboros Crystals aren't clickable.

Click the Channel name in the chat tab, then choose Set MOTD.

As far as I can tell, the account section of the PlayNC site is down for maintenance. I can't see any announcement on the boards, or anywhere.

Some people are also having trouble logging in during this time, and the client is telling them to contact the Administrators at the PlayNC site. Which they can't. They can't post on the forums, either, as they've been disabled at the same time.


Any chance of an update on when it'll be fixed? Or why some accounts can't log in?

(On one master account, 1 works, 1 doesn't. And it's not the usual 'account has expired' message for not being subscribed).

Tonight's Mothership Raid got me number 551, on my main, Biscuits. No alts within 200 badges of that, tho.

Woo! Awesome work, Doc. Thankies SO much. ^_^

I'm with y'all on this. Thankies. ^_^
Nice to see people thank the Devs instead of whining for a change, too.

My main hit 50 after 327 hours of playing. I just checked her total time, and it's 1159 hours. You can do the math, but I personally have found plenty of things to do after hitting the cap. I can't see myself retiring her at any point, either. Unlike my Claws/Regen, which was less fun after 50.

There's some purples I want for her, mostly for the bonuses whilst exemped for TF's and the like, but I'm stubborn and want them as drops. She's a dark x3 'fender. Support class by AT, and I've tanked TF's with her, soloed most of the flashback badges, and use her to farm for Inf badges. I could've taken her to 50 and then retired her, but I enjoy using her. I'd personally rather keep her as she is (aside from finishing the slotting) and have more content for her to try, than have to get another 10 levels. If I want the buzz from levelling up, I'll use a low level alt.

She's also has 518 badges, which has kept me busy for quite a while. ^_^ Only toon I really take seriously for badges, though.

However, I *would* like a couple of extra slots. I'm not greedy, three would be perfect. No more than five, tops. Those would likely go to making Sprint/Hover slightly faster, too. Not essential, just nice. I'd be happier if they were some sort of reward, too. Like for a Task Force. Or an Accolade badge. Not just grinding the XP to get them.

If we get access to crossover content, I'd likely double that play time, too. Regardless of not having a flashy effect and a buff every few million XP.

To me, reaching 50 wasn't the end. Improving her build is a part, getting the badges is a part, playing her better's a part, completing all of the Flashbacks is a part, performing roles she wasn't designed for is a part. Until she becomes "not fun to play", she's not finished. Even if she has reached the maximum level.

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Admittedly I don't spend much time doing PvP. Seems pointless as far as I can see, when I do decide to PvP I go to Sirens Call as that zone is the most fun.
Uber purple set bounses don't work there as far as I know so meh.

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Set bonuses from Purples work even if you exemp down to level 1. I'd assume that the accuracy bonuses would be rather handy in the PVP zones.

As much as I'd like a Dark Blast/Dark Manipulation Blaster (as Dark's my favorite type of power), and a Psy/Kin Corruptor (remake of my 'fender), I've plenty of things to be levelling as it is, and I'll be knocking up a Broadsword/Shield Scrapper (from the future >_&gt when i13 arrives.

i14 will have me making various missions/arcs/foes and stuff, so I'm not too fussed there, either.

I'd much rather they concentrate on making the issues as they are less buggy, than faff about throwing in more work for themselves.

And make all the purple recipes useless? This isn't WoW, where you make your character good until the next update make him/her rubbish again.

Assuming they did make it 60, how long do you think it'll be before you're saying "raise it to 70"?

No.

But using Herostats, you can get it to tell you how long's left on buffs/powers/etc.

www.herostats.org

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Ok, all solved, UK ver downloaded, NV card installed instead of builtin, and tutorial + one solo mission completed... Works fine so far... although I'm not sure I made a good char...

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As long as you like the character, and enjoy playing, it's good. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

WP's High Pain Tolerance is interfering with it, as the damage is worked out from the base, not the buffed version. Depending on what you've got slotted, I can only think of 3 options (without respec'ing twice to get it faster).

1. If HPT isn't using sets, stick TO's in for a while, and try the 2/3 guides. The IO's/SO's in it are likely pushing it high enough they can't fight thru it to affect the badge.

2. Max out the regen on the WP things. Turn on Rise to the Challenge, and herd up a crowd you can "survive". Taunting, too, possibly. I tried with my tank in the early 30's with the aggro cap for redcaps, and she was fine to just stand there and regen fast enough. More mobs = more regen.

3. Get a friendly stormie/thermal/whatever to stand at the side, with heal on auto. Storm's mist thing+SS/stealthIO will keep them safe. You taunt the rikti thingy (or tougher stuff), whilst they work on the healing badges, too.

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The ops question was "are Tankers becoming obselete."


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No, the OPs question was "Are melee ATs slowly becoming obselete??"

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Last time I looked tankers whern't the only melee AT.

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oh shoot me LOL. You do agree that the overall point does include Tankers? In that they are of of the primary melee groups?
And that becoming obselete isnt a million miles away from being obelete?

So did i say anything not pertaining to the question?

Semantics. And those that pick up on them. Sheesh.

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I don't think it's anything to do with semantics, I think it's more to do with the fact that you've picked up on a random post in a thread, ran with it, and completely derailed the thread. When it comes back to the original topic, you show you're not actually bothering to read half of the stuff, you're just harping on about topics you find important.

Regarding "Primary Melee", last I heard there were more scrappers than tanks floating about. They're easier to solo, and are less work in a team. You're not expected to maintain a pace, you're don't need to check the health bars now and then, you don't have to hold aggro. You're (sadly, due to some people's mindset as and with scrappers) there to make up the numbers and kill stuff. There's rarely very little else demanded of a scrapper. There's also no 'Trollerlock or 'Fenderlock (though I often get them >_&gt.

As for SG's, you can run one how you want. I've ran one for 2-ish years, on and off. We've got all the base facilities we need, and enough prestige for me to build another section just to stick in random things like a bar*.

At one point, we were /almost/ on the top 100 list. We've also only ever had 4 active members at a time. People come and go. After six or so months, they come back again. We laugh for a month, and then they're off again. I think our record, was 5 people online at the same time, and that was for an SG STF. (We PuG'ed the other 3, from each of our friends lists).

Is that successful? By most reckonings, the answer would be no. Ask any of the 4 actual members, and we'd all respond with a resounding "yes". I wouldn't even class it as an active SG (one members is now at 740 days offline \o/), but I've been in several other SG's, and aside from one a friend runs, I'd have to say I didn't enjoy them as much.

I'm not remotely fussed about people being in SG mode. If I need prestige to jazz up the base, I'll go and earn it. If people needed inf, they just had to ask me. We even had a forum at one point, just to see what it was like.

It was like a job, like other's have mentioned in the thread. It took out the fun side of a few friends giggling like idiots at everything, into something we begrudged not being paid for. We were going to "take it seriously", and we realised at that point that we were already taking it too seriously. It's a game, not a career.

I'm not saying SG's shouldn't put effort in, if people want to. I'm saying people should know where the line is, between "fun" and "suck", and when they reach it they should stop. They shouldn't run as far past the line as they can go before they start to get a stitch, and then shout back at the other's for not wanting to be exactly like them.

They should also put some effort into reading things properly, if they've set their hearts on being so argumentative at every opportunity. Debating isn't about who can shout the loudest or most often, and it certainly isn't about disregarding opinions purely because they're not the same as yours.

(I rarely post, but several threads have wound me up recently, and I've come to the boil. Apologies if anyone's upset in advance).

MoSTF:
My 'fender (main) dies faster in the Thorn Tree room than the worst scrapper you can find, yet I've still been asked to be on that, despite them knowing that in advance. *If* I were to ever run an MoSTF myself, I'd happily take along 7 scrappers, as long as the team was fun/friends of mine. Despite me loving badges, actually enjoying myself wins everytime.

Focus:
My first 50 was a claws/regen. I used Focus for the KD combined with the KB from Shockwave. I was soloing on invincible from 5-45, and never noticed Focus being some awesome power that hurts stuff a lot. It was my mez/pull more than anything. If I ever get around to remaking the toon, I'm sure I'd not notice some major nerf.

Nerfs in general:
Crikey. Do you people all play with some unified key-pressing chain, that I'm unaware of? "Oh, they've nerfed this power, I can't play anymore". Unless it's the mez protection on a tank (and even that's dependent on team), I fail to see how these nerfs have SUCH an effect. I mean, given the time I'm sure I could level a no stamina empath 'fender to 50, solo. It'd be a long hard slog, but it's doable. Take away any power from my main entirely (including fearsome stare, which is my opener), and what would I do? Whine about it? Say it's unplayable? No. I'd adapt. I don't see why everyone else can't adapt to the nerfs, instead of throwing sissyfits all the time.

That said, they changed empathy/regen aura ages back to look stupid, and my old, old main was less fun because of it. Was also mid-30's, so I had less to do, but looking like I was in an amateur acting workshop pretending to be a tree wasn't that great for me.

IO's:
For the most part, all those bonuses are great if you PVP. The majority of people don't. Even the ones that do, they're kind of specific, so if you wanted to avoid (resist) immobs, for example, you'd likely end up making the toon weaker in general because of it. Unless you had some massive grudge against one person's character, I wouldn't count on IO's being the be all and end all of PVP. Even then, it doesn't include the player themself.

Even though I don't PVP personally, I like the fact that there's no "this build will beat everything" situation on the go.

Melee:
Recently, some of my friends have had a spat of making new toons. The majority of those have been melee. Despite my love for 'fenders, I still like playing the odd scrapper now and then as (personally, soloing) there's a lot less effort involved. I see scrappers as the pick up and play toons. Have half an hour to kill, and can't decide what to do? Radio mission with a scrapper. I've even been tempted to make something like 4-7 different scrappers and/or brutes(/human PB) recently, I just don't want to get involved in another character just yet, when I've got several others I'd rather level. When we get shields, I'll be making a BS/Shield scrapper, I've even picked the costume.

Farming with Trollers:
I farm with a Dark/Dark/Dark 'fender. It's possible to farm with anything, if you put the effort in. Fire/Kins are just faster at it. Doesn't mean turning your brain off and auto-piloting thru the same mission over and over and over and over (ad infinitum) is fun, just more efficient.

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I did forget to mention the exception of tanks

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This sums up the whole thread for me, and plenty of other similar threads. Not you in particular, Shen, but just the general "OH! NERF! PANIC! WHINE!" attitude that's about. It's people seeing a nerf on a certain thing and subsequently ignoring all the various buffs that come with it at the time and ignoring the big picture entirely.

Yes, PVP's imbalanced for melee. I've seen the brutes go on about Fury in PVP for ages, and I still don't know if it's fixed, (personally, much less care). But as the Devs try to make all of a certain AT perform similar, people just jump up and start moaning about their particular choice. It's not the Dev's fault that that person had picked the powersets that were overpowered compared to other AT choices (and I'm guessing *most* of the time that's *why* they picked them).

Nerfs are going to happen. Anyone who's been here for at least 1 patch is going to know that. I don't see why every single nerf needs so much of a hoohah about it, yet the buffs each time don't get a celebratory thread, praising Castle or BAB's on their dress sense or taste in music. No, it's almost always "The Devs suck, I'm rubbish now, WAH!".

Threads like this, predicting some server/game wide exodus of AT's is that childish and pessimistic attitude taken one step further, and people's inability to think past the next power in their attack chain makes me think I'm stuck in a game full of cry-babies and sore losers. Thankfully, I can look at my Global List, and know that all is not lost.

Also, I'll leave you with three predictions:
1.
Blasters > Energy Manipulation is due for a nerf in the future, PVP/solo it apparently (I've never had it past level 5) out-performs other Blaster secondaries.
2.
There will be a massive whinge-fest when it happens, lasting months. People will delete characters, people will quit, some continent will be washed away in a tsunami of tears.
3.
Someone will make a thread about ranged toons becoming obsolete, then later remembering that (s)he meant only blasters.

Current:
Dark/Dark, 39. Mostly solo, painfully dull until 20, then fabulous fun.

Old:
Claws/Regen, 50. My first 50, and fun whilst it lasted. Got boring after a while.
Kat/SR, 28. My first scrapper. Again, bored me.
MA/Inv, 7. After 2 attempts, I think I just can't get on with it.

Future:
BS/Shield, 0. I've got the costume lined up ready in a placeholder slot. ^_^

Only managed 2 blasters I've liked, and one of those has gone now, too:

Fire/Fire, 36. Only blaster set I've ever really loved. I'm happy to suicide myself on her, and debt doesn't phase me. Throwing fire about is just too much fun.

Elec/Elec, 28, Deleted. Back before defiance 2.0, it was painfully boring with the mezzing to death. Might try it again.

AR/Dev, 11, deleted. Too boring.

Energy/Energy, 5, deleted. Rooting annoyed me. As did the mismatched power colors.

Defender's are my favorite/first love, too. ^_^

Dark/Dark/Dark, 50, my main who can solo and the one i use on farming, oddly.
Kin/Psy/Psy, 50, almost deleted her at 46 as I don't like the Psy part, but chose to keep her after I realised I had the Illusionist badge. >_>
Storm/Elec, 37, easiest I've played solo, but the end drain means I have to be in the right mood to play her.
TA/Archery, 22, kind of fun but her regular team's on a break.
Rad/Rad, 14, attempt number 6 at Radding, and I'm determined to stick with it, this time. Always deleted the Rads as slots were running low.
Cold/Ice, 6, I'm already on my 3rd attempt at this, and it's not looking promising.

Deleted:
Emp/Elec, 37, was fun to begin with, but in the 30's, it was painfully dull.
Sonic/Sonic, 16, after several attempts I can't stand the sounds/animations/graphics. On hold until i have more patience.

Only one I've not got/had is FF, but my main 'troller is grav/ff, so I'm putting it off for now.

Grav/FF (soloed to 35, albeit it slowly).
Mind/Kin (23-ish, sequel to my kin/psy 'fender).
Earth/Storm (still in the tutorial).

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Anyway, all that aside, I already had the name I want, Strawberry Icecream just wouldn't have worked with any other sets.

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Damn it, Wyxie!

First thing I did after the new TF was make a Cold/Ice 'Fender in an overly cutesy pink outfit called "Strawberry Ice Cream", now I find out you've got one on the go with an almost identical name.

I've got a 41 Willpower/Shovel tank on the go at the moment, and she's great fun. Had a 37 an Inv/SS one that could tank +12 Maltas (tanked a +4 Battle Maiden and didn't get hit) but couldn't do any damage (concept reasons), and I'll definitely be making a Dark/Dark tank (I'm a bigger fan of Dark).

I've also tried Stone/Stone, too, but gave up at 14. I've been tempted to try Fires and Ices, too, but never got around to it.

The main thing is, though, they don't "play" the same. Sure, they're all tanks, but I have to change the way I play them to make them useful. Same with all my 'fenders. As the sets aren't carbon copies with different names, there's plenty of reason to "make another AT", regardless of which AT that is.

But, yea. Concept comes first for me.

I was kind of replying to both you and Standoff. Should really have quoted both and explained myself better.

It should be:

powexec_name

not powerexec_name as Standoff mentioned.

Edit:

Scarlet, I'm not all that up on where the quotation marks go, I usually take a few trial and error attempts it until it works.

Er..

Isn't it powexec_name?

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Tesla Cage is a hold, not an Immob. Handy in PvP when combined with Pet' Gaze to stack holds on a boss.


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..Er, yea. That should've been PvE there, sorry for the confusion.

I'd also not rely on Fluffy's targeting. There's no way of ensuring he'll attack who you want unless it's a one on one situation.

The sentinel is 10 Charged Bolts attack in 45 seconds, I think. Assuming it fires all ten.