ClawsandEffect

You can slot Thunderstrike in Char too, because it deals ranged damage.

You can slot 4 Thunderstrike and 2 Basilisk's Gaze for twice the defense of just Thunderstrike. And you won't need a hold proc, because Char is already a hold.

Though the defense won't be quite as good for a Shield toon, but a total of 2.5% ranged defense isn't a bad deal. (it'd be 5% if you were slotting for typed)

I'd spend some time becoming a much better guitarist than I am currently.

The game cuts into my practice time.

Who knows, maybe I'd be famous now if it weren't for the game. I doubt it, but you never know.

Well, all the TFs have bonus merits involved as well as a huge chunk of XP as a bonus at the end.

They are probably spreading it out so those players who don't have a 50 at all don't feel like they're being shafted by the WST only being for Incarnate characters. The WST is for everyone, not just Incarnates, and not just for people that bought Going Rogue. Everyone gets the bonus XP and bonus merits, and Incarnates get a Notice of the Well along with it.

I'm planning on running it with characters who need it for TFC, or who I want to get a little closer to 50, because that bonus xp (1/3rd, half, or 2/3rds of an entire level) is HUGE for a character in the 40s. I may or may not run it on my main, depends on how I'm feeling at the time, and being a Claws/Regen he exemps well.

I was just mentioning that they aren't strictly necessary in order to lessen the amount of stuff the OP feels the need to absorb all at once.

Once he's back into the swing of things, by all means he should look into them at some point, but give the guy a chance to figure out what the hell's going on again before he does.

You don't NEED to look into them.

They are a nice addition that will greatly improve your performance if you delve into them, but there is no NEED to.

The game didn't get harder when they were introduced. Don't look at the people starting threads about the AVs and GMs and Master of TF runs they've done solo and think you have to as well, because those are extreme cases and NOT what the average player is expected to be capable of.

I'm just mentioning this so the OP doesn't feel pressured to start messing with IOs right away and end up potentially confused and frustrated by them.

Doesn't that pretty much describe Deadpool's personality to a T?

You REALLY like The Princess Bride, dontcha?

I counted at least 4 quotes from that movie alone.

What I do at low levels is this:

1 Accuracy, 1 Damage, and 1 End Reduction in all my attacks.

With DOs, the gain you get from slotting more than 1 damage isn't enough to make up for the end drain from the attacks.

Also, slot 3 End Mods into Stamina if you haven't already.

If you have Targeting Drone, make sure it has at least 2 DOs of end reduction in it, you can drop it down to 1 end reduction when you get to SOs.

End management is one of the first hurdles a new player has to figure out. Once you get that under control it gets a lot easier.

Another hint: Don't use Buckshot or M30 Grenade on a single target, it burns more end than single target attacks for less damage. I used to do that and was wondering why my end bar kept disappearing so fast. You'll notice that your AoEs do less damage than your single target attacks, that's because they can hit multiple targets at once, and when you're hitting 3 or more the endurance per target is actually better for the damage dealt. It just makes more sense to wait a couple seconds and kill it with Slug or Burst than to use Buckshot and STILL have to use Slug or Burst.

Are you playing on a full account, or a trial account? If you're playing on a trial account your characters are limited to level 14.


Are you using Dual Origin enhancements or still using Training Origin? That was one of the mistakes I made when I first started. If you don't know what Dual Origins are, then you probably aren't using them. Go to Steel Canyon or Skyway City and look for a dollar sign on your map that matches your origin when you hover your mouse over it (I'm presuming your origin is Natural here)

DOs have funky names, but they are twice as effective at enhancing your powers. Assault Rifle is on the lower end of the blaster damage scale (Fire is the top), but it does decent enough damage. Later on you will get a number of cone attacks, which will give you decent AoE ability.

Team more. You will level much faster when you regularly play on a team than you will soloing.

I'll address the lack of teams in the next part of my response.

A lot of SGs look at new members as nothing more than Prestige earning drones, it's possible you've fallen in with one of the bad ones that expects you to just earn them prestige while they ignore your existence. If they continue ignoring you, I suggest finding a new SG. You're not stuck with them forever, you can leave any time you feel like it. And there is nothing they can do to you if you decide to quit.

The reason you're not getting a response in broadcast is because the game is heavily instanced. Since every mission is it's own zone, when you enter one you are cut off from broadcast chat in the zone the mission is in.

Go down to the forum for the server you're playing on and look for the list of global channels for that server. Those are channels that people can talk in no matter where they are in the game. You can talk to someone in the same zone, or a different zone, or a different server completely. Those are much more reliable ways of finding teams and people to ask about stuff than the broadcast channel is, just because the broadcast channel is so limited in the people that will hear it.

It's not THAT bad.

It's not how I would slot it, and it's not really optimized, but I've seen much worse.

When doing that I slot Invisibility with a recharge IO so it comes back faster.

Also, love the quote in your sig. Samurai 7 is one of my favorite anime series'. At least I'm pretty sure that's where it's from, that's the only Kikuchiyo I'm familiar with.

I actually like all of them....provided I'm in the mood for a TF.

If I'm NOT in the mood for a TF, I'm not going to run one, and I don't care WHAT carrot is dangled in front of me.

Notice or not, if I don't feel like running a TF, I'm not going to. I didn't run a single LGTF last week, because I didn't feel like it, and I'm not especially fond of that one. I'll probably run Apex next week, just because I haven't run it yet.

The Subtle Signs that Nobody Else On The Team Was Amused would quickly lead to:

Claws and Effect has quit the team

I HATE teaming with people that have no sense of humor and take the game super seriously. Few things aggravate me more than being on a 2 hour task force and the only things in the chat window are "herding to here" and "Gather".

C'mon! You're playing on a team in a multiplayer game.....SOCIALIZE A LITTLE!!!

Sure, I suppose there's somewhat more emphasis on priming 50s for Incarnate content, never said there wasn't.

I was just saying that I feel no particular need to do it all right now myself.

My Incarnate character (I only have one that is getting everything) has his Cardiac Rare slotted, and I doubt I'll bother with the Very Rare, because it doesn't really benefit him much. He's endurance sustainable with just the Rare, and he'll only get about 1.5% more resistance out of the Very Rare so I don't see the point.

My main will be getting the Very Rare Spiritual.....eventually. I don't really care if there's more emphasis on anything, I'm going to continue playing the game at my own pace. If that means I miss out on something because I wanted to play my level 17 Controller or level 27 Tank, so be it.

Pinnacle. It'll be Saturday night more than likely, because that's the only time I'll actually have the time to do it.

Oh well.

Good enough reason to run it for me.

Thus far that seems to be the case.

So far all the WSTs have either been TFs that have equivalents on both sides, or they're co-op. And it looks like that trend is going to continue for March.

Sure I can.


I don't need to do any of that stuff. I'm not in competition with anyone, and I don't really care that SuperDude got his level shift a few weeks before me. I'll do the stuff at my own pace, just like I've always done. I just look at it as giving me more options on what to do when I log in.

The people that are rushing to do everything RITE NAO!!!, are the ones that are going to be burned out on the whole thing within a couple months. Since I'm taking my time with it and doing it as I feel like it, rather than by some enforced schedule, I'd be willing to bet I will still find it fun long after it's become just another grind for the powergamers.


Really? Weird.

I've made more new characters since i19 came out than in the last 2 years.

Mornings are also the time of day when the fewest people are going to be inconvenienced by server maintenance.

It sucks that it happens to be the time you play, but they have to do it sometime, and the morning hours when most people are still sleeping or at work is the time it makes the most sense to do it during.

I get that you're annoyed, but if you have to annoy people, it is better to annoy the fewest people possible.