Dispari

So not. While true it's not as universal, it's crazy easy to get S/L DEF, and I'd say the overwhelming majority of attacks in the game have some S/L component. Just 3 KC sets gives you +11.25% S/L DEF. That's 4 slots in 3 powers, as opposed to having to 6-slot crap to get melee bonuses. My Invuln Brute has soft-capped S/L with the right number of folks in range.

I farm my Brute on +2/x8 because between 70% S/L RES and 47% S/L DEF she's not going to die ever. Generally not even needing DP at all. But uh, I guess it works for you whatever it is you're doing that you're enjoying doing without Invincibility. Just know I'd pass up a character with your build in a heartbeat if I was doing any meaningful content beyond newspapers.

Amend:

What more could they give the playerbase without giving unfair advantages to long-time vets?

Please just let it end somewhere.

First off, welcome to CoH!

You should be regularly using enhancements for your career. Usually I don't even bother until 12, or more recently 22. But by 25 you should definitely be using something.

The difference in using them and not can be as much as double effectiveness in every power. Or even more when you start maxing out more than one attribute, such as accuracy, damage, recharge. For instance, a basic attack that does 100 damage hits 75% of the time. With enhancements it can do nearly twice that damage (~195), and hit 95% of the time. You can also slot it so you can use it more often.

Ultimately the types of enhancements you use are up to you. Personally I slot 2x accuracy in every attack to start off with. Some people are happy with 1x accuracy in attacks, but I'm not one of those. Damage comes secondary, and I stick to 4 slots per attack until my other stuff is solid; buffs, debuffs, mezzes, and defenses. So I tend to have 2x acc, 2x dmg for a while.

Ideally, IOs or SOs. IOs are more expensive but they don't expire. You can also do a ton of stuff with them that you can't do with SOs. However, as a new player you should focus on just getting your powers slotted. You can read a guide and learn about frankenslotting and set bonuses, but for now you should probably work on SOs as a baseline.

If you're strapped for cash you can go with DOs. I also tend to focus on important stuff first, like accuracy, and then see where I can go from there. It's more important to me that my attacks hit, so if I don't have money I might do accuracy in SOs and damage in DOs. If you can afford it though, go SOs all the way.

There are also things you might not bother to slot. You don't really need to spend money on Combat Jumping, Sprint, Rest, Brawl, or other weak powers.

You should try, as long as it's giving you a benefit of some kind. It's not that important to keep Fly slotted, but you probably want your attacks fleshed out.

Sell all the recipes and salvage you get on the black market. Some will be worth stuff. If you're just dealing with SOs, you'll eventually get a rare salvage that will sell for a mil or two and give you the cash you need.

If still strapped for cash, hold back on some stuff and buy DOs. Or don't worry about slotting some weaker powers. You can also try doing AE missions to get tickets and then buy the SOs you want with tickets.

You can also drop into the market forum and read up on some money-making strategies there, if you have the time.

First off, Field Crafter costs a few million just in crafting fees and recipes, so don't worry about it until you're post-50. With the stuff you get now, if you do find something that can be useful go ahead and make it. You can often pick up salvage and recipes cheap on the market if you're willing to bid low and wait. Otherwise, if you aren't using it and don't plan to use it, sell it!

Sell everything you don't plan on using. Some stuff might prove useful, like if you happen to get some level 30 damage or accuracy recipe and have most of the ingredients. IOs don't expire so they save you from having to rebuy them every 5 levels. A level 30 IO is as good as an SO, while a level 25 is about a -1 SO.

Kinda depends. After you play long enough you sort of get an eye for what's vendor trash and what's not. Rare salvage and most rare recipes should be sold on the market. Right now, common salvage can be sold pretty high in most cases. I usually sell standard IO recipes (that is, the ones that are JUST accuracy or JUST recharge and not part of a set) to vendors. And even though it's usually at a net loss I sell uncommon salvage on the market cause it goes fast. Most uncommon recipes are vendor trash, but you should always check prices first until you know.

It can be, but they're often more expensive than SOs. Personally I throw about 5-10m on new toons when I make them and start with IOs at 25 and never look back. If you can find a good way to start outfitting yourself with 25-30 IOs, you can save money in the long run.

No prob.

No system is perfect. One of my friend has 60 months because they went on autopay ages ago and never bothered to turn it off. They don't know much about the game at all, but they qualify based on 60 months. I've also run into more than one person in-game who clearly bought/were handed their high-vet account. Vet badges are no more of a guarantee of a loyal longstanding customer than the loyalty program was.

I have a perma-ML Widow, but she still needs TT:M. She also needs CJ, Mask Pressence, and about +5% global DEF (which I got from Guassian and Steadfast). So I suppose you could skip TT:M if you also wanted to pick up an extra +8% DEF in your build. But that would be pretty dumb.

Personally I think TT:M is one of those powers you should take as soon as it unlocks (4 for Widows, 10 for Soldiers). Like Fulcrum Shift, Assault Bot, or Shield Charge. Yeah, you could talk about how you aren't a conformist and have the freedom to make your own build and stuff, but why did you roll a VEAT if you didn't want to run leadership toggles? Especially ones that directly benefit your own defenses.

I ran a team once with three VEATs, around level 30-32. As a Dominator I was cruising along happily until I faceplanted. After I rezzed, that's when I noticed none of the three VEATs had TT:M. Or Mind Link. I chimed in, "You know, you guys should pick up TT:M. It gives you a good boost to your defense as well as benefits the rest of the team." Two of the people, ENRAGED, shouted at me that they aren't elitists, and this is not WoW, so they can do whatever they want. Also, that it's been working so far (despite the fact that we had far more deaths than should have been humanly possible with 3 VEATs on the team). The third person said "Oh yeah? I was just taking powers that sounded good, because I couldn't find a good guide. I'll take it for my next power pick. Thanks!" You can probably guess which one wound up on my friends list.

It affects my Widow too, who has -speed/-rech in her attack. Normal enemies she can kill lightning fast, but it's always amusing to have EBs and AVs flee from her.

I have it on my farming Brute cause it allows me to resist slow and recharge debuffs. Plus there's a sizeable amount of baddies who use flamethrowers.

They don't! All their attacks do 0.

Not to mention incredibly unhealthy if all you eat is fast food, especially cheeseburgers and other dollar menu items.

GR is my last hope for the back option stuff. It does seem like a good candidate since it'll be something near everyone has instead of just one group. And it would be nice to know they're giving something we all want badly in a big expansion. It'd also alleviate the "but that's not a natural part" issue because they can just include whatever they want in a full expansion. I know a lot of people who want something other than a cape or wings for a back option. I myself use those on a very infrequent basis, and would enjoy the ability to add sheaths, quivers, or backpacks to various characters and costumes.

As for the technical stuff, I think static parts would be okay. Right now none of the NPCs have parts that respond based on their actions. And heck, as you said, even CO doesn't do this, so it's not like we have a standard to compete with. It can be kinda silly when the ninja who has two katanas on his back pulls out a third one, but there are also a lot of issues with trying to make them respond that could potentially delay us having the stuff by months. For instance:

1) Not everyone would want to have their weapon "draw," because it might just be decoration. Devs would have to make 2 versions of every part, one that draws and one that doesn't.
2) Even if they responded to combat mode, that would mean a DB user entering combat mode by pushing Brawl would still make his swords disappear.
3) Devs would have to find a comfortable way to distinguish between the two battle modes and make it so the weapon ONLY draws when you use the appropriate weapon attack, and then it would have to put the weapon back on your back when you're attacking but NOT using weapons -- more trouble than it's worth.
4) Not all weapons even draw from the same place. Katanas draw from the hip, so it wouldn't even make sense for them to come from a sheath on the back in the first place.

I'd happily accept costume parts that don't animate if it means we could get the stuff in time for GR. I don't want it to be delayed indefinitely because they can't figure out how to make the axe back part only disappear when you're using axe attacks. And frankly, our costume parts have never been or needed to be that realistic for us to enjoy them (see cape physics).

Arm-wings like Swan has would be a nice addition.

Planning on making a tengu?

There are at least 5 different jetpacks (Sky Raider, Longbow, Goldbricker, Christmas, and Mini-Booster). And we could assume that if they came out with a booster pack, there may be more than one.

And different assault rifles is a recent thing. Was it tech before weapon customization?

A stick off the ground, Wes.

The confusing thing about gadgets is that there's really no clear line where something stops being natural and starts being tech. It's more opinion-based than anything, and there's no real right answer.

Using a stick as a weapon is pretty much considered natural. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who considers a stick technology. A sword is technology, although really low-tech. Most people still consider that natural. Bows are low-tech gadgets. Guns are a lot higher in tech, but some people will still call those natural (myself included). Then somewhere between pistols and mech suits, it becomes tech.

There are a lot of factors that could make it suddenly be tech, but all those are questionable. Does the gadget allow you to do something you normally can't do? Well, so does a sword. Does the object do most of the work or are you? I think guns do most of the work. Is it something you had to train to use or did just picking it up allow you to use it? Well, guns aren't that hard to use, and jetpacks surely require practice. Is it only things that aren't the norm in our world? It's not like jetpacks are uncommon in CoH.

Personally, I would call a jetpack technology. But for the life of me I can't figure out why. And I don't think I'd have any good reason to tell someone who thinks it's natural that they're wrong.