Emberly

Always the correct answer for resistance powers.

Here is a brief list culled from the dev's choice/hall of fame/guest author search. Every one of these arcs I would play for their stories, even if they gave literally no reward other than enjoyment.

• The Do-It-Yourself Laser Moonbase Project, by @Twoflower. I liked it because it actually let me accomplish something as a self-motivated villain, and there was no return to status quo at the end. I was not treated as a means to someone's end, which is something I hate about redside. Found via AE search.
• Saul Rubenstien's Discount Task Force, by @Ascendant. I liked it because it is damned funny. Found because I knew Ascendant would not disappoint.
• Blight, by @Witch Engine. Although this arc won an award for Best Enemy Group, it is excellent in all respects. I hear it might have suffered from the AE changes, with mobs being replaced by generic placeholders, which would be a shame. Found from personal communication and recommendation.
• Astoria in D Minor, by@Cheshire Cat. An excellent horror arc that shows rather than tells, and has some interesting mechanics to it. May also be suffering from dev changes as of late. Found from personal communication and recommendation.

I formerly had a largeish text file that I listed every arc I played in, and the rating I gave it, but I deleted it once I realized that almost everything was utter trash. So, I've reconstructed this from the dev's choice/hall of fame/guest author arcs, because I cannot be bothered to go through the "already played" list and try to recall the gems in that mess. I am sure there were more, but these ones immediately spring to mind and remind me how great they were.

I don't recall if any of these I have listed were from guest authors, but one of the absolute worst arcs I have ever quit partway through was from a guest author, who shall remain nameless. Let's just say that being internet famous or a celebrity nerd doesn't make you able to write an arc for beans.

I will take a flip through Police Woman's list later, but the arcs I recognize so far on her list are mediocre at best. I will have to see which ones I have tried and give a few more a shot, perhaps. I've also taken a look at Venture's reviews, but the arcs he rates highly are often somewhat staid and boring storywise, and at least once he hated an arc that I loved. Reviewers are only useful assets if you agree with their tastes.

If you were able to filter out the furries, terrible origin stories, crap anime "homages" and people making farm after farm after farm, AE might be worth revisiting.

Hell yes. I have played more than one arc that had a great story and poor rewards. The problem is that everyone thinks their story is great, and the resources available to filter out the crap are inadequate. Sturgeon's Law applies.

As an aside, I try to play as many of the arcs I see in people's signatures as I can. I figure they care enough about their work to advertise it, I can do them the courtesy. Most of them are so bad I don't finish them. None of them have been so good that I would replay them. There's no useful, reliable way to find decent arcs.

This is just so wrong it hurts. Kinetics lives and thrives in melee. Get in there, damage cap yourself, make with the killing. If you spend most of your time outside melee range, you're as bad as bad can be. You got what? Two powers that can't affect you, one of which is easily emulated (and stackable!) via Sipohon Speed/Transference? Here's a little clue for you: ALL YOUR BEST BUFFS ARE AS MUCH FOR YOU AS THE REST OF THE TEAM

Hop in, damage cap yourself (and debuff the baddies), maintain your siphon speeds, belt out your heal between blasting the **** out of everything you see. Nuke away and transference your end bar back and laugh your yambag off. Kinetics is one of those sets that, when played right, can run ahead of the team and obliterate spawns on their own. Don't get the idea that you are a buffbot; that's for suckers and idiots. Kinetics makes everything better, including you, so don't squander your amazing abilities by hiding outside melee and acting like a fool. If you're purposely avoiding getting your own buffs, you will hate kinetics and kinetics will hate you. A kin that doesn't blast is the worst of all possible kins, worse even than one that doesn't SB the tank every three seconds in case he feels lonely.

Please allow me to refer you to the only guide you need for kinetics. Note how it doesn't say "skip attack powers because you should never blast you damn buffbot"? Yeah. Try playing your kin as a murderous death machine that can also buff the team, you will probably like it a lot more. Kin is great on fenders because you can actually maintain serious damage output on yourself. Don't be terrible like je_saist wants you to be!

Amen. I'm sure that my "click the biggest hitter that is recharged" strategy against big bads could be improved, but things die fast enough already.

I would support such a mechanism. Perhaps it could be added in an expansion?

In what world is DPS the only way a player can meaningfully contribute in a team setting?

I don't need some tool with his head up his *** telling me my DPS isn't up to par.

I too would love to see how a DPS meter would be useful in any way.

No. It was a nerf. It was needed, but it was a nerf. Top end fury dropped in exchange for increased ability to maintain low levels of fury, something that was not actually a problem. However, it was a problem that brutes were both tougher and more damaging than scrappers, except for certain outliers. Now things are more balanced, with brutes in general being a little tougher than scrappers and a little less damaging.

This is really accurate too.

Nothing serious and certainly nothing to worry about. Brutes are still awesome and Fury is still the best inherent! *SMASH*

I want softcap, and whatever recharge can fit in after that. Not a lotta defense in purple sets. I play mostly melee and defenders; I'm sure that people who play doms or other ATs get plenty more mileage out of purples.

People do it all the time. Feels good, man.

Came here to post this.