Emgro

Unfortunately, I lack the necessary Scottish accent to get more percents than a hundred out of the engines. However, I will switch the Warped Engines from "off-color" past "questionable" all the way to "bizarro."

*puts on a fake mustache and pushes the red button*

Unfortunately, due to the one-kilt-fits-all policy, Emgro cannot have a miniskirt.

I named mine...

Emgro.

Actually, I had always wanted to make Emgro as a less-human looking alien than was available with the costume designer. As a result, once I unlocked VEATs, I promptly rerolled Emgro as one, with the large mecha arms to be RP'ed as extra limbs. Unfortunately, they were less customizable than hoped, so not as useful as I would have liked.

Thanks to your advice, and double XP weekend, my TA/DP is now lvl 27.

I just got kicked from a team while playing a TA/DP.

Because I refused to join someone's supergroup. Oh yeah.

Red's deader if you're a stranger to it and don't know the crowded spots. It also has fewer crowded spots; unlike Paragon, there's no real "central" location like Atlas Park, except maybe the Cap Black Market.

In one of my masochist alt moods, I rolled up a TA/DP. Nothing like mixing the weakest Defender set with a lackluster blast set. (Admittedly, being the weakest defender set is like being the shortest center in the NBA). However, my old (two years old) familiarity with TA is completely out of touch, since animation times and power effects seem to have changed. As for DP, I don't know anything.

Which are the primary early (pre-20) choices for each set? I'm assuming that Glue Arrow and the -Res Arrows remain solid choices, as well as the novelty ammo power for DP. Aside from that, I have no idea what performs well at 50, or how many DP attacks I'll need for a decent chain.

While I'm asking questions I should know the answers to, how (in)effective are TA's debuffs against AVs? Are all of them (-acc, -dam, -res, -rec) heavily resisted by default?

Finally, is the combo better off as a corruptor? I'm familiar with the basic differences (Corrs have Scourge, Defenders have a pointless inherent, Defenders get better effects from the debuffs but lower base/cap damage, inverted power progression, etc), but I'm curious about anyone's experiences if they've tried either or both.

Thanks for any and all thoughts.

EDIT: Side note before anybody goes to any effort. I'm not particularly worried about IOs and don't use Mids, so don't spend lots of time designing a build I will never afford, or worse will be unable to read.

Today, my newest and most lamentable bad combo alt (Crazy Catgirl Lady, TA/DP Def) stumbled upon something beautiful. A protest.

Did I say protest? I meant riot. Punched people, broke cars, fought the cops that showed up. Reminded me of my youth.

I don't really mind a writer reviving their meal ticket. It's been going on for a long time, Sherlock Holmes being a notable example.

That being said, don't make a big to-do about it in a comic book these days unless dead means Sir No Longer Appearing In This Comic, Ever Again.

I've seen the energy secondary get defenders booted off a team more than once.

Bathroom break armor.

I've included many of my favorite characters in my arcs. Usually they are contacts or hostages. In one of my sillier arcs, I had my favorite tanker of all time being held hostage because he forgot to replace his SOs when they got outleveled.

According to my Vet badges, I've been playing at least 3 years. I have...

...one level 50.

So if you make a lot of alts, it can be a very long time. On the flip side, I have taken every AT to 20, and every one of the original hero powersets to 20 as well.

Economics is the science of studying the allocation of scarce resources.

CoX has no scarce resources, because I can always farm more Inf or salvage or recipes. In fact, bajillions of all of those things enter the game every hour. Arguably, the closest thing to scarce resources in CoX are:

1) Inventory space. I may generate infinite salvage or recipes, but I cannot carry them all.

2) Auction slots. I may have infinite Inf or salvage or recipes, but I cannot actually insert said resources into the market as quickly as I produce them. The game puts brakes on natural velocity, impeding the free market.

3) Consumption. How many LotG enhancements have actually left the game, as opposed to the ever increasing numbers of those being endlessly circulated. While the demand for LotGs exceeds supply at present, the same does not apply to inanimate carbon rods.

An argument can be made that CoX's auction house is not a market, and also that economics do not apply to a system in which all resources are infinite within the time constraints one has to acquire them.

Lucky dog. Where I work, "wireless" means "written down on scrap paper and typed into a ten-year-old computer running a 15-year-old-OS later." Technology in our workplace is limited to pallet jacks.

I've tried (and failed) to solo some real AVs with my DM/Shield Brute, but I couldn't manage to punch through their regen regularly without relying on outside stuff like Shivans and other temps. Shivan + Widow Pet + lots of Insps may not count as soloing, though.

Worst powersets by AT:

Scrapper: Either dual blades (by the numbers; it looks very cool) or spines (while a solid powerset on paper, it can destroy any costume and requires a specific concept)

Tanker: Stone. I'm sorry, it's a powerful set, but your defining power makes you hard to kill but otherwise slow and dull.

Defender: Trick Arrow. I love TA, but it's terrible. Redraw, absolutely no buffs or heals, and a very confused collection of powers with outrageous recharges (maybe this is better since the newer patches?) makes it very hard to imagine why Glue Arrow+Disruption Arrow+Acid Arrow taking ten seconds launch is better than just dropping Tar Patch or Sleet.

Controller: Mind Control or Grav. Confuse is stupid. Stacking it 50 times on a PTOD AV is even stupider. This is not a rational argument against MC, just personal taste. As for Grav, it's just sort of bleh. Attacks in my control set? Wormhole? Seriously? Controllers are supposed to turn enemies into shrubs waiting to be trimmed into topiary, not make them intangible or spread all over the map.

Blaster: Psi is pretty bleh, both visually and mechanically. Electric blast is visually not bad, but fairly weak since its secondary effect (-End) is only relevant if you truly focus on it to excess.

Mastermind: Mercs. Mercs are one of my favorite sets, but damn, they are terrible. Easily resisted lethal damage makes up most of their attacks, the medic is suicidal, the Spec Ops are utterly chaotic in their use of "control" powers with excessively long recharge, and the Commando's powers all have different ranges. As for which one I don't like, that'd be Robots. CHOMCHOMCHOM feet plus fat 'bots blocking up caves make me annoyed.

Dominators: Same as controllers, pretty much.

Corruptors: Secondary here, since comments from Blaster sort of cover the rest. Pain is a really terrible secondary solo.

Stalker: All of them ever. Especially claws, though my claws stalker was during a low point for the set, if memory serves, so I may be excessively biased.

Brute: WM/EA is STRONG and PRETTY. So strong. So pretty. I never liked the feel of Axe/WM, though the numbers are decent. Same goes for Invuln.

I really, really hate Willpower. Yes, it's one of the best sets, and extremely easy to play. That may be why I don't like it.

By the way, this list is neither subjective nor opinion. Everything in it is absolutely true facts and serious business, so don't even begin to question the strong and pretty of WM/EA.

Katana rework is up there.

Archery and TA are very nice.

*climbs out of the furnace*

Hello, everyone.

Today, I learned the problem with Dominators.

They don't heal very well. I was aware of this, but only after joining a lvl 45 party was I informed that I was inevitably "suck" because I didn't heal like a controller.

I guess my not healing well was contagious, because nobody else was doing it, either.

I also logged in my "Crookery" character today. Woohoo!

Earth/Psy offers a lot of control, and while there is a pet there, he's not exactly a distraction. /Psy has some decent AoE, and Earth as a primary will keep you alive nicely. Hasn't got the damage of Fire, and oddly only minimally benefits from Domination, but the control the rest of the time is quite solid and visually impressive. Quicksand and Earthquake are powerful -def debuffs, making them quite nice for keeping accuracy up against +4 enemies, letting you focus your slotting on recharge and damage.