FourSpeed

So, it's clear you've locked yourself into Level 8 come heck or high water.

Since there's no debt (below L10?), and since you won't have much in the
way of either powers or enhancement slots, none of our advice matters here.
I'd slot L10 common IO's (they beat TO's hands-down) and have at it.

Good Luck - Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls.


Cheers,
4



PS> If you DO manage to find L8 SO's, put out a follow-up note telling how you
got 'em (cuz I'm far from convinced that they're available, but I've never had
a character that cared about them in that level range either).

Also, if you're already monitoring any stats in the little pop-up box,
you can right-click in there and also open up the full Combat Attributes
screen.

4

I think the rate is excessive, and given that Base PvP hasn't existed in the
game for literally years, I think the rate is also purely punitive at this point.

I believe that is especially true for small or solo SG's... and yes, I get the
whole "Group" part of it, but I'd be very interested to see the actual numbers
on Players/SG (vs Toons/SG).

Also, Cat's ratio is a bit of a misnomer. Inf is based on Level, Prestige isn't.

I believe that both the L5 and the L50 get the same amount of prestige for
an even-con mob. Not true with influence, of course.

So, the most efficient inf/prestige ratio actually occurs on lowbie toons, but I
don't see anybody who advocates funding bases through lowbie labor because
it's the most efficient inf/prestige ratio.

I also agree with Fulmens that the rate is probably a #define or a table entry
somewhere... I should think it a pretty quick change and a very welcome
stealth-buff if they'd just switch it to say 250:1 on a future patch.

That said, I'm not holding my breath on the liklihood of that occurring...

...and don't even get me started on the silliness that is Base Rent...


Regards,
4

I'm not sure how viable (or even available) L8 SO's are going to be... I'm
pretty doubtful about you being able to get SO's this low.

I know you've set your own criteria on this project and so I'm just gonna
toss this out for you to mull over. Interesting project, btw.

Were I doing this (and assuming you can't get SO's that low), I'd look at
levelling the toon into the 10-15 range. At that point, there are several
set IO's low enough that you can Frankenslot.

I'd take this approach for 3 reasons (not counting unavailability of SO's)

1> You can get some choice items in the 10-14 range with AE tickets.

2> You can probably get some set bonuses that may exemplar with you
in the ranges you're planning to play in.

3> A level 8 toon is going to have what, ~6 powers (not counting inherents),
and a total of ~15 slots to spread around? Even a couple more levels matters here.

Also, with very limited slotting, Frankenslotting will let you improve more
than 1 attribute per slot - a very helpful thing at that stage, I think...

Looking at a little math, and again, assuming you cannot get SO's that low,
an L15 common IO is ~19% improvement. So, if you 2 slot with 1 Acc, 1 Dmg
you're looking at 19/19. With DO's, you'd be looking at 16/16. With two
Acc/Dmg melee set IO's you'd have 24/24...


I'm not sure how practially helpful an L8 toon would be, but adding just a
few more levels would make a big difference. There's no need to go L50,
but I'd certainly consider the mid-teens or so, myself.

Best of Luck with your project.


Regards,
4

Amusing rant - it comes up every few weeks or so on the forum.

I actually have a level locked empath (at L22) who flies around the lowbie
zones lending an unsolicited "buffing" hand here and there, while praising
the glory, courage, and bravery of heroes stronger than she who are
willing to risk death to fight evil -- Yeah, it's an RP thing...

In the several hundred hours I've played that toon, only once did a player
ask me to NOT buff them (in the Hollows). I complied... np.

In short, that toon will buff if it sees you in (or near) a combat scenario.
It's what she does. If you don't like it, you can let her know and she'll
move on. The overwhelming majority of the time, what she gets is gratitude.
I find it one of the heroes I really enjoy playing now and then. It lets me
express (and purge) some altruistic characteristics that pester me occasionally.

On the villain side, none of my toons will help you at all... You're evil and
self-interested in power (as am I)... If you can't stand on your own, neither
I or Lord Recluse will miss you... Clearly you're unworthy for taking over the
world if the riff-raff puts you in the hospital...

Part of the reason for those approaches is RP, and part of it is because
I run solo 95+% of the time.... That's how I roll...

Unless you are on my Global Friends list, or in an SG with me, I won't team
with you... It's how I play the game. Last I checked, I don't need the
approval of another player to do that.


Regards,
4


PS> The tone of that post was intentionaly stark. People pay to play and
within the rules and context of the game, have the right to do so any way
they like. I will (like most people, I think) respond appropriately to a polite
request to help, or even to not help, but the presumption that I will play
according to some arbitrary standards other players set, is naive at best.

PPS> I don't "fiteclub" for the very same reasons... Foolish, arbitrary expectations.

I'd echo Reiraku's thoughts, and I'd also add that you have zero means of
escape in any PvP zone in that first build.

Getting kills is (relatively) easy... Getting away scott-free? Priceless.

Unless your preferred exit is via the hospital, that means a few things to me:

A> An available travel power in all PvP zones.

B> Some form of Phase shift --> power pool, Etheral Shift, Hyper-phase etc.

C> Max Stealth... Hide + Stealth/Invis + Stealth IO... Without all 3, you
*will* be seen in all zones (except (maybe) in Bloody Bay).

D> As high an AoE and Ranged defense as you can manage (without gimping
other things). DR is a huge def hit, but, it can still help AS through certain
tick powers (quills, lightning field etc.). Of course, some things are auto-hit
and you just have to learn to recognize them and avoid or deal with them in
some way.

E> Sharks or Dark as a patron. Your biggest issue (imho) is getting the last
few HP on a kill - you need a ranged attack - whether you open, or close
with it is up to you, but you definitely will find it helpful. Most folks aren't
gonna stay put when you start attacking.

For stalkers, I'm less worried about the -KB protection than most, but some
is definitely warranted. 40+ points? Maybe not. YMMV.

I've not pulled these up in Mid's (I'm at work), so I'm not sure about slottings
and actual numbers, but the list I gave would be a minimum starting point
for any of my "PvP" stalkers...


Regards,
4

In answer to the title question, Not for me...

I'm "old school" - I use travel powers on virtually all my toons. The only
characters I have without proper travel powers from the pool, are: Kheldians,
since they come self-propelled out of the box.


Cheers,
4

PS> Not owning any booster packs at all is also a contributing factor for me...

I make as much as I need.

Some weeks, it's nearly zilch, and some weeks, it's 10's of Millions.

All of my toons are required to be self-funding and self sufficient, so when
an active toon needs a shiny or ten, I put on my marketeering suit.
Otherwise, it's a non-issue.

My actual "marketeering" toons - made their billions, and are pretty much
retired and living on private islands somewhere, nice ...


Regards,
4

Count me in the Propel crowd - it never gets old. What's even funnier is that
the graphic happens client-side. So, what *you* see being thrown isn't what
your buddy sees on his screen. My friend and I would say what we saw everytime
my Grav/FF would cast it.... "Fridge" ... "Forklift"...

Also favorites of mine:

Short Circuit and Tesla Cage: "Excuse me while I tap into the power grid for
a second here"... cast, cast... "There, much better.". Cage is the coolest
looking hold in the game (imho), and SC just looks awesome when it cuts loose.

Someone else mentioned Placate: Seconded. I still smile and think that Star Wars
line nearly every time I do it... I simply can't help it...

My least favorite is Voltaic Sentinel. A blob of lightning, how nice... Hey,
every few seconds, it puts out an anemic spark to irritate folks... how meh.

Fun Thread.

Cheers,
4

Interesting Thread.

Most of mine don't know each other. Even ones in the same SG have only
passing knowledge of each other (like a familiar person you might occasionally
see and say "Hi" to at the grocery store or office).

However, my original namesake main has an adopted daughter (from the
Shadow Shard), and a nephew in Paragon City.

Some of my other heroes are slightly connected - I have a couple "Ghostbuster"
characters who know each other, for instance. But it's a pretty small portion
of my toons overall.

Interestingly enough, none of my villains are connected to anybody - they're
all standalones (even if they're in the same VG).


Regards,
4

I would definitely agree with the Frankenslotting advocates, and possibly take
it a step or two further.

Nearly all of my toons start this process at L22 and look for L25 set IO's. Why?

1> At that level, you're looking for SO's anyway. Sets will definitely out-perform
SO's hands-down. An L25 double (say, Acc/Dam) gives a 20% benefit to each
attribute. So, skipping bonuses for a moment, say you put a L25 Bruising Blow
(Acc/Dmg) IO in, and you also put in an L25 Pounding Slugfest (Acc/Dmg).
Your accuracy and damage for that 2-slotted melee power is 40% / 40% which is
better than the ~38.3 % you could get for a +3 Acc SO and a +3 Dmg SO in the
same number of slots. I can live with that.

2> They're much cheaper to buy at this level than higher level sets.
Crafting costs are much cheaper too. Folks who wait til their 30's or 40's
to slot set IO's pay a LOT more.

3> Once done - you're done. Slot 'em and Forget 'em - they'll perform that
well for the entire career of your toon, no management required. What's
more, you'll have that level of performance as soon as possible, and it will
be consistent along the way (unlike SO's which "oscillate" as you level).

4> Bonuses. In point 1, we ignored them, but we needn't. What if, in slots
3 and 4, we add a Bruising Blow (Dmg/End) and a Pounding Slugfest (Dmg/End)?
Well, you now have pre-Ed numbers of 40% Acc, 80% Dmg and 40% EndRdx,
in just 4 slots, and you got better than a +3 SO endurance reducer, essentially
at no extra charge. Additionally, you also get a 1% End recovery bonus (from
Bruising Blow), and an 8% Regen bonus (from Pounding Slugfest) that are always
available even if you exemplar down to L22... The *only* way to do that with
high level IO's, is through very expensive PvP-IOs and/or Purples... Folks
who exemplar a lot for tfs and the like should take note of this fact... Players,
who have endurance issues can make excellent use of this approach as well.
Triples and Quads (IO's with 3 and 4 attributes) can provide even more flexibility
to tweak your powers for the characteristics you want.

5> Free up slots. We can see that adding 1 more slot to our example power
would allow us to effectively max it's core attributes (say, an L25 Bonesnap (Acc/Dmg))
to get us to 60% Acc 100% Dmg and 40% ERdx (pre ED). That's as good
with the old 2 Acc/3 Dmg SO slotting, and we get Erdx and set bonuses for free
in the same space. We don't really need that 6th slot there, so it can be put to
use in another power. Players with Kheldians - take note.

Of course, you could use that 6th slot in the power and add a perk, like a
Chance for Damage, or Chance for Hold proc in there if you like or something
else - maybe a Recharge IO perhaps.


The drawbacks? There are three.

First, many players simply believe that high-level IO's are "better", so they wait
a long time before looking at sets. Over the long run, I believe they pay more,
and have more performance inconsistency in their toons over that time as
a result. Frankenslotting (esp. early) mitigates that.

Second, sets are more expensive than SO's, and initially, require some effort
(gathering components, crafting, etc.). This usually means that players need
to increase their income-earning potential earlier than they may be used to, and
often-times players are reluctant about that. The good news is, like Frankenslotting
itself, it's pretty easy to learn to do with a little bit of time and effort.

Third, there is a substantially smaller supply of mid-level IO's, due to
several factors, including the first point above, along with key game changes
(like AE and merits). Some of us are working on trying to improve that supply
issue. However, it is good advice for folks to plan ahead and bid early for these IOs
while a toon is still in the teen levels. That will give real good chances for being
able to get them by the time you reach the levels where you can use them.

Sorry for the length of this post, but imho, Frankenslotting is well worth the
time and effort it takes, when it comes to improving my toons. YMMV.


Regards,
4

Having played two "sapper" toons (E^3 Blaster, Rad/Elec Defender), I'd say
that my anecdotal experience mirrors that of many of the other posters here.

My Blaster can definitely drain entire groups and keep them drained. However,
I don't open fights that way. As others noted, Short Circuit draws the alpha strike
aggro - a Very Bad Thing...

My typical approach on this guy is to snipe-kill one mob, Tesla Cage another,
by which time I start getting hit back by whoever is left - at that point,
using drain is a beautiful thing, and makes the rest of the fight pretty easy.

For Bosses, I 2-stack holds first, and then drain.

If you are teaming, you can drain right away (once the aggro is established
on your tank or designated "aggro-magnet")

You really do need SC and Power Sink for this to work well tho - the attacks
don't drain well enough to deplete endurance, but will maintain them at 0
once the first two powers have done the initial drain.

My blaster uses his draining technique quite frequently, and effectively.


My defender is nowhere near as good at sapping as the blaster due in large
part to not having access to Power Sink in his build. That said, tho, his
radiation de-buffs make casting Short Circuit a much safer proposition
in general. Additionally, he has Choking Cloud as well.

In the end, his debuffs and holds work well enough that sapping is largely
unneeded, and not all that useful except with Bosses. It's a technique
he rarely uses.

YMMV.


Regards,
4

Count me in, red-side if I'm on...

My stalker is now level-locked at L28, and slotted out as good as he's gonna
get (I'll post that build -- and my blueside build, once it's level-locked), so at
this stage, the stalker at least, is now into the ticket/merit hoarding/farming phases...

I'm usually on pretty late most evenings.


Regards,
4

A couple other random thoughts I'll throw out there.

Factor in (ballpark at least), time in transaction slot before selling, sold dates
on the previous 5, and how much you really care about getting the "best" price.

Also, consider "best" price in the context of your current bankroll. If you have
50M on hand, and you could get 100K for a piece of salvage - is it really worth
taking a slot for a day or so (possibly) to sell it - or would 5K now and an
empty re-usable slot be a better plan?

For anything you crafted - *always* build in a profit margin.... You should
never take a loss on that item (if you did, you either don't care, or you
didn't do your homework and due diligence before crafting it).

Finally, there is always a tradeoff between price and time-in-slot. In general,
the faster your transaction slots turn-over, the more influence you make,
but the higher you price items, the longer they sit. The lower you price them,
the less you make per individual transaction, but the faster they sell.

Of the two, I find the latter is usually better simply because most buyers will
pay more than you asked, and since your price is lower, they buy your item first.
This is generally easier than trying to squeeze the highest possible price out
of an item without going too high and/or getting undercut by other sellers.

Where you should set that tradeoff is at the cutoff point where you'd say
"that's ok" if someone paid exactly what you asked for your item...

Hope those ideas help.

Regards,
4

Thanks to Dark_Respite and Hyperstrike for showing exactly where this is.

I had no idea it actually existed.

It's now my newest pick for "Coolest Room in Paragon City" (the picture
doesn't do it justice). This replaces my previous choice (the room in the
Shard where you find Faathim, and the Giant Mechman room gets honorable
mention).

I'm not sure how long it will be before they cut off access to this room (it
would be awesome if they'd integrate it into the game somehow), but I'm
glad I got to visit it at least once.


Thanks!
4


PS> I've been "under the world" numerous times (BB had several holes way
back when CoV released), but this is definitely a much more fascinating
place.

It's completely toon dependant for me.

Typically it's the default until the 20's. Some never switch it at all. Others
do if I think the build can handle it and/or needs more challenging battles.

In that case:

For squishy types (ie. Stalker) I usually switch to +1 or +2 / 1.

For SMASH types (ie. Tank/Brute/Scrapper) I usually go with +1 / 3 or 4

I don't team much, so that has no affect on the settings for me, but as a
soloist, I leave off the AV's.


Regards,
4

You can also use the keyboard shortcut --> \e


Regards,
4

PS: Note that's a backslash - a forward slash / is used for chat/commands