JD_Gumby

Bah. Time Bomb's fine as it is. Not every power has to work with the "Go! Go!! GO!!!" mentality that seems to be widespread among the hardcore players of MMORPGs...

Strange. My Phantasm seems a lot more resilient than described here, even against Giant Monsters and EBs. About the only time he dies is if he's on the other side of the critter from me and takes a few too many AoEs while out of range of Radiant Aura, or if I'm on a team where there's too many critters for my Phantom army to hog all the aggro or for the Spectral Terror to lock down...

Do you folks not make any effort to heal your Phantasms?

Due to the general lack of AoE damage for Illusionists, they don't really have any need for AoE containment (and the Phantom Army and Spectral Terror are generally more than enough control when solo or on small teams).

And remember something - your Origin is just the origin of your primary and secondary sets, especially the starting powers. It does not have to dictate your thinking about how the later powers need to be justified.

After all, if Batman can gain powers from Technology (especially in continuities where he resorts to powered armor and robot armies to fight crime when his body becomes too broken down for old-fashioned fisticuffs) or even immortality from the Science/Magic blend of the Lazarus Pit (''Superman & Batman: Generations''), YOUR Natural Martial Artist/Willpower Scrapper can start flying because he was bombarded so much by the Magical attacks of the Circle of Thorns (as an example).

Bah. Your Origin is just that - your origin. It doesn't have to have any bearing on how you get powers later on (especially those not in your primary and secondary sets).

After all, your Natural Mastermind could become imbued with Super Speed due to being bombarded by Magic while fighting the Circle of Thorns for Mister Boccor or the Legacy Chain while working for Peter Thelmari(?) in Cap, as an example.

Or maybe something about those lasers higher level Arachnos Soldiers keep hitting you with has altered your cellular structure, allowing you to emit an antigravity field around your body (Hover/Fly). Ain't Science grand?

Remember, even Batman has regularly gained new powers from Tech (mostly battle suits, vehicles, robot armies) rather than from his Natural gifts. Hell, he even becomes immortal via Magic on at least one occasions (merging with R'as al Ghul in the Lazarus Pit(?) in ''Superman & Batman: Generations'').

Looks like a fortune teller facing left to me - look at the magnified graphic in the file history.

It's working as intended - as long as you are officially a member of the other side, you can't work the Powers or Crusaders arcs, depending on which side you're currently on.

Frankly, I've never noticed it making any noise, 'cept for a toggle on noise. Then again, I've generally got the volume at 30% (which is still plenty loud), am listening to music, and rarely use headphones.

For anyone else reading this:

You have to be a Villain or Rogue to unlock the Patron Power Pools (by doing the first arc for one of the Patrons; Arbiter Rein in Grandville is who you talk to for that at level 40+).

Once unlocked, the Patron Power Pools are available any time you respec, regardless of your current alignment.

Not looking for a full build (hate reading Mids' output and I'm able to work with more compact advice like "5 Posi's and a Recharge in Fire Ball" or "Frankenslot for A/D/R" ), more on what I should definitely take and which I should avoid because they're not nearly as good as they look or whatever.

Or was the basic advice I got in chat last night of Fire Ball + Drain Psyche + Psychic Shockwave (plus the unstated Concentration, Aim, Flares, Fire Blast and Subdual, all of which are pretty much mandatory no matter what Blaster combo you do, when there's an equivalent) pretty much all there is to it with most of the rest being fluff that's there mostly 'cos you HAVE to choose powers?

I guess I'm the exception here - my Ill/Rad rarely stealths his tip missions, instead treating almost every one as a defeat-all. At +2/x1, which isn't really seeming all that much slower than the +0/x1 I was at pre-perma, except for bosses.

Hmm. Decieving the Sappers. Now there's an idea. I normally just panic and Blind 'em.

This is the first character I've upped the level difficulty on. Currenly +2/x1 and I'm seriously considering just going to +4/x1 since +2 for tips has proven insanely easy (the lack of EBs in tips is probably the reason).

Little update: Got my final piece of the second Basilisk's Gaze set (to toss in EM Pulse; yay, alignment merits! ) and am now officially among the ranks of the Perma-PAs with 58.86s - under ideal circumstances, anyways. :P Now to grind and grind and grind and grind until I can start affording more purples [think I can get 3 of the other sets in] to make the timing a little more forgiving.

Thanks for the tune up, Local Man.

Yes, that one has to be in the Misty Woods (southeast corner of the zone) - a region where Fir Bolg are quite rare, unlike the southwestern woods where they don't count. :/

Really, about the only times a Blaster needs a Break Free is if they're soloing and don't spot the mezzer (happens more to the inexperienced, of course) or if they've got Bosses on and the mezzer happens to be one (like with the Lost), or if the mezzer is just generally resistant to mezzes themselves (such as Fortunatas; Blaster primaries come with a stun, hold, knockbacks, or at least a snipe, for a reason, folks!).

I mostly solo and my Blasters rarely bother to bring more than a pair of Break Frees (one for general use and one meant mainly for use after an Awaken if I faceplant and what killed me wandered off) - and it's even rarer that I need to use one thanks to Defiance and always taking both the tier 1 & tier 2 blasts.

The main problem tends to be that things that resist Psi damage tend to do so quite heavily. But you should be fine. Just pick and choose your enemies and avoid ones with too many machines or psychics (Council/5th Column, Malta, high end Arachnos, and the Carnies, mostly; Freakshow count as human and Clockwork are actually vulnerable to Psi damage).

If you have to go against those groups solo, consider stealthing past spawns with a machine/psychic in them when you can (though try fighting through at least once in each level range - you might find they're doable, even with your lowered damage. And, if not, debt's temporary...).