Kyriani

Here's what I tend to do though it can vary based on my specific goals for the character.

Masterminds:

Generally speaking for a quick and dirty set up with no real set bonus goals I'll try to slot the pets with 2 acc/dmg and 2 acc/dmg/end. At lvl 50 values these ED cap the acc/dmg and give you a nice amount of end redux since pets can often blaze through their end bars once they are buffed with the MM pets enhancing buffs. You also end up with a recovery bonus and a sleep resist bonus. Nothing major but its there.

I do try however to work the pet boosting uniques in as best as I can. those global defense and resistance bonuses for the pets is really worthwhile IMO. Not all MM sets have access to a power that takes recharge intensive pet sets but if I have one I try to get those 2 uniques into it.


Non-Masterminds:

Controller and Dominator Tier 9 damage centric pets don't really seem to need end redux so those I tend to slot one of two ways. Either with 3 acc/dmg hami's if slots are really tight or with 4 pieces of Expedient Reinforcement (acc/rch, acc/dmg, dmg/end, acc/dmg/rech) for the +global recharge set bonus and then I boost them to the ED cap on acc and dmg using enhancement boosters. It's an effective way to maximize my slot usage but thats not always an option for people so you can add an additional slot with an acc/dmg pet IO if you want to keep the bonus or use the same slotting I listed above for MM pets (2 acc/dmg and 2 acc/dmg/end) to just have the pet ED capped and ignore set bonuses. One note about Illusion's Phantom Army... while this pet can't be buffed by outside sources in the traditional sense it can benefit from the purple build up pet IO because it is technically buffing itself (and of course phantom army gains enhanced performance vs debuffed mobs).

Patron Pets:

Some of my concepts revolve around having a perma patron pet. It could be a mind/dark/soul controller (which is actually quite impressive btw!) that doesn't have a pet in its primary or a bootleg mastermind-ish illusion/dark/soul controller who literally has an army of pets (3 Phantom Army decoys, 1 Phantasm, 1 Dark Servant, 1 Patron Pet, a decoy spawned by the Phantasm, and I'll even give Spectral Terror an honorable mention). If I go for perma patron pets I slot with 4 pieces of Expedient Reinforcement (acc/rch, acc/dmg, dmg/end/rch, acc/dmg/rech) for the +global recharge set bonus and then I'll use Soulbound Allegiance acc/dmg/rech in the 5th slot to ED cap the pet to acc dmg and rech (if you have enhancement boosters you can also substitute a lvl 30 acc/dmg/rech from the call to arms set instead of using the purple pet IO)

Non-Traditional Pets:

Don't forget unorthodox pets like Gun Drone, Tornado and Voltaic Sentinel. These pets may not be what are typically thought of as pets in the traditional sense but they can be great places to use 4 pieces of Expedient Reinforcement for the +global recharge set bonus and if your AT has other pets it's a potential place for the recharge intensive pet unique IO's. Masterminds who dont have a recharge intensive pet power in their primary can still gain the benefit of those uniques if they take Storm Summoning as their secondary for example.

The primary things I use my points on are power sets and costumes

I tend to get every power set that doesn't come with VIP and I even bought Time Manipulation for my 2nd freemium account just because I think it's pretty amazing even on SO's

I recommend not getting caught up in the flash and glitter of the store. Take a hard look at what appeals to you and what's going to have lasting game play potential. For me that's power sets and costumes because they can both have an impact on my game play in repeatable ways.

Most power sets are cross AT so they open up more mix and match potential for new characters. Costumes are useable for all my characters and open up new options. In the future I'll be quick to plunk down points for the store bought power pools because those have the potential to affect EVERY character I currently have and don't require me to make a new character.

Like I said take a hard look at the market... what appeals to you but also look at how much you'll really get out of those things before you hit the purchase button. Don't be impulsive... be willing to save your points and you'll never spend more than your VIP sub. On the other hand... it's nice if there's enough in the store to at least make it tempting to buy more points. It means the market is doing its job to generate revenue for a game we all love

Poison has a number of powers that use animations that can be jarring with character concepts. I propose the following suggestions to spruce it up a bit. Almost everything I am suggestion already exists so no new animation work needs to be done and only one power needs a model adjustment.

Suggestions:

Poison's Envenom power uses the "hocking spit" animation... I believe psionic dart uses a similar animation. But psionic dart also has an alternate animation that originate from the hand instead. Envenom could use that same animation.

Neurotoxic Breath is another power that originates from the mouth much like Fire Blast's Fire Breath. But Fire Breath also has an alternate animation that allows the cone to originate from the hand. Neurotoxic Breath should have the same option.

Paralytic Poison uses a similar animation to one of the early Nightwidow attacks that appears as if firing a dart from the wrist and while I can't find an alternate animation matching that power, it would probably not be too difficult to use one of the many quick and simple "hand blast" animations as an alternative as well.

Poison Trap simply needs an alternate animation that doesn't have the "techy" element... let it just be the color tinted sphere without the device looking part.

Another useful bit of info is, if you have access to IO's and enhancement boosters, 2 lvl 50 generic IO's that are boosted (I think about +3 each will do... maybe +4) will hit the ED cap. This useful when trying to maximize enhancement with minimal slot investment (Enervating Field with 2 end redux+5s for example) or trying to enhance multiple aspects as much as you can manage. (Siphon Life with 2 heal +5's and the rest multi aspect acc/dmg/rech/end types in the other 4 slots is a good example).

I was hoping this topic was going to continue discussing power pools... you know the actual topic of the OP... sadly it seems we've devolved into nerf herding...

I'd absolutely be thrilled if they announce pool customization.

Sonic Blast's Shockwave is a nice spot for the proc. It's only slightly less damage than Howl and with the proc it becomes a decent second cone aoe with some control via knockdown that lines up perfectly with Howl. No worries about things being knocked out of range.

I think it's realistic to expect a change to either how the Proc works in certain outlier powers or change the powers themselves so the Proc's effects aren;t so extreme.

For example, Bonfire and Tornado's knockbacks could happen much less frequently when the Proc is used. Another possibility is that the nature of those specific powers could be altered in a way that isn't diminishing the overall strength of them but making it so this IO doesn't dramatically increase their potential.

I have the feeling that this specific proc is a testing ground. Despite the cheerleading for Knockback by a few ardent fans, overall I honestly believe the majority of players, given the choice, would prefer Knockdown to Knockback. I also believe the devs realize that and want to see what ramifications such a change would have to the game. I believe this proc is their way of seeing what happens.

And to be honest, with only 2 real outlier powers, the change overall doesn't increase player "power" and shows that giving players an option to turn knockback into knockdown isn't gamebreaking. I'm hopeful that once the outliers are reigned in we'll see more options to turn knockback into knockdown.

You should also keep in mind it isn't JUST the name that matters, it is also the appearance, description, power sets, etc

Having a blonde male character named "Phoenix" who is a fire/fire blaster wearing a black, red and yellow costume and glowing phoenix wings isn't necessarily stepping on Marvel's toes...

Now having a red headed female named "Phoenix" who is a mind/forcefield controller or mind/psi dominator, wearing a green (or red or white) costume with a golden bird emblem on the chest and wearing long gold gloves and gold thigh high boots, whose description says she's married to a guy named Scott... well then you really have a problem.

A simple suggestion would be for a luminescent version of all the chest decals we currently have under "Symbols". Such a collection could even be put together as a pack to sell and probably wouldn't require too much effort to put together since the designs are already done. I'm pretty sure such a pack would be fairly popular as well.

With so many luminous costume options we get these days, it would be nice to get those old chest decals to match and give us more mix and match opportunities, especially for concepts that revolve around a specific chest decal as the character's identifier.

A simple suggestion for a luminescent version of all the chest decals we currently have under "Symbols". Such a collection could even be put together as a pack to sell and probably wouldn't require too much effort to put together since the designs are already done. I'm pretty sure such a pack would be fairly popular as well.

With so many luminous costume options we get these days, it would be nice to get those old chest decals to match and give us more mix and match opportunities, especially for concepts that revolve around a specific chest decal as the character's identifier.

How does one enable chat logging?

I kill GM's all the time on my ill/rad controller perma phantom army = indestructible tanky goodness with some nice dps as well with rad debuffs. -regen from lingering radiation for good measure. If you add in incarnate stuff like a core lore and hybrid assault its a breeze.

For me it's a few things:

1) The costume creator - I can spend hours just making fabulous new outfits

2) The game play - The general physics of the game appeals to me and the way many AT's and power combos play can be entertaining.

3) The story - the newer story arcs are better and more interesting. I look forward to more zone revamps and the phasing out of older content for new.

4) IO's - it's fun to try to find the "perfect" build for a character that achieves the goals I want.