Psiphon

Will do, I need to clear then anyhow.

Thanks for the advice, i will.

The main reason for doing the Arcs is for the merits so -
If I clear the old Arcs will I get full merits for these even though they were 2/3rds completed pre merits?
Also if I do get the merits for the old Arcs will that be affected by whether I complete them as grey or not?

Yeah it was definately the hero's hero arc, virtually all the mishes were EB's Shadowhunter, Infernal etc.
However that does raise the question of how I was able to do this Arc when I have 2 low level Gold Arcs open?
Were the missions done as stand alone in some way, in which case if I do clear the low level Arcs will I be able to pick up the Arc again afterwards?
Does the Arc only become a Gold Arc in the latter stages?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There's grading for arcs? When did that happen? I've never noticed it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kind of, yes. As has been noted, arcs more recently introduced into the game tend to be Bronze ones, and the old original hero arcs are the majority of the Gold ones.

The heirarchy for missions from contacts is as follows:

Non-arc - These are a series of missions handed out by the contact, sometimes in a random order, that may appear to offer a consistent storyline, but are not part of the core plotline of the city. If you outlevel the contact, you will not be able to get any more of these missions from that contact.

Bronze Arc - These are minor story arcs (though they might be quite important, plot-wise). The number of these arcs that you can have open at any one time is quite large (as I said earlier, I think it's around 24), but unlike non-arc missions, you may still complete the arc if you have started it and outlevelled the contact.

Gold Arc - These are major story arcs. You may only have two of them open at a time, and if you outlevel the contact the arc will remain open, possibly preventing you from gaining any further Gold Arcs later in the game. I fell afoul of this when I discovered that I had a Gold Arc open from Level 24 on my main, and didn't clear it until I had finished all of the level 45-50 story arcs, though I was getting very frustrated at only being able to have one major story arc open at a time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the replies, it makes sense now.
I have got a few low level contacts still active so guess I'll need to clear them.

What are the options for this guess its either;
Slog through grey mishes.
Invite a low level hero and exemp.
Drop the mishes one by one as I can.
Is there any other way that I'm unaware of?

Hi all,

This is really two questions in one so I'll quickly explain.

I've been running the Praetorian Arc over a number on months mainly solo on Unyeilding.
I revisited it last night and cleared the final missions - 5 EB's; I ghosted some of the missions and cleared some others
At the end I went to see how many merits I had - 5; this seems a bit low for 2 1/2 hours play.
I was under the impression that story Arcs worked out at about 1 merit for 11 minutes.

So question 1 is this as expected?

Question 2 - I read through the Praetorian Story Arc and it's supposed to give a Statesman Faceplate as a Souvenir for defeating Tyrant - I never fought Tyrant. Is he an AV only and as such have I failed to complete the Arc because I played solo on unyielding?
Maria Jenkins is no longer a contact so she thinks I've completed it.

Hi,

Saw this on the US Forums, sounds like an interesting change. I've not seen any details on it here though, any ideas?

Defense change

Hi

After exiting from CoH yesterday I closed my PC down straight after, as it was closing I got an error message saying unable to close "_dummy_dns_resolver".

My first thought was I've been hacked - although why a hacker would call a program such an obvious name I don't know.
I Googled it and came up with very little - if it was a true hack I would expect a lot of info.
There were only 2 results 1 from a guy saying that he'd had a virus, he'd cleaned it but had the dummy dns resolver message occasionally and was after advice.
The other was from a CoH player saying that it happened after playing CoH and then closing his PC.
Has anyone heard of this and could a redname please verify if this is a valid CoH program/function?
I dont want to try to resolve an issue that doesn't exist.

P.S
The only thing I'v downloaded and installed recently is Herostats!

[ QUOTE ]
* Controller - Stone Mastery - Seismic Smash replacing hurl boulder. Reduced damage.
* Controller - Ice Mastery - Frost Breath replacing ice storm
* Controller - Primal Forces Mastery - Energy Torrent Replacing power blast, knockdown version
* Ice Control/Ice Slick: Added text clarifying that this power will prevent affected targets from jumping.
* Plant Control/Entangle: This power will now correctly knock flying targets out of the air only if they are close to the ground.
* Plant Control/Roots: This power will now correctly knock flying targets out of the air only if they are close to the ground.
* Plant Control - Fly Trap - fixed a decimal point error on the Fly Trap’s resistances. The Fly Trap Is now much more resistant to all attacks.
* Ice Mastery - Frost breath: Reduced Endurance Cost.
* Primal Forces - Energy Torrent: Reduced Endurance Cost.


[/ QUOTE ]

It's not bad news for all Controllers.
On my Ill/Kin/Stone - Fulcram Shifted Siesmic Smash - yummy - even with the base damage reduced.

[ QUOTE ]
What if my Levelling Pact buddy is harassing me?

The best thing you can do is petition and ignore it. If you find a quit button which I'll try to test, then do it. Petition and put them on Global Ignore. DO NOT let it go on because of the XP. Having a fun time is worth a lot more than the XP

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope that you can quit or else it could become some hideous marriage from hell from which there's no escape.
Even when you move out you pay them support for the rest of your life!

[ QUOTE ]
I agree that all builds are compromises; the compromise you are making by skipping AP is to improve soloing but at a considerable cost in your ability to support a team in the early levels.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really, you're quoting one example where it was useful against an AV.

The majority of time at low levels are spent doing Heroic missions where Healing Aura and Heal Other are adequate. The extra damage from attacks would probably be more usefull in these cases.

To each their own; thats what makes the game so interesting.

This is one of the best description I've read of CC and how it works.

[ QUOTE ]
Choking Cloud (Level 28)
Self Toggle PBAoE Foe Hold

Radius: 15 ft
Cast time: 2.03 s
Recharge time: 90 s
Endurance cost: .832/s
Accuracy modifier: 1
Mez: Mag 2 Hold, 50% chance; Mag 1 hold, 80% chance; every 5 s

Choking Cloud is a pretty nice power, if you are a Defender. Every five seconds, it makes two separate hold attempts at each foe in range. With proper slotting, minions will be held fairly quickly and almost indefinitely. Coverage on lieutenants will be more spotty, and bosses won't usually be bothered at all without additional holds stacked. Other than the hefty endurance cost, the power's biggest drawback is the massive recharge time, which makes fighing enemies with mezzes a real problem. As a Controller, you have better and more endurance-efficient control options, but if you really want to max out control at the expense of other powers you could do a lot worse.

CC cannot be slotted for accuracy; the only way to improve its effectiveness is to slot for Hold duration so that when an enemy is held, he stays held for more time. It's not clear whether ToHit buffs or Defense Debuffs from other powers improve performance. If you take CC, be prepared to invest the needed slots.


[/ QUOTE ]

Courtesy of FunkyWaltDogg's Grav/Rad guide.

[ QUOTE ]
Mmm. So what are you going to skip? The traditional answer's Absorb Pain,

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep; I hate this power, anything that increases my own chances of dieing is not for me

At the end of the day all builds are a compromise; some are tighter than others but I've never had a build that allowed me to get every power that I wanted.

I agree with most of what you said, but it is possible to make a decent solo/team Emp early on.

Six slot Healing Aura early - beneficial for you and the team.
Take your 1st two attacks - for most Defenders their bread and butter through their carreer.
Take Air Superiority to access a travel power.

That attack chain will allow you to solo early on and leave room for most of your primary.

The reason for showing the vids was simply to prove to any disheartened Emps that it is possible to solo.

[ QUOTE ]
Simple fact is, if you want to be good at soloing leveling up the attacks require slots and you require an attack chain.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is true of all ATs but Blasters(both primary and secondary cause damage), even with a Scrapper early slotting is a toss up between increasing your damage output or increasing survivability.
I've had no issues leveling my Defenders, 3 powers is usually fine for an attach chain.

OOPs here's the Carnies

Carnies

[ QUOTE ]
First of all you need to think what you are wanting to do with your empath. If you are wanting to solo anything at all without a team, then an empath isnt for you.
They perform very poorly without a team,

[/ QUOTE ]

Not so sure about that!

Chimera

Heracles

Carnies

Hi,

[ QUOTE ]
And to fit RI in pre-10, Hasten goes up to 12 and Hurdle to 16. Meaning the teens are going to be deadly dull - 12: Hasten. 14: Superspeed. 16: Hurdle. 18: Health. 20: Stamina...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd take RI at 6, Hasten at 10 and push Enervating Field out till post Stamina.
Enervating field consumes twice as much End as RI - I wouldn't advise it before Stamina especially while running Hotfeet and spamming cages.
In regards to CC I've got it on my Fire/Rad, I'd advise slotting with 3Hold and 3EndRedx.
To hold a Boss quickly hit him with Char as you jump into the mob and CC will stack to hold him. CC also sets up containment so you dont have to keep spamming Cages - I usually do though for extra damage.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

Global recharge is capped at 400%

There's a very good link to the US boards below; this explains Global Recharge possibilities.



Global Recharge

[ QUOTE ]
Odd build. You leave almost all your big hitters later than needed, you overslot things with 4 enhancements.

Leaving Freeszing Rain 14 levels late and PA 6 levels late is a big mistake IMO, especially comsidering the powers you get in their sted.

To be honest Ill/Storm is one of the last controller builds I'd pick as a "Scraptroller", your biggest defense, the -ToHit in Hurricane (which you also get too late) repels things out of melee and you're one of the poorest classes in terms of applying Containment. Fissure is a far stronger PvE choice than Hurl Boulder.

Fire is a much better Scraptroller primary, with maybe Mind behind it. Kin and Rad are decent secondaries for it. Fire/Storm is excellent too since you've got great containment and Fire Cages to prevent knockback, turning Tornado into a buzzsaw.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Carnifax has most of it covered; Ill/Storm isn't the best choice for a Scraptroller and some of your power choices are strange.
On the basis that you do go with Ill/Storm my advice would be:
1 Get PA ASAP
2 If you delve into the fighting pool I'd advise that you take just one of the attacks - that will give you an attack chain.
3 Take Tough for resistance to Smash/Lethal - covers most melee damage. You can slot a unique +3 Def in here as well.
4 Take Weave - gives Def to all.
5 If you can fit it in I'd pick up Air Superiority; its a much better attack than either of those in the Fighting pool (you can keep a boss permanently bouncing on his backside).
5 When you respec - take Fissure earlier so that you can 6 slot it. As Carnifax said an Illusion Controller cant reliably setup Containment - Fissure has a very reliable stun in it and sets up containment. With some recharge it will setup its own containment giving double damage for the following uses.

Another option would be to avoid the fighting pool and pick up Air Superiority, Aid other and Aid self as you have no self heal.
You can then fight on the edge of melee using Blind, SW and Air Sup for additional damage/soft control.

Hope this helps.

Hi All,

Due to family obligations I rarely get to do TFs, I've only managed 2 since i3 and on each of those the team fell apart for various reasons.
I'm looking to play my L50 Ill/Kin Controller - so any high level TFs planned for tonight; I dont want to exemp?

Thanks

Further to my last post which was based on early reading of the US Controller forum, apparently you will need to buy new Enhancements for a second build.

Link

From what I've read on the US forums the assumption is that multi builds will allow you to use existing IO's and share them where as appropriate.

As stated below.

[ QUOTE ]
By visiting any Trainer you can switch the entire build of your character to an alternate one.

[/ QUOTE ]

To me "Entire build" would include IO's

For me this is one of the best changes to the game for a long time; from what I've read the multi builds can be used for whatever purpose you like.
So for me that opens the door to:
Uber buiilds with no travel powers for using in missions.
Solo and team builds for my less damaging alts, such as my Earth Controller.

All good news I'd say

Couldn't see this posted anywhere so just an FYI.
If it has been posted already my apologies.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...umber=12045859

Yeah, that's probably a better idea - works for me!