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Posts
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Joined
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You'll need to have a Magic Axis, the basic control main item (arcane) for the Bookshelf to attach to before it'll illuminate.
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Actually, just thought of another question ...
The Terra Volta Respec Trials
Far back in the mists of the ancient past (*cough* 2005 *cough*) the Terra Volta trials for respecs were HARD. And by hard, I mean honestly challenging. Actually successfully protecting the reactor core actually felt like you had seriously accomplished something. It played like a Mothership Raid does today, where you're simply swamped with enemy.
Today ... well ... let's just say that the only way to fail these trials today is for the entire team to go AFK while protecting the reactor core. The timing on the waves in the reactor core is just simply beyond laughable! We spend more time *waiting* for enemies to show up in the core now than we actually do *fighting* them. There's a tremendously long wait time between ambush waves ... like 5 minutes or so.
But worst of all ... IT'S BORING!!!
I mean, seriously ... it's boring to be "trapped" in the reactor core where you spend pretty much half an hour just waiting for enemies to appear so you can beat them all down in under a minute ... 2 minutes if you get three ambushes simultaneously.
War Witch, would you be so kind as to review the Terra Volta trials so as to make a Cool vs Lame judgement on how they're currently implemented with regards to protecting the reactor core at the end? -
If you're looking for a Natural Origin character, Traps/AR/Power Mastery Defender is the way to go. You'll want Power Mastery for Power Build Up at level 41.
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Melissa, I have essentially 4 questions for you. Three concern SG Bases and one concerning the Shadow Shard.
1. We need a "flooring" item for Bases.
3D base design needs to have some purpose built "floor" items added to the game. I'm talking 8 corners, 6 sides, rectalinear "blocks" that can be laid out in horizontal arrays with repeatable exterior textures that match up with already existing elements in the base editor. Right now, if I want to have a wooden floor, I need to use either desks or cabinets (which can have "underside issues" with appearances, or have texture tearing due to overlaps along edges when laid out in arrays as "floors") or tech crates or bookshelves or arcane stone blocks. If I'm using 1x4x4 Small Bookcases for upper floors, I need to use 256 of them (at 100 prestige a pop) to fill a 32ft x 32ft block of floor space ... which is highly inefficient, but also the only way to achieve this particular "look" at this time. This can quickly run into the multiple thousands of these items per room, simply because I need to use a *small* item to create a large "floor" space up in the air. Furthermore, those bookcases have extra polygons and textures that I "don't need" in any way, which dramatically increase the overhead and processing demand of the render engine when moving around inside my base.
What would make a truly dramatic improvement in decorative item counts for 3D bases would be to add dirt simple straight line rectangle "blocks" with no beveled edges or "fancy" beyond their exterior (only) textures, which could include dark wood, light wood, rustic wood, plastic, metal, etc.
4 ft long x 4 ft wide x 2 ft high
8 ft long x 8 ft wide x 2 ft high
16 ft long x 16 ft wide x 2 ft high
32 ft long x 32 ft wide x 2 ft high
If I (and all other 3D base designers) had such simple items to use in creating above ground level flooring in 3D Bases, I'd be able to cut my total item count from over 7000 to less than 2000 (no, I'm not kidding). Such a change/addition to the current system would be simply HUGE in its impact on the Base Builders community, and go a LONG way towards answering the perennial question ... "Where's the Base Love we were promised?" I also have a hard time believing that implementing such objects into the current base editor would strain the resources you (now) have at your command.
Such a change would also clear the way for question #2...
2. Salvage Rack storage limit is set too low.
The current item limit for Salvage Racks in bases is set to 30. This is, for all intents and purposes, almost punishingly low. It would be far better for everyone if the storage limit per salvage rack were set to 60 per rack. Here's why.
Origin : Grade : Tier : Type
There are two salvage origins (arcane and tech), three grades (common, uncommon, rare), and three tiers (10-25, 30-40, 45-50) ... and each tier contains 6 types of salvage. By having a storage limit of 60 per rack, you could put 10 pieces of each common tier 1 arcane salvage into a single salvage rack. You could also likewise put 5 pieces of each uncommon tier 1 arcane salvage AND 5 pieces of rare tier 1 arcane salvage into a second rack. Wash/rinse/repeat for all three tiers and both origins of all grades and you've got 12 salvage racks holding 720 combined maximum salvage (360 commons, 180 uncommons, 180 rares, mix'n'match to your pleasure).
Such a change would give SGs (and by extension, their members) a large enough "strategic reserve" of salvage to actually start using it on a regular basis for all sorts of things such as memorizing invention badges, to creating Set IOs "on demand" without being held hostage by the whims of the market. I think it would be quite fair to say that any market disruptions caused by such a change would be limited in scope (1-2 weeks? if that?) and might actually work long term as a stabilizing force for market prices of salvage simply due to a greater facility of an alternate supply method.
So ... any chance you'd consider raising the storage limit on Salvage Racks in bases from 30 to 60?
3. Cross-polinating Mission Architect and SG Base Editing
We know that Paragon Studios has already tried to come up with a new Base Editor but that things "didn't work out" with it. We also know that a lot of players would like to be able to create their own mission maps for use in AE mission. We've also seen plenty of past cases where a particular feature couldn't be done until there was a need for it elsewhere in the game ... such as ledgesit and wall leaning emote for players, which only came about because you (War Witch) needed them for NPCs in the Rogue Isles.
Do you see any "opportunity" in creating a dual-use game tech which allows players to not only create fully 3D environments for SG Bases, but also for creating Mission Maps for use in AE missions?
4. The Shadow Shard NEEDS VILLAINS!
Have you (and your team) seen AVATAR yet? I know ... trick question. BUT ... there are visuals in that film that ought to seriously inspire the Art Department with regards to any revamping of the Shadow Shard. And let's face it ... the Shadow Shard zone are among the most beautiful in the game, while also being among the least visited. There's a large segment of players who have simply never been out there, and a subset of those players who don't even know the place exists at all!
At the same time, Villains need more zones. I know you're bringing Praetorian Earth in Going Rogue, but Positron is talking about End Game Content ... and nothing quite says "Final Frontier" like the Shadow Shard does in this game. Plus the Shadow Shard zones have simply incredible untapped potential in them! The sheer number of stories waiting to be told out there is huge ... and they've received almost no development AT ALL since Issue 1.
What would be excessively cool though is if you created duplicate PvE co-op and PvP hostile zones of any revamped Shadow Shard(s). Essentially, you would decide when zoning in from Portal Corps or the Villain-side equivalent (the Crey Portal Lab in this Isles?) whether you're entering the PvE co-op or PvP hostile zone shard(s). Everything would be simply duplicated between the "copies" of the zones ... same missions, same contacts, same everything ... except that you get to choose upon entry whether or not you're playing co-op or hostile. This then lends itself very well to a World PvP type environment, for those who desire such, which could also result in a Lord Recluse's Victory sort of struggle for control of the PvP zones. The environment itself even lends itself to this sort of contested struggle for PvP control, up to and including the Mole Point storyline(s) for outposts in other zones beyond Firebase Zulu.
So it's my opinion that the Shadow Shard contains the greatest well of untapped potential for endgame content ... both for PvE and for PvP. What is your view on such a possibility? -
Siphon Power is dirt simple to slot. 1 Acc, 2 Recharge common 50 IOs. Done.
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/em shakes head
It's a bad idea. -
Singularity has a "tether" function in the AI, which mandates that Singy keep you within LoS or else he'll try to come and find you. That's why when you jump in the dumpster (thus blocking LoS to Singy) he'll retreat to your position. The "tether" function also wants to drag Singy through positions that you have already been in, which is why he ends up behind you a lot. if you slide from side to side a bit, you'll see that he likes to move where you were which when moving sideways will make him park beside you.
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I used to have Swift+Sprint as my "travel" powers on pretty much all my toons. Now that's been switched over to Hurdle+Ninja Run as my baseline "travel" powers on all my toons. Single slotted Hurdle+Ninja Run is pretty darn close to the horizontal movement speed cap on Flight anyway, which is not bad for almost no investment of any kind on your way to Stamina.
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Neither the Small Bookcases nor the Tech Crates are lacking an underside texture ... hence why I use them.
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Quote:Defense helps you avoid (some) mezz attacks completely. Resistance does not.Question 1: Which is better for controllers, defense or resistance?
Quote:i have Mids builds one with 41% defense and the other with 62% resistance. Both with regards to smashing/lethal.
5 or 6.
One 50 common Accuracy IO + two 50 common Recharge IOs minimum.
Extra +1 Accuracy IO if you've got the slots for it.
One 50 common Accuracy IO + two 50 common Recharge IOs minimum.
Extra +1 Accuracy IO if you've got the slots for it. -
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I use Small Bookshelves (dark brown variety) from the Shelves tab and also Tech Crates from the Tech tab as "floors" in my base. Both are 4ft tall, which is exactly the height of a unit of stairs.
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I play a Ninja/TA and on a Team-8 mission I had a Pain Dominator asking me if they ought to do more to keep my pets alive, since I had to keep resummoning them so often. I simply told him, "Nah, they're expendible ... and they know it."
I'd often wind up dismissing the one or two surviving Genin or Jounin after a battle, simply because they'd taken so much damage, and just resummon them ... followed by a quick round of rebuffing. Usually wound up costing me less time than trying to hand them all green skittles to eat or waiting for healing powers to recharge. So long as the summoning powers have recharged, I have no problem simply resummoning Expendible Ninjas a lot during teams. -
Quote:Well, some of their mezz attacks might be considered auto-hit, because they're Mind Control attacks (such as Mass Hypnosis) which don't have positional defense markers on them ... but those attacks don't do damage. There's the stomp the ground, stalactites immobilize you attack, but I'm pretty sure that one's not auto-hit. They've got a ranged lightning attack, which is not auto-hit (near as I can tell) since it doesn't do damage ... although it might be primarily an END draining attack rather than a damage attack. They throw fireballs, and those aren't auto-hit.i wonder how you live through that, too... dont magus auto-hit with one of their attacks?
Mind you, when you've got FIVE Rikti Magus aggroed onto you, even with softcapped defenses (and a little extra), hits WILL be "leaking through" your defenses ... simply because there's 5 of them and they're all cycling their attacks into you and the RNG is going to roll that 5% (or better, since they're Level 54 and you're Level 50, so they get ToHit and Accuracy bonuses against you) chance to hit you more than once. Just the sheer number of attacks you're going to be avoiding dictates that some of them will "get lucky" and you'll have to eat the damage (with no resistances to speak of!) from ... something ... every so often. The trick is to have Aid Self recharging in 10 seconds or less so that you can keep healing yourself of the damage that does leak through your defenses. So long as you're not getting hit more than once (or at worst, twice!) per recharge of Aid Self, and your Regeneration rate is "decent" ... you actually CAN hold out, against FIVE RIKTI MAGUS, until the cavalry arrives.
I know.
I've done it.
Repeatedly. -
Quote:On multiple Mothership Raids in the RWZ, I have (with my MA/SR main) performed the "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!?!?" routine ... where I gather up the aggro of FIVE Rikti Magus on myself, and hold that aggro, for minutes at a time (ie. longer than Elude lasts) while waiting for the "cavalry" to arrive to beat down everything I'm keeping occupied ... without faceplanting once.I've heard that if i want to farm 53-54 that /sr is squishy.
Is this true?
Even did it twice in one raid one time.
After that, I didn't even have to announce in broadcast that I was available for teaming on raids. I'd zone into RWZ and within seconds I'd have an invite showing up on my window.
Then again, I've got a /SR build that is heavily invested in softcapping all of my positional defenses (full power NO GET HITSU is achieved by exemplar level 30 and up!) and which uses a combination of controls (stuns, knockdowns and a hold), recovery (aid self, 5-slot Miracle set) and defenses (all softcapped) to protect myself from incoming damage. So rather than being a One Trick Pony of "just defenses" I've got multiple solutions to situations where defense alone is not enough to keep me alive. Thus, I am by no means or stretch of the imagination "squishy" when it comes to fighting Level 54 Elite Bosses and Giant Monsters.
Conversely though, I would expect anyone who "skimps" on their defenses in favor of offensive DPS output to be relatively squishy versus Level 54s ... because if you're aren't softcapped (and can't stay at the softcap while getting debuffed), you're taking more incoming damage than you can "keep up with" ... which means you're going DOWN. I don't care how much damage buffing you've got on you, you are NOT going to be taking out a Rikti Magus (Level 54 Elite Boss) in 1-3 hits ... and it only takes about 3-4 of their attacks landing on you to make you faceplant. When you're fighting in a Mothership Raid, there is no "downtime" ... no time to rest ... no lack of targets ... and no shortage of hostile aggro. If you can't stay alive on your own, solo, you're not going to be "circling the rim" taking out the heavies at a distance from the center so as to keep the huge radius AoE mezz attacks away from the center (and all the squishies there).
So /SR against Level 54 doesn't have to be "squishy" ... but you'll need to build yours "right" in order to not be (squishy) against that kind of opposition. -
How much better would Poison Gas Arrow be ... if instead of causing Sleep (knockout gas) ... it instead caused Fear (tear gas?). The Sleep on PGA of such limited utility as to be almost useless, even when soloing, since Sleep is so easily broken. Fear however ... lasts ... and even if it's a "leaky" mezz, in the sense that mobs still get to shoot back at you while Feared, it does at least offer SOME *attack* mitigation.
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This is what I'm using ... rather successfully. Lack of purples makes the build (relatively) cheap(er) to accomplish, although you'll probably need a huge pile of Merits to buy set IOs for many of the rarer enhancements. Whole thing hangs together surprisingly well though.
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- Adjusted set IO levels of Dragon's Tail to 27 to enable set bonus at level 24 (Ouroboros flashback arcs).
- Adjusted set IO levels of Eagle's Claw, Evasion, Aid Self and Petrifying Gaze to follow Power Level-2 rather than Power Level+3 rule so as to make set bonuses take effect whenever the respective powers are available. This change dramatically enhances Defense power (and thus, survival rates) at lower levels, particularly for flashback arcs and Task Forces.
- NO GET HITSU @ Exemplar Levels 24-26 (includes Sister Psyche TF and 20-24 Ouroboros flashbacks)
Melee Defense: 44.4%
Ranged Defense: 43.1%
AoE Defense: 25.6% - NO GET HITSU @ Exemplar Levels 27-29 (includes Moonfire TF and 25-29 Ouroboros flashbacks)
Melee Defense: 48.1%
Ranged Defense: 43.1%
AoE Defense: 25.6% - NO GET HITSU @ Exemplar Levels 30+ (includes Citadel TF and 30-34 Ouroboros flashbacks)
Melee Defense: 48.1%
Ranged Defense: 45.6%
AoE Defense: 47.2% (increases to 49.1% at Exemplar Levels 33+)
It *IS* possible to build */SR to handle exemplar levels. -
There *IS* a way to keep Torrent from hurling things far away from you (thus making you chase them down). All you have to do is ... HOP.
All you need to do is have your target_enemy_near selected ... and jump straight up. This will point the knockback direction into the ground. If you've got Combat Jumping running you can simply jump up to your maximum height and hit Torrent when you reach the top of your straight up vertical jump and it'll cone KB everything underneath you where you were standing. Very effective as a makeshift PBAoE knockdown (sorta), and can even be done without Combat Jumping. Obviously the radius of "impact" at ground level will be larger the higher you can jump (up to the 60ft cone radius maximum, of course), but even "short legged" characters with only Swift instead of Hurdle can still make use of this tactic (even though their jump height won't be all that impressive).
I do something relatively similar on my Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker when using Frost, another Cone attack power. Difference is that with Frost the radius is short (~14-15ft after enhancement) and the angle is large (~90 degrees), so it isn't quite exactly the same ... but the tactic does let me "convert" Frost from being a 1/4 pie slice attack into an "off center" PBAoE attack that catches everything I've got clustered up on me, thus dramatically increasing the effectiveness and throughput of my Frost power attacks. I do a LOT of Hop+Frost attacks on my Tanker, to the point where it's now pretty much second nature to me and thus I just do it automatically. Jump ... Frost.
So next time any of you actually use Torrent ... try jumping up into the air to aim the power DOWN into the ground and see if that isn't more useful to you than "punting" your victims far away from you (where they need to be chased down). Slot up with Knockback Set(s) (6-slot Force Feedback?) and you'll be able to start knocking over piles of Romans around where you were standing every time you jump straight up into the air for some pretty serious damage mitigation. You're dealing with a +10.386 MAG KB to start with, and enhancing that can earn you some pretty serious "hang time" even when you're pointing the KB straight into the ground ... and have a recharge time of less than 10 seconds.
Quote:"He's intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates ... two dimensional thinking." -
Personally, I've found the opposite problem to a lot of the other (experienced) Kheld posters here. I find the Warshade to be more intuitively obvious to grasp (how to use, when to shift, etc.) than my Peacebringer. I even found it easier to work up a build for WS than my PB ... mainly because with the Warshade, the forms a pretty distinct, meaning there's not a whole lot of overlap in capability between the forms.
Human form is more of a controller-ish and utility function, Nova is the gunship, and Dwarf is the melee/anti-mezz monster which can also "refuel" itself by siphoning green bar for self healing. There isn't a whole lot of overlap between these functions, or playstyles, which makes them each distinct and unique enough that you can easily develop a "sense" from the flow of battle what is necessary at any given time. That hasn't been the case for me with my Peacebringer, where the lack of differential in utility/capability in the attacks/powers between the three forms has actually made it harder for me to decide what to slot, why, how much and how soon. The Peacebringer human form is far more focused on straightup DAMAGE dealing with almost everything, and consequently doesn't have the wider range of control powers available to Warshades that makes their human forms distinctly unique. There are even restrictions on the human for PB attacks, such as the stomp being a ground(ed) only attack, meaning you can't use it while hovering or flying (both inherent PB powers) which seem to restrict things beyond what I'd consider absolutely necessary.
Needless to say, I had remarkably little problem levelling my WS past level 22 (Stygian Circle) as every level just seemed to be bringing greater and greater power ... all the way on up through level 50 where everything reached a unified completion. This hasn't been my experience with my PB, who lacks the very control options which allowed my WS to "deal" with such a wide variety of situations. The powers of the PB just *feel* so much more limited in scope than the WS powers, in part because the PB powers are so oriented around DAMAGE and KNOCKDOWN ... via click powers nearly to exclusion ... and almost nothing else. Contrast this with the toggles and mezz controls and PBAoE damage and built in steath and TP Foe capabilities ... and on and on and on ... of the WS, which allowed me to respond to almost any situation with the "right tool for the job at hand" and it's no wonder that I often feel like my PB is sadly lacking in capabilites beyond "mere damage" output. -
Easiest thing thing to do is to write the macro without the pause and just learn to double tap the key you've got bound to that macro. No fuss, no muss. Takes just about as long as adding the filler to it anyway.
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Quote:THIS will almost certainly form the "core" mechanics/tech needed to completely overhaul how bases are built and stored in the game database(s). The current editor, which Paragon Studios has already tried to overhaul (and failed at doing!), is now such a legacy piece of code that it is in a lot of ways a dead end as far as upgrades are concerned. It was originally programmed by someone at Cryptic who is long since gone, and the documentation for all of its features and functionality is ... less than complete.It seems likely that at some point in the future the Mission Architect will provide the ability to edit maps. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find this is the "next big thing" for MA.
At some point I think base editing will be tied into map editing, the two functions being so similar.
Point being, the current base editor ... and therefore the entire base environment "experience" ... is not exactly a great launching point for further evolution of how to build and use bases. In so many many many ways, Paragon Studios would be FAR better off to simply revamp the whole thing from scratch with (nearly) all new tech underlying everything for a far richer, feature filled, and more powerful editing suite capable of 3D design and editing from the get-go ... rather than as a side effect of what essentially amounts to hacks of errors/oversights in the original programming (which was intended to be 2D only!).
Which means that the best hope for upgrades to bases lies in aligning development resources for bases with development resources for AE environments ... which in aggregate sounds like a worthwhile "topic" of focus for an Issue release. -
I'll counter your build with my own that I'm using for my Tri-former (with great success). Do not overlook the POWER of being able to combine Inky Aspect, Orbiting Death and your Human Mire for some really awesome Rip-Tear-Shred-Mangle-Maim-Bend-Fold-Spindle-Mutilate-Behead-Dismember-Breath Mint action when teaming with a Tanker who manages aggro.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Ms Terry: Level 50 Science Warshade
Primary Power Set: Umbral Blast
Secondary Power Set: Umbral Aura
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Bolt- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
- (46) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (48) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (48) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
- (50) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (50) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 10
- (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mezz)
- (A) Obliteration - Damage: Level 31
- (43) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 31
- (45) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (45) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (46) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
- (46) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 30
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 21
- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (A) Jumping IO: Level 50
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (13) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 30
- (A) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mezz)
- (29) HamiO: Peroxisome Exposure (+2 Dam/Mezz)
- (29) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (31) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 31
- (31) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold: Level 31
- (31) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold: Level 30
- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (21) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod: Level 22
- (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge: Level 22
- (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 22
- (25) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 22
- (25) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy: Level 22
- (27) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance: Level 22
- (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (A) HamiO: Microfilament Exposure (+2 End/Fly/Jump/Run)
- (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mezz)
- (A) HamiO: Endoplasm Exposure (+2 Acc/Mezz)
- (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 31
- (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage: Level 31
- (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (33) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (34) Soulbound Allegiance - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Healing IO: Level 50
- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
- (39) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
- (39) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge: Level 50
- (40) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (45) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (48) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
- (50) Resist Damage IO: Level 50
Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
- (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 15
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50
Level 1: Shadow Step- (A) Jaunt - Endurance/Range: Level 50
- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points): Level 10
Level 6: Dark Nova Bolt- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 27
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (7) Decimation - Chance of Build Up: Level 25
- (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
- (7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 27
- (11) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (11) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 27
- (13) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 27
- (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 27
- (17) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 27
- (17) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
- (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 31
- (34) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 31
- (34) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (36) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 31
- (36) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
- (36) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
- (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage: Level 31
- (37) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance: Level 31
- (37) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (37) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 31
- (40) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
- (40) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge: Level 20
- (A) Obliteration - Damage: Level 31
- (42) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 31
- (42) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (42) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 31
- (43) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
- (43) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage: Level 30
- (A) Touch of the Nictus - Healing: Level 31
- (19) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge: Level 31
- (19) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing: Level 31
- (21) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration: Level 31
- (27) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 31
- (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%): Level 10
- (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage: Level 21
Set Bonus Totals:- 14.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 14.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 6.75% Defense(Smashing)
- 6.75% Defense(Lethal)
- 3% Defense(Fire)
- 3% Defense(Cold)
- 3% Defense(Energy)
- 3% Defense(Negative)
- 3% Defense(Psionic)
- 10.5% Defense(Melee)
- 3% Defense(Ranged)
- 3% Defense(AoE)
- 6.75% Max End
- 59% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(Heal)
- 71.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 2.5% Enhancement(Held)
- 80.3 HP (7.5%) HitPoints
- Knockback (Mag -4)
- Knockup (Mag -4)
- MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
- MezResist(Held) 2.5%
- MezResist(Immobilize) 12.4%
- MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
- MezResist(Stun) 6.9%
- MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
- 6.5% (0.11 End/sec) Recovery
- 10% (0.45 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
- 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
- 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed)
- 3.15% Resistance(Fire)
- 3.15% Resistance(Cold)
- 1.58% Resistance(Toxic)
- 1.58% Resistance(Psionic)
Set Bonuses:
Decimation
(Shadow Bolt)- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%
- 12 HP (1.12%) HitPoints
- 2.25% Max End
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Absorption)- 3% Defense(All)
(Orbiting Death)- MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
- 3% DamageBuff(All)
- 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 3.75% Defense(Melee), 1.88% Defense(Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Smashing)
(Shadow Cloak)- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Gravity Well)- 3% DamageBuff(All)
- 2.5% Enhancement(Held)
(Stygian Circle)- 12 HP (1.12%) HitPoints
- 1.5% (0.03 End/sec) Recovery
- 10% (0.45 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 2.5% DamageBuff(All)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Dark Extraction)- Status Resistance 2.5%
- 3% DamageBuff(All)
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Grant Invisibility)- 7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Shadow Recall)- Knockback Protection (Mag -4)
(Dark Nova Bolt)- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.75%
- 12 HP (1.12%) HitPoints
- 2.25% Max End
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 1.58% Resistance(Toxic,Psionic)
(Dark Nova Emanation)- 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
- 1.58% Resistance(Fire,Cold)
- 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Dark Nova Detonation)- 2.5% (0.04 End/sec) Recovery
- 1.58% Resistance(Fire,Cold)
- 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Black Dwarf Strike)- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
- 12 HP (1.12%) HitPoints
- 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Black Dwarf Smite)- MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
- 12 HP (1.12%) HitPoints
- 7% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
(Black Dwarf Mire)- MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
- 3% DamageBuff(All)
- 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 3.75% Defense(Melee), 1.88% Defense(Lethal), 1.88% Defense(Smashing)
(Black Dwarf Drain)- 20.1 HP (1.87%) HitPoints
- 9% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 5% Enhancement(Heal)
- 2.25% Max End
(Black Dwarf Step)- 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed), 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime), 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
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|-------------------------------------------------------------------| -
The problem with using those items as railings is that you need A LOT of them when you've got long stretches. That rapidly uses up your item count, depending on what you're doing.
Personally I prefer using short bookshelves for this purpose (railings) on level/flat floors. -
Ice/Ice does something that most other combinations won't ... it gives you TIME.
Specifically, in the stacking of recharge debuffs ... which slows everything else down, giving you (and your team) TIME to disintegrate everything around you. It also gives you time to regenerate and recover endurance relative to the damage output coming your way. This is a subtle but remarkably important effect that often goes overlooked.
On PuGs, I simply tell people that my Ice/Ice tanker "inhales aggro like a wind tunnel" and it doesn't take my team(s) all that long to figure it out. It's very much a "flypaper" build, designed to pull hostiles in close and then rip them apart. Consequently, knockBACK (from teammates) is a severe pain and irritation, since scattered enemies are slowed and take a long time to re-cluster up on me.
You won't be the "quickest" or the "strongest" tanker in all of Oz ... but if you build it right, you can simply "crash" the recharge of all the hostiles who fall into your icy grip ... a place they will not emerge from before kissing the floor. There's nothing quite so fun as watching a whole dogpile of mobs get off a few attacks ... and then have nothing to do while you hand them their all expenses paid one-way ticket to the Zig at your leisure. Controllers will love you. Defenders will want you on their Friends list. Blasters will want you in front of them wherever they go.
Ice/Ice is the aggro magnet from beyond space and time. THAT is its strength.
Unfortunately, Ice/Ice has "more than its fair share" of weaknesses. Defense Debuffs counter your protections directly, and you've got almost nothing to fall back on short of Hibernate. ToHit Buffs will directly "invalidate" your protections, leaving you terribly vulnerable. Fire Damage is poorly resisted, and there's but only so much you can do about this. Psionic Damage is resisted not at all, short of set bonuses. Combine all of those factors together and you've got more Kryptonite than almost any other protection scheme in the game! Main tanking a Rularuu TF with Ice/Ice is going to be ... painful, since Eyeballs have "stupid level" Defense Debuffs AND ToHit Buffs, and Wisps do Psionic Damage ... all of which you've got limited to no protection against. You'll also learn to HATE Devouring Earth Quartz emanators.
Against most everything else though, Ice/Ice is pretty decent, including Malta ... although watch for Sappers when dealing with them. Carnies or CoT aren't too much trouble either.