Sailboat

It's worth noting that no amount of reasonable effort by the developers can keep ahead of the players, especially people who spend a LOT of their free time playing the game.

A smallish game company working 8-hour days can't keep up with 100,000+ people, some of them playing 16-hour days. And if they could keep up it would still start to feel the same after obsessing about the game for as long as we have.

While you're leveling, do some in Dark Astoria from 21-29 or so. Large crowds of Banished Pantheon on the streets, fairly close to each other. They're vulnerable to your lethal damage, they're slow, and get slowed further by your Spine poison, and they drop arcane salvage that's very valuable these days.

I have tons of Tanker concepts. Sometimes the rationale for making that particular concept as a Tanker is simply the availability of the powersets -- there are no Axe Scrappers (so far).

Sometimes the driver behind the concept is wanting particular powerset combos, sometimes it's pure concept, sometimes it's costume-driven.

L'Oriflamme: named after the Oriflamme, the "golden flame of France," the banner the French Kings rode to war behind. Fire/fire/pyre Tanker. As soon as I thought of the name I knew she had to be fire/fire; although she predates the Fire sets being ported to Scrappers, something about being the embodiment of kings riding to war makes Tanker feel more appropriate anyway.

In the old days she did well enough, relying on teammates when spawns got too big. I still want to IO her out and see how she fares in modern content, AE and ITF and STF, that sort of thing. The offense is nice, the sturdiness used to be decent even for team tanking, but I'm aware it's not the most rugged Tanker combo (and rightly so, given the offense).

Ironclad: Another one that was name-driven. I'm a Civil War buff. As soon as I got the name (yay!) I knew I had to make a Tanker; the question was, what sets? Stone was (and still is) the hardiest; but the look wouldn't work. Fortunately you can do metallic skins very nicely and the shiny Invulnerability graphics don't detract. A clouds-of-steam aura at level 30, some rust on the extremities, and a cannon muzzle mounted in the chest (the "ring" chest decoration, tinted black), and the look is done. Super Strength works for the set (a hand weapon would be weird) and the Hurl power can serve as my cannonball, with a little imagination. Recent changes to Inv have made the character much stronger defensively; with (significant) IO investment, this guy can face anything any other character can face. I bring him, or the next one on the list, out for the nastiest content.

Easter Island: Stone/Fire, of course. Wanted a tough tanker to protect my friends during heavy fighting. In the medium-old days, post-GDN but pre-IOs, that meant Stone. Fire was the best area damage available for a primary that needed no mitigation from its secondary. Once I decided on the powersets for these game-mechanic-driven reasons, I found a concept to fit. I like the concept, though, and the character gets compliments, so it worked out well (I have to like the concept in order to keep playing the character for long).

The Last Minoan: I like knockdown; I have a few characters with it (including the SS tanker above) and wanted MORE knockdown. Some thought led me to Shield/Axe. The double-bitted axe reminds me of the labrys, the double-bitted bronze axe that was the symbol of the Minoan kings of Crete. The labrys gave its name to the labyrinth, home of...the Minotaur, of course. I hadn't used any of the rather generous selection of horns the Devs gave us in the character creator. Time to make a minotaur! Gotta be a Tanker (no Axe for Scrappers, and need to be tough; I don't like V-side as much). No figure-8 Minoan shield type in the creator, but a round Greek Hoplon will do in a pinch.

The Sewer Knight: As soon as I saw the manhole-cover shield option, this concept was born. Pipe wrench and bucket helm (he cut slots in an actual bucket) complete the accouterments of this escaped mental patient/vagrant in his fight for justice!

So far the last two are still young.

I like Tanking for several reasons; it's nice to help out the team, for example. But another determinant is the way people are allergic to the star. I wind up forming teams a lot and setting the missions and cajoling the group along; it's sometimes easier to also be the point man / main Tank myself, although if I find a decent player I can delegate that role.

Lastly, I feel strongly that defensive powers are more superheroic than offensive powers. We can already kill someone from space and destroy entire cities; what we can't do is shrug off the effects of modern weapons. Durability is the quintessential super-power.

It's worth adding that the ability to finish a character is valuable. Aside from allowing one to fulfill "completist" urges, this means that a level 50 you stopped playing four years ago is capable of playing alongside a brand-new level 50 made last month. Even without "purples" or IOs. The older character might need a respec to get up to speed, but surely will have a free one banked after four years, and can be tricked out and ready to roll a few minutes after the player finishes deciding on the build.

A level-50 from WOW's early days would require a lot more catching up to hang with the 85s.

"If some other MMO jumped off a cliff, would you jump off a cliff too?"

Crane Kick is the second highest burst-damage attack (after Eagle's Claw) and the second-hiughest sustained DPA attack (after Storm Kick).

And AVs don't get knocked back.

Use it as a finisher if you can't be bothered to fight near a wall.

It's terminological confusion, even among the game's text.

The Fear enhancements enhance an effect called "Terrorize" which causes the "cowering with a skull image over the face" effect.

Arctic Air's descriptions say "fear", but it's really an "avoid" effect like Caltrops.

That doesn't mean it's bad -- the foes trying to run out are not shooting you and they're waaaaaay slowed down. AA is good mitigation once slotted up. But it's not a "terrorize" effect.

The game text is similarly sloppy about stun/disorient and particularly immobilize/root (also used for power animations that prevent movement)/snare.

Lately I've been seeing Fire/Dark Tankers suggested as fun builds. I don't have one myself, but you have two self-heals and two end regaining powers and Burn plus a single-target immobilize. Plus a damage aura, and Fiery Embrace plus Soul Drain.

Seems like a different sort of tank with a lot of things to think about during fights.

I guess I don't understand why the proposed activity is called "farming." Farming involves processing enemies in bulk per hour to maximize reward over time invested, right? Typically it would be done to even-levels if you're 50 (some folks would even prefer to farm 47s for purple drops because it's faster to kill them, although the non-purple drops would then be possibly-less-valuable 47 IOs instead of 50 IOs).

Is this a tickets-per-hour thing in AE? I'm less familiar with that, and maybe the +2/+3 bosses give more tickets?

If that's not it, I'd say you want to fight +2/+3 for the challenge and perhaps for the greater rewards per foe, but I don't think I'd call it "farming" per se.

I think the early Axe attacks switched positions too, or was that just names?

In the Beta section there is a discussion of Rad Blasters in which it is asserted that Defiance needs to hit to give you the damage buff.

Is that true?

My only extensive Blaster experience is with a /Devices Blaster. He can get a Defiance boost by dropping a Trip Mine even if it never goes off...so I just assumed that usng a power grants you the buff.

If you do need to hit, why do some of the /Devices powers buff you even without a hit check? It seems weird that there would be separate code just for those powers.

Please enlighten me!

Leetspeak, by a mile.

PS: Isn't there some kind of rule requiring that puppy threads include pics? I might have to report this thread....

Teleport has strengths and weaknesses.

It's fast when crossing long distances. It's good for opening the attack if you want to appear in melee without being seen and attacked as you run up; conversely, it's the hardest travel power to use for quick escapes (unlike Super Jump or Flight you can't just "kick off" and worry about where you'll land later; you have to swivel your view around to teleport back the way you came).

The "falling out of hover" problem happens less as you become more experienced at placing the target circle quickly -- you really learn to make up your mind and "go!"; if you dither, you'll plunge out of the sky.

I bound the thumb button on my mouse to teleport (mouse mapping does not replace the keyboard command, so I can use either the keyboard button in my power tray or the mouse button). It's easy to thumb-aim-leftclick and leapfrog across the city.

If you team, Recall Friend is a very useful prerequisite.