Smurch

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Yeah, I try to drop missions as little as possible because it feels like just giving up. I'm musch more likely to broadcast for help than to drop a mision. Unless it's a low level mission I've done a dozen times, or it's the like the Defeat the Infected mission where the travel time:reward ratio is high.

I'll definitely try the confuse route. Does confuse affect AVs as readily? I'm guessing no based on my experience with Rommy, but maybe his Nictus buddies clear his mind?

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You may get Confuse to affect an AV, but due to the PToD it won't happen easily and when it does, it'll last about 5 seconds. Unless you are on a team, whenever you as a Dom see the PToD on an EB/AV and you DONT have Shivans or nukes... you're hosed.

My experiences leveling a Mind Dom are the reason I have the one level 50 Dom, and no more. I have one level 15 Plant Dom who is around because she has a cool costume; she's about 1.5 years old yet still level 15. I like looking at her and she has a cool name.

The PToD mean that I lack incentive to level her.

Doms are really great, except when they're not. Add to this the disinclination of others to make room on [for instance] LRSF runs for the Dominator AT and.... yeah, no incentive.

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I personally love doms. They're one of my favorite ATs. Our biggest problem is our lack of DPS but that's going to be fixed in I-15 (squeee!), and yeah we have some trouble with AVs and PToD, but on a team that becomes less of an issue (especially once we have dps going). Two or three doms on a team can help alot with bosses, even AVs, and soft controls usually still work when hard controls won't.

I have heard that multiple doms working together can lock down AVs and keep them locked down (with permadom) and I believe someone had a video of doing just that with some plant dominators posted somewhere about a year back.

I generally run solo or part of a duo, so most of my experience is there, and I think Doms shine in that role. So far I haven't run into anything I can't beat on Ruthless either solo or duo, except Lord Recluse, whom we needed a third friend to join in and make a shivan run first. By far the hardest fight I've ever had.

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The Cancel Mission Option! Use it, love it!

If you are not willing to get help or load in Inspirations, every two days you can cancel a mission for every of your characters and still get reward and be able to move on to the next task.

This does not sound heroic? It`s only in your head. Just imagine that you have beaten the AV and then hit Cancel Mission. It will be our little secret. Oh, and make sure that you set your mission on Invincible before cancelling, you will even get more reward haha

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Yes, because it's so much fun to NOT play the game.

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I feel 0 guilt to once in awhile drop a mission i have no intention to complete because i find it too difficult, annoying or boring. YMMV. Point is, YOU have the choice.

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This. And sometimes playing at 3AM I'd rather just move on then try to get a team or get frustrated.

It's a game. It's supposed to be fun. Not annoying. If you want to drop a missh that's giving you trouble there is nothing wrong with that.

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Using it once in a while to get rid of something annoying seems a far cry from "use it, love it" offered as a solution to the OP's original question. I myself use drop mission to get rid of stuff I've outleveled, or missions I absolutely hate (any on the outdoor PTS map... I hate that map with the fury of a thousand suns).

But when someone comes to the forums looking for advice on how to beat EBs with their dom, saying "just drop the mission!" seems unhelpful and even a bit snarky.

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I'll definitely try the confuse route. Does confuse affect AVs as readily? I'm guessing no based on my experience with Rommy, but maybe his Nictus buddies clear his mind?

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Like everything else with AVs, the purple triangles screw up all forms of Mezz. The only way you'll lock down AVs is with multiple Doms all running domination and focusing on hitting them hard. That said, I have been able to confuse some AVs myself with multiple applications when the purple triangles were down, but it didn't last long (mere seconds). Team up with a plant Dom and you may be able to lock em down, not sure.

Rommie is harder than most AVs and isn't a good model, really.

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The Cancel Mission Option! Use it, love it!

If you are not willing to get help or load in Inspirations, every two days you can cancel a mission for every of your characters and still get reward and be able to move on to the next task.

This does not sound heroic? It`s only in your head. Just imagine that you have beaten the AV and then hit Cancel Mission. It will be our little secret. Oh, and make sure that you set your mission on Invincible before cancelling, you will even get more reward haha

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Yes, because it's so much fun to NOT play the game.

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If you are having a hard time with AV's. just bring some mechs (or whatever the vill equivalent is) and shivans! I solo AV's with no effort and now have 8 member teams who get stuck actually drop a member to have me come finish off the AV for them.

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Wow. Any team of 8 that can't take down any regular AV must suck like a tornado.

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QFT.

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Thanks for all the replies and the suggestions. Yes, this is a mind/fire dom, and Power Surge is the next toy on my shopping list.

I hadn't tried Confusing the EBs, but I can try that next.

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You need to stack two confuses on them (sometimes three.. confuse, confuse, mass confuse will do it), but it will work. Once you have them stacked, as long as you refresh it whenever it comes up, it should be pretty perma. Since confuse doesn't generate aggro, you can toss the first one, wait for recharge, toss the second, then attack. Oh and pack Yellows. You miss one of those confuses, it's hard. Remember Sleep as an "Oh SH!" button. Most EBs can't resist your sleeps. I can keep Cimmeroran EBs in slumberland indefinitely if need be.

Some EBs, you can stack holds on them while they're confused to switch to holds instead of confuses once the minions are dead, but this doesn't work on all of them. Experiment!

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Yes, I logged in. The servers were nothing but that on both sides. The forums were nothing but that. Defensive stances are easy. It's like tempting me to feed you ammo.

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Yes, this is completely true. Look at all the proof:

Obviously "vocal" = "majority"!

Those who are loudest and most persistent obviously represent the largest group!

Spamming broadcast makes you representative of the entire playerbase by default. Everyone knows that!

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What are better ways to play? Should I force myself to use the number buttons? I've heard of using the numpad, but I don't want to take my hand off the mouse.

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I'm a big fan of the Nostromo N52 Gamepad, for the same reason. Though it doesn't get as much use now that I've gotten the Logitech G15 set up with frequently-used commands...

About my 4th year into gaming I got sick of the hand cramping over a keyboard and got a Ideazon Fang. Probably the best gaming investment I ever made. Also a standard gamepad with native computer support can be used. The game software has innate emulation for those types of controllers.

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I have one of those, but didn't like it. I tried to pawn it off on my wife, but she didn't like it either.

I find the Cyborg Command Unit by Saitek much more to my liking.

http://www.saitek.com/UK/PROD/cyborgcommand.htm

I don't use it for CoV, but I do use it for Warhammer and for FPS games like L4D.

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I can tell you one thing: this idea that the majority of the playerbase was against the fast xp farms is a complete fabrication.

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Perhaps. However, the idea that the majority of the playerbase was FOR the fast xp farms is just as complete a fabrication, however.

Most simply didn't care either way.

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I click but most people find it weird that i use the arrow keys to move rather than my mouse.

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I used to use the arrow keys, but I've fallen out of that. I still occasionally do it for the few times I want both hands on the keyboard, but still primarily use WASD.

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I'm pretty sure this isn't the optimal way to play. Actually, I know it's not. There's a lot of times I hit the "Next tray" arrow instead of the first power and likely end up dying as a result. I just can't seem to get my fingers used to reaching up to hit the 1 through 5 buttons with any kind of accuracy. For some of my most used powers, I have binds on q, e, t, g, v, and c, but those powers are usually the things I don't want in a tray, like fly and leadership pool powers, or pet summons. I just started a kheldian (yay 50 club) and I know I'll be using the q and e keys for shapeshifting binds.

What are better ways to play? Should I force myself to use the number buttons? I've heard of using the numpad, but I don't want to take my hand off the mouse.

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I use numbers on the keyboard above the WASD, and the mouse for camera control. I alternate between WASD and the mouse for movement naturally. I think it comes from playing FPS games.

Clicking icons is too slow and would drive me insane if I had to play that way.

I only use numpad for MMs for petcontrols where movement isn't all that important. I also bind some things that I use rarely but like to have on hand to the numpad, but it's not something I commonly use.

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How is it in three years you have developed no friends network to grind through another round of PvE play?

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Most of my friends from the previous years on CoV have moved on to other games since. I've seen 2 people I've known from the previous several years each on twice since I myself came back to CoV from other games.

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ExceptionCode="0xc0000005" ExceptionDescription="EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION" ExceptionAddress="0x6947a8ff"

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I truely do love consistancy since it makes things much easier on us tech heads!!! Thru all the changes made the exact same error in the exact same memory location keeps on comming up. I have two possabilities off the top of my head for you.

1 ) did you download this game via STEAM ( or any other download manager ) or was it a disk install?

If downloaded it may be a corrupted download ( DRM via STEAM and others can be corrupted with mulitple downloads streaming at the same time. ) It sucks but try a fresh download with only the game downloading.

2 ) You may have a bad memory sector on one of your sticks of ram. I did notice your memory usage is quite high even without the game running. Try killing off some of the none critical procesess and see if it will load. you can download Memtest here and test the Ram. Of course there is the old school method of remove one stick of ram at a time and test the system by trying to run the game heheh. Give that a shot and let us know how you get on!!

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It's not a memory stick. That error is because of a video driver malfunction. It COULD be the game install, as your first suggestion indicates, but otherwise it's probably a faulty video driver.

EDIT: or could be a bad video CARD come to think of it.
But it's 99% likely to not be system memory

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What powerset combination would you consider to be the "most powerful" for a PvE Stalker?

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It depends. What's your playstyle? Are you hit and run, scrap it out, what? Are you going to be solo or teamed most of the time? Do you want to focus on single target damage to down EBs/AVs, or do you want to be able to handle big groups of foes at once?

There's no One Perfect Set. There's alot of great sets and combinations of sets depending on what you want to do and ultimately what you like.

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Hi,

I'd like to know if Placate is useful solo to get the auto crit twice or is it canceled by getting aggro?

thanks

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I'll go against the grain and say "it depends". Some people swear by it, and with some stalker sets, it seems to boost survivability alot especially when solo, but the only stalker I have leveled up significantly is my claws/regen stalker and frankly I kill things so fast as it is, I can't see ever spending the time to use placate. I guess maybe in some EB fights it might be ok for a short respite for the rare instances when my stamina gets a bit low from a prolonged fight and I haven't any blues... but aside from that I just don't see the need.

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-Teammates of a lower level being sidekicked up.

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I personally don't see how this applies at all. I had my 46 Fortunata lk'd up and I was kicking rear. Only died when my boss wandered off to help people who apparently can't navigate to save their lives and other such times where all my support disappeared, etc.


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Best team I ever ran the ITF with was almost 50% lackied characters. It was also all villains except one defender. We smooshed Romulus like a bug.

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Does everyone who has ever used an exploit in a published mission know what they did? Every writer? Every player on a team? Every mission leader?

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And all those people were severely punished, lost their characters, had the accounts banned, and the devs personally came to each of their houses to punch them in the junk.

Right?

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And then suddenly… bam… I would have been an evil exploiter without even realizing it.

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Hyperbole is so much fun!

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I spent two weeks writing my first MA. Believe me, I'm very glad I didn't use any exploits as a vital part of it, or any part of it at all. I'm extremely glad that the RWZ map wasn't yanked. If the RWZ map or the Rikti as a faction are ever pulled my arc is screwed, I'll have no choice but to unpublish because the arc is unviable without both of those.

That's one of the kind of things I'm talking about.

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It's because of deliberate exploiters that we've lost access to maps/enemy groups. I had to scrap one of my missions because we lost maps that my arcs revolved around.

My mission didn't contain exploits, at least none I was aware of (and never heard otherwise). Was I ever in danger of reprisals? No. The maps/groups were pulled because of the actions of other people. I blame THOSE people, not the devs, for the loss of those things.

I am upset about the slippery slope of things being pulled from the MA because other kids can't play nice in the sandbox, but it's sadly the reality that all too often a few selfish jerks ruin the party for everyone else.

However, that doesn't mean you're in any sort of danger of being personally singled out if you do make an honest mistake.

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HAve you looked into the possibilities of the Rikti War Zone or Cimmeroa?

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/this. Especially the RWZ at your level.

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Yep. RWZ has some HUGE spawns in some areas. Spawns range from 35-53 so you'll have to find the right "neighborhood" for your level.

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I'd go with kinetics for the win myself.
If not, I'd go with the rad.

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I think /rad and /kin are equally good, albeit for different reasons. /rad was the first set I played with a corruptor, so it has a special place in my cold black villanous heart (and those debuffs are something else)

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The pets you can summon are a double-edged sword. They allow you to save your own end for your buffs/debuffs, but they require constant attention.

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until level 32, depending on your set. After which, you can pretty much run on CL 5 and read the forum at the same time. :-)

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On Dominators, if you plan to solo them, Go with Melee Attacks, they do more damage and will help you level faster.

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As of I-15 it won't matter anymore. Doms are getting attack powers buffed to Domination levels plus some across the board (but removing buff during domination). Ranged powers do marvelous in Domination right now, so they'll be just fine for leveling.

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Stalkers seem to work best on the strike, run and hide, strike tactics. It might seem strange on a team, but this really does work well. Assassin strike, take a couple of strikes, then run around the corner to get hide back, and return - repeat. Their Crit Inherent only works when they are hidden, and the Assassin Strike does best when hidden, so really - this tactic makes a lot sense.

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I avoid hit and run tactics. A.) it's boring and B.) it's unnecessary. Stalkers can learn to scrap very well. You need to know how to slot your secondary to have the staying power to scrap down EBs on challenge level 4 or 5, but it's more than doable.

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Dominators seem to me to be like Controller with a secondary that is mix of scrapper primaries and blaster secondaries. I really like Dominators because of the domination inherent. Just when you think Dominators are out of the mix because they have no endurance - they can pop that Domination and they will be fully charged with end and doing extra damage. (I am quite baised toward Dominators on the villain side)

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I like doms too. Dominators actually can handle very large groups of foes single-handedly if you can keep the "plates on sticks" mentality going. A good dom doesn't even get scratched. You'll be reading the forums and someone will say something about dominator's having low health and you'll say "low what? Oh you mean that green bar? Yeah never seen it move".

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Pet control can really make or break a mastermind.

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I agree with this as well. Masterminds who can't control their pets not only end up dead, but end up with dead team mates when their pets run wild and end up aggroing half the map.

Good pet control is everything with an MM. If you've got it, you can steamroll almost anything.

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Does everyone who has ever used an exploit in a published mission know what they did? Every writer? Every player on a team? Every mission leader?

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And all those people were severely punished, lost their characters, had the accounts banned, and the devs personally came to each of their houses to punch them in the junk.

Right?

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And then suddenly… bam… I would have been an evil exploiter without even realizing it.

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Hyperbole is so much fun!

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If you pushed for origin-*inspired* pieces of costumes, customizations, etc... hey, fine.

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That is, in fact, a great idea. Having OPTIONS to customize powers in a variety of ways that could reflect origins (but all options available to all origins) would satisfy everyone I think.

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Drive-by Foe Debuffs are kill stealing.

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They're not kill stealing, but I consider them rather rude.

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Rude = Helping you kill faster? Color me confused.

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Rude = insinuating yourself into my fight when I do not want your help. If I wanted help, I'd form a team. If I did not want to fight I would have fled.

I'm not interested in "killing faster". I'm interested in "challenging fights", testing my character's abilities (and my player skills) to the limit. I want to see "can I take these five +3 freakshow" or some such, and your drive by debuff just removed a big chunk of my fun because you assumed I both want and need your help, when that should be my call, not yours.

So yeah, I think it's rude.

Same with drive by buffing. Every time I get hit by a random speed boost or ice shields, I have to go sit and wait for them to wear off so I can continue with what I was doing. (If I'm doing open world fights, I'm usually testing a build or a power, it's hard to test something when someone else keeps throwing something new into the mix).