SteelRat

My bringer has most of his slots concentrated in Nova, some in Dwarf, and hardly any in Human. I've got Nova slotted how I want, I'll concentrate lvls 33 to 36 on dwarf slotting, then the remaining levels on human powers.

My play style is thus: mainly play in nova form, unless the team is tankless. If I get attacked by a mob straggler, I'll switch into dwarf to finish him off if he's a minion or in a group - with harder enemies, I can drop back to human, hit hasten, essence boost, build up and incandescent strike (currently slotted with 1 acc and 1 dmg SO) is usually enough to finish em off.

Later on, I'm planning on developing my human powers - taking shields and a couple of the better attacks, which will change my play style again! That's what I'm loving about being a Kheldian is its versatility. If all the ATs were in a tool box, the Kheldian would definitely be the adjustable spanner.

I have to say that I'll certainly be sticking to the "classic" comic style simply because I prefer it.

Scarlett, that advice you have given me, like Swissys was VERY much appreciated and certainly helped me make a more informed start. I did have a couple of attempts last night, which did come out better than I thought they might, but still I'm going to practise a little more before I offer something on here for critique.

One thing that did become obvious, and Scarlett I can see why you advised closely examining the musculature of atheletes to perfect it, was a matter of simple relative proportion.

For example take a forearm (if you happen to have a spare one lying about). You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get the proportions between the fleshy bit at the elbow, the wrist and the clenched fist at the end of it anywhere near what might be considered "human". Either the fist was too small, or the fleshy bit didnt taper soon enough. It's the kind of thing that when you look at yourself or other people, you just take for granted, but as soon as you have to try and draw it, it requires amazing amounts of scrutiny.

Many thanks Swissy, your advice has been taken well on board, and if I can come up with something half as good as some of your stuff, I'll be very happy! I had toyed with the idea of taking a screeny of my character Tiger Slash, and seeing if I could identify the construction lines and "ovals" within him, before attempting to draw him; work backwards if you like. Do you think this would be a good starting point? It might help me to get a better idea of proportion.

It's interesting the three of you mention the "How To" Marvel book, because a bit of brief searching before posting revealed this as a good introduction for the artistic noob like me. The fact that it comes recommended by both Swissy and Scarlet, who have both incited a jaw shaped dent in my desk after looking at their galleries is certainly endorsement enough!

Thanks again for your input - I'll give it a bash tonight and post up my attempts (assuming I'm brave enough hehe)

Heh thanks for the advice Tilt [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Saying "the obvious answer is practice, but if you could point me in the right direction" wasn't an attempt at shirking hard work, more the fact that I could practice and practice, but if I fundamentally don't really know what I'm doing, I'm just going to get no where fast!

Seeing some of the great work on these boards and the US ones, has inspired me to try and draw some of my own CoH characters. However, seeing as I have the artistic ability of a retarded colour blind baboon, I'd be grateful for any pointers that some of the more accomplished artists can give me.

My main problem is one of bodily proportions (and I don't just mean the female breast slider either hehe) - whenever I try and draw limbs or facial features, it's just not right!

The obvious answer is continued practice, but if you could point me in the right direction, or maybe even a good book to get started with, I'd be eternally grateful [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Yeah that pretty much answers my questions m8, thanks. I think what I was really asking was "Would SS transfer over to Nova" and because its a toggle, rather than a clicky - it won't (I already use human to EB and Hasten before switching to forms, and with combat flight and a bind, I do it mid mish too [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

Of course it only requires me to say in conclusion...

FULL FORCE!!!!

Yeah that pretty much answers my questions m8, thanks. I think what I was really asking was "Would SS transfer over to Nova" and because its a toggle, rather than a clicky - it won't (I already use human to EB and Hasten before switching to forms, and with combat flight and a bind, I do it mid mish too [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

Of course it only requires me to say in conclusion...

FULL FORCE!!!!

Have my PB up to lvl 25, will be doing a respec sometime this weekend, and have some questions.

I'm going tri-form to maximise the PB's versatility in teams. I'm finding that I'm mainly using Nova, but occasionally switching to Dwarf if things get hairy, or I don't have room to blast from height if I get caught in a melee battle.

My questions are thus:

Is Hasten the only "human" pool power that transfers to the forms?

The inherent flight of Nova is a little slow for my liking, and at the moment I've got it slotted for flight speed. Is there a better (and more slot efficient) way of improving travel? (I was thinking going Super Speed, seeing as I'm taking hasten - also taking Hurdle to help vertical travel. I realise going this method would mean using human form, but I'm not bothered about form - just quickest and easiest way of getting there!)

Slotting wise, I'm aiming for 3 dmg res and 1 or 2 end mods on Dwarf, with 1 acc and 1 dmg in each attack and 2 end mods, and 1 acc buff for Nova then 1 acc and 2 dmgs for the attacks.. possibly an additional recharge in all but BN Bolt where I'll put another dmg.

Powers wise I was thinking of the following:
1 - Glinting Eye
1 - Incandescence
2 - Gleaming Blast
4 - Essence Boost
6 - Bright Nova
8 - Radiant Strike
10- Hasten
12- Build Up
14- Super Speed
16- Shining Shield
18- Incandescent Strike
20- White Dwarf
22- Reform Essence
24- Conserve Energy
26- Pulsar

Comments / suggestions welcome!

Tiger Slash; Claws / Regen / Body Mastery is conspicuous by his absence [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Yeah - I'd heard the other two were a lil bit pants, so I'd allowed for both of those already. May also respec out of shockin grasp and work Acrobatics in. Have a terrible time with mezzes and knock back atm.

Hehe don't worry Plight - the PB is providing a little "light relief" when the blaster is having trouble finding a team, or if i'm bored of the other 15 alts that I have lol.

You can rest assured that Amazon Thunder is now my "main" since Tiger hit 50. At 39 atm.. and salivating at the prospect of leccy epic sets already

Thanks all.. look out for a PB called "Luminesque"

I did it *wohoo*!

First 50 on CoX - seems ages ago since I took my first tentative steps into Paragon, but here I am. After everything, CoX is STILL the best game I've played for a LONG time, and certainly the only game that's kept me interested for more than a few weeks since I was about 15 (with Elite on the Amstrad CPC).

Long may it continue, and thanks to all the great people I've met along the way!!

My blaster is a lec / lec, and Thunderous Blast like any nuke has to be used with care. I only ever use it if I have a CAB spare, so the chain usually goes something like this: aim+buildup+TB+cab.. target remaining boss.. Power Sink, Short Circuit, Thunder Strike /e victory

As I only ever use it in conjunction with Aim and BU, I didn't slot for accuracy; just 4 dmg SOs. Usually enough to wipe out up to +2 minions (largely depending on the gang type admittedly), with just lts and bosses standing. It's other big bonus is the humoungous amounts of end it drains from them meaning even if their are any left, they aint gonna be doing too much attacking anyway!

Sounds good to me.. global is @steelrat70

Yeah.. I'm tending to find that combinations of Havoc Punch, Charged Brawl and Lightning Bolts are enough to dispatch minions fairly quickly (which is obviously of the essence in large groups) and saving TS for the bosses or lts. Better still for bosses especially is Tesla / EF first, THEN use HP and TS, that way you dont pee tanks off with the knockback.

I also hear what your saying with SC and PS - you've gotta judge when to wade in to melee very carefully, because as I've already said, no matter how powerful the set, we are still fundamentally squishy blasters! A couple of times today, I've found myself in the midst of a big mob and watched my health bar move faster than the fuel guage on a Hummer. Best tactic I've found is pick off the straglers on the edges and let the tanks / scrappers take the mainstay of the ag. Only then, when you've just got a coupla lts and a boss left can you more safely use SC and PS and the tactic I mentioned above.

In some ways I'm finding that "squishy" factor makes the character that much more fun to play. You have to choose when to use some powers over others, rather than just blindly running in and clicking each one in turn. My main character is a claws / regen scrapper (Tiger Slash, as pictured in my av), and soloing him even on invinc is so brain numbingly boring because it's so easy!

As for the listening thing, I always think it's worth at least giving what people suggest a try on test (particularly as I had a spare respec) - what's the worst that could have happened? I could have found that your suggestions about TS and SC didn't suit me after all, and I would have been no worse off. No harm in keeping an open mind with these things is what I always say, and I'm glad to say that approach has allowed me to get a lot more out of my character than I originally thought possible

You'll have to excuse me if this post comes out a little garbled; it's rather difficult to eat humble pie and type at the same time.

After reading your post yesterday, and having a free respec still left, I thought I'd rethink my toon, and respec Short Circuit and Thunder Strike back in on the test server. All I can say is that contrary to what I said yesterday, you ARE right and I WAS wrong - spectacularly so.

I'm not entirely sure what I was doing wrong with SC and TS, but even with 2 accs and 3 dmgs on TS it would miss an awful lot more than I was comfortable with, and despite having 3 end mods and an acc in SC, it wasn't giving me the "awesome sapping power" that I'd read about.

My opinions of both those powers are now completely different - they really are invaluable. To test the new build I tried out one of the missions that I'd got in Talos against Crey. Previously, the Crey Volt tanks and PPs would give me a hell of a lot of trouble, so I'd approach them with caution. Now though, SC, PS, TS and a few havoc punches - and boom - dead, not a MoG, or blaster death in sight.

Playing the new build in teams last night also opened my eyes to the fact that the real beauty of the lec set is its versatility. I was barrowing on yesterday about the fact that blasters should play as blasters instead of trying to play as scrappers or tanks (which was my main reason for not being terribly happy with the number of melee attacks.. how many times have you heard the words "<blaster x> you're not a tank!!" shortly before blaster x eats dirt), and the real fact of the matter is, with lec, you can do BOTH. Sit at range Zapping, Tesla'ing and Lightning Bolt'ing if you've got a few too many Melee characters and not too many trollers... however if you're a blaster / troller heavy team, you can sap and bash the hell out of things at melee range as well.

Amazing how you can play a toon for 37 levels and only play to half it's potential.

"Don't sound qualified to comment" and "Don't understand what elec set is".

Hmm bit harsh that isn't it? Everyone has different play styles, and just because I think Thunder Strike and Short Circuit are over rated powers, doesn't necessarily mean everyone would find them so. As I've already said, I don't care how much damage TS does, it misses far more often than it should IMO. Pointless having oodles of damage if it never (or rarely) connects.

The thing that sticks with me in the whole lec set is that for a blaster there is a surprising number of melee range attacks (no surprise then that the lec attacks in CoV are for a brute). Personally I prefer to play a blaster AS a blaster; namely ranged fire support for scrappers and tanks, rather than front line attacking.

Just because the way I play my toon is different to yours, and the fact I'm a lvl 37 and you're a 50, doesn't make your way "right" and my way "wrong".

Capische?

For my two penn'orth - I'd take SC much later in the build because it's a bit [censored] without using PS aswell. As for Thunder Strike; yes it looks cool - but stupidly long animation for the damage, and misses more often than not even with Acc enhs.

Can't comment on the Epics, cos my leccy blaster is only at lvl 37 :P

That sent me a message giving details of a villain group and associated forum, could they re-send those details please? Like a doofus I replied and deleted the message before taking them.

*doh* :

Is anyone else detecting a naming pattern, or is it just me?

This isn't really bribery as far as I can see. Yes, in this competition if you are ALREADY a member of the SG and you win the prize money is doubled, but it's not a case of "If you're not a member of the SG and you win, and then you join us, your prize money will be doubled" is it?

This is an event to promote the SG, and a chance for others to meet its members in a fun and original way, thats all.

I guess Tiger will have to dust off his speedos and attend hehe

For my 2 inf'orth and in response to some of the comments here:

FU is about as useful as a one legged man in a bum kicking contest. It's designed as a claws version of "aim" to include accuracy buffs. I have it, but find that my attack chains work just fine without it. I'll be respeccing out of it come issue 7 - especially since Slash and strike anims have been changed. Slash is oodles faster and makes the whole claws experience that much "snappier" - it's the same animation as Strike is now, and strike has been changed to Super Strength "Jab" stylee. Combined with the fact that you can slot it with defence debuffs (something I didn't realise myself until about lvl 35 lol) means its going to become a staple claws power rather than one that people choose to love or hate.

Shockwave is a much maligned power, but I absolutely LOVE it. The cone is HUGE (it borders on AoE in some instances), and combined with a decent knockback (knockdown for the larger foes and bosses) it's useful as a soft control power. Open with shockwave to knock em back.. then evis and focus for any that are left standing, which is usually enough to finish em before the others have got up and start attacking.

I'd also agree with the comments here to drop weave. The end usage vastly outweighs the tiny defense benefit, and really integration, resilience and tough cover your defense abilities anyway.

I'll certainly be taking Hasten to help with the DP and IH recharges - although even now I find that if I use Reconstruction, DP and IH one at a time rather than all together, that is sufficient to get me through all but the most difficult of battles.

The Amazon Stars have regular TFs every Saturday and Sunday @ 12.30 BST and occasionally one on a Saturday evening at 17.30. This weekend we're doing Positron on Saturday, and Manticore on Sunday.

In addition to that we have an SG night on Friday for Arena and PvP (if that's your bag), and there are other events planned for Tuesdays and Thursdays, but those are yet to be decided.

Finally, we have an active forum to organise these events on as well as a gallery for showing off our characters!

Send me a tell to @SteelRat70 if you (or anyone for that matter) is interested.