Supernumiphone

I'm actually pleasantly surprised how many of the shows/series mentioned here that I've seen considering I haven't owned a television in years (I do watch DVDs on my computer though).

This discussion is making me think I need to go back and watch Babylon 5 though. I've only seen an episode here or there over the years. I never hated it but I guess it didn't really grab me either. Given what's being said about it, it looks to me like it would be worth my while to start at the beginning.

Regarding NuBSG, I'm another one who didn't like it. I guess it would be more accurate to say I thought it was garbage. I watched the entire first season because I'd heard good things and wanted to really give it a chance, but after that I couldn't think of a single reason to continue with it.

If they are stunned they will wander around despite the fear, and will obviously not be able to attack.

You do no damage while you're eating floor.

When you reschedule you might want to mention if you're doing the hero or villain AVs.

Edit: nvm I missed that somehow on my first read through.

Here's something I threw together with a bit more defense. I can't guarantee you'll like the changes I made though.

My build

Edit: It's also worth noting that IMO this build has a solid enough defense base to build on that finding the slots to slot up Frozen Armor would be well worth it IMO. Then you'd be well protected against S/L and ranged attacks, which would cover quite a bit. I'll admit it's already tight on slots though. If it was me I'd probably drop the AoE hold or the sleep, replace one or both with LotG mules, and use those slots to improve other powers.

Yes it's quite frustrating when my choices are between closing the dialog without finishing reading it, or reading it while I'm faceplanted.

I think some of both. I'm not sure those are the two endpoints I would set as defining the villainy spectrum, but going with your terms I would say mostly glamorous with enough disgusting to make it believable.

Not everything has to be either one though. Take for example the relatively new arc that has you taking over a cloning facility. I guess you could say that's on the glamorous end of things, but I'd say it's neither. It is a great arc though because it has you acting on your own initiative to seek power. The first time I played that arc I gained new hope that we could get real quality villain content in this game.

I'm glad we have Themari and Phipps in the game. I think we could use some more like that, but I wouldn't want all villain content to be like that. To me it should be just enough that I get an occasional reminder that I'm a real villain and not a reskinned hero.

It's consistent with other mez protection ally buffs, is it not?

It looks to me like you did hit it. Maneuvers isn't toggled on when I load the build, but activating it puts the build over 45% to S/L. Not that I'd want to ever play that build, but hey you did hit the mark.

It's difficult to softcap a builld that has no inherent defense powers. As you've no doubt noticed, you have to make a lot of build sacrifices to get there. Too many, in my opinion.

That's why I tend to shoot for 32.5% instead of 45% on those sorts of builds. It puts you within one small purple inspiration of the softcap, and loosens up the build enough that you don't have to gimp it horribly to get there.

If you absolutely require being softcapped full-time there are improvements that can be made to the build to make it more functional, but my suggestion would be to lower your expectations a bit and put together a build that will be more fun to play. You still have solid resistances for those times when the defense isn't enough.

If you must have extreme survivability at the expense of other aspects of the build, you could probably get there with fewer sacrifices on a stoner.

It's good to see this thread because I was wondering about this myself. I've just recently started playing a /FA Brute which is too low level to have endurance under control enough to run the damage aura. I've noticed the constant running and was wondering what was going on. I remembered reading that the fear component was removed, and I checked CoD to be sure. I considered it might be just the demoralize effect, but they sure do take off more than that seems to explain.

I don't see mobs run off like that even on other ATs using high damage attacks. It seems like mobs run as soon as I use Burn. Is there something about the heavy ticking DoT that triggers the demoralize effect more than another attack that does the same damage but delivers it in one lump? I'm currently at a loss to fully explain what I'm seeing when using that power.

Corruptors are a bit low on damage, though it surely doesn't help that you've chosen one of the lower damage primaries. Try Fire Blast or maybe Ice Blast and see if you change your mind. They're never really going to wow you though. You give up damage for the ability to buff and debuff. That's one of the reasons I tend to build mine for survivability. Even if I am slower to defeat enemies I can afford to take my time solo and bring a lot to teams as well.

Here is something completely different for you to consider

I don't think I would have chosen that ancillary pool, but I didn't want to change it because I didn't know your reasons for choosing it. Other than that, it's a quick and dirty first pass at what I might do if I was building one. Similar +recharge and resistances, but way more defense.

It's hard for me to make any suggestions because it's not clear to me what you're trying to accomplish with the build. Other than some +recharge it seems to me that there are a lot of expensive sets being used for little return. The build looks unfocused to me.

What do you want out of it?

You only took one AoE. Radiation Blast is among the weakest blast sets for single-target damage. If you're not taking advantage of the AoE it offers, why choose Rad Blast? I'm not saying there aren't other valid reasons, I'm just wondering what yours are.

If survivability is your goal you can get a lot more defense while retaining similar or greater +recharge. You have good resistances to S/L but for any squishy build, especially one that has a strong offensive toggle to contribute to survivability, defense is nice for its pseudo mez protection.

One thing worth noting is that as far as I know set IOs in Dark Servant only apply to powers he uses that take those sets. So he will get the accuracy boost on his heal but other powers will not get that benefit. I haven't tested that myself but that's what I've been told. Presuming that's correct, if you want to use a set for accuracy an accurate tohit debuff set would be the way to go. That won't benefit his hold, but I believe all his other powers will.

There is an AE arc titled "Crafter's Cafe" if I remember correctly, it has an invention crafting table in it. That could save time on the trips to recharge your temps since you just zone into the misson, craft, and zone out.

I don't know what servers you tried, but villain side is far from empty on the more populated ones.

As for power sets, probably anything paired with Willpower would make for a smooth leveling experience on just SOs.

Seems like a perfect opportunity for anyone considering a second free account when Freedom launches to get a Premium account with some goodies for cheap.

I think the only rename I've done was renaming my second account's global to match my first so everyone could tell it's me regardless of who I'm playing. I've had my globals reset a couple of times due to breaks. I'm not especially fond of my current global handle. It just happens to be the name of the first character I logged in on my main account after my last layoff. I'm not all that particular though, and it's the name everyone knows me by, so I'm not inclined to change it.

Some people don't exemp...ever. I'm not one of them, but they're out there.