Tonality

The team did lack support then. I enjoy playing my kin, but in terms of keeping players alive, it isn't that easy to do. Don't blame your build completely for that team.

Just some points to think about:

-A widow that doesn't have players gather for mind link only adds 5% defense to the team. Somehow I doubt mind link was used.
-Kins have a short-duration +res buff that offers some resistance, but not very much compared to sonic or thermal. The heal is an AoE around the target, so the best way for a kin to heal the alpha tank is to focus fire through them, so the heal typically will be centered around the alpha tank. Even with two kins, two transfusions centered around you should keep you alive.
-Traps for corruptors is lackluster. It has some fun powers, but as a whole for keeping a team alive, it does not perform in the same league as thermal, cold, rad, sonic, trick arrow, or pain/emp. Actually, I think that's all the secondaries.

It might be that I've been on a lot of bad ITF's recently, but it sounds like your team had other issues that didn't help matters. As your support was using more offense-driven powersets, if you aren't built to be self-sustaining, you'll struggle with the lack of support.

Edit: Here's the claws/invuln I was considering. It is softcapped for S/L at two enemies, so it is fairly sturdy. Dull pain is nearly perma, and would be if I wanted to switch out the set for doctored wounds. But I wanted the +hp/regen out of it.

Basics: (calculated with accolades)
-37.9% S/L def w/o invincibility
-3.52 end/sec at 2.5 net end/sec.
-330% regen at 40.5 hp/sec w/o dull pain
-30% global recharge

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Claws
Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Strike -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Knock%(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(19), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 1: Resist Physical Damage -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 2: Slash -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Knock%(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(19), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 4: Temp Invulnerability -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(17), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17), RctvArm-EndRdx(34), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(37)
Level 6: Spin -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Erad-Acc/Rchg(7), Erad-%Dam(11), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 8: Follow Up -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Knock%(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(15), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(34), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(40), Mrcl-Heal(40), Mrcl-Rcvry+(46)
Level 18: Unyielding -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(34), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(37), RctvArm-EndRdx(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40)
Level 22: Dull Pain -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(23), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(25), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 24: Resist Elements -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 26: Eviscerate -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Erad-%Dam(27), Erad-Acc/Rchg(29), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 28: Invincibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(48)
Level 30: Focus -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 35: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(36), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(36)
Level 38: Tough Hide -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(39), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(39), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Taunt -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(42), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(42), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(42), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(43), Mocking-Rchg(43)
Level 44: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Resist Energies -- ResDam-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 24.3% Defense(Smashing)
• 24.3% Defense(Lethal)
• 6.13% Defense(Fire)
• 6.13% Defense(Cold)
• 15.5% Defense(Energy)
• 15.5% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 13.6% Defense(Melee)
• 9.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 4.56% Defense(AoE)
• 5.4% Max End
• 18% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 30% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 275.5 HP (18.4%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• MezResist(Held) 2.75%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 14.3%
• 9.5% (0.16 End/sec) Recovery
• 110% (6.88 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 5% RunSpeed

I think you just lost your right to use your /facepalm picture, Techbot Alpha.

While this isn't facepalm worthy, cysts really aren't that tough to deal with, and the extra threat they offer is fun on a team. I love it when I get real cysts spawned with the ITF cysts. Lots of fun. Pop a few inspirations and blast away.

-You need siphon life. Drop either Smite or Shadowpunch so you can pick up this power. Slot siphon for acc/dam first, then you can consider healing.

-Don't slot brawl unless you're using it as a set mule.

-Picking up a steadfast 3% defense IO will save you a lot of work. It isn't that expensive on the market. Slot it in tough.

-There are cheap ways to frankenslot your toggles if you want. Look at serendipity for one. The def/end one should give you more effective numbers.

-The 6th bonus of crushing impact isn't that great. Slotting the 6th crushing doesn't do much for you. There are better options, like procs.

-Slotting combat jumping that much for def doesn't do very much. You add 1% more def using 4 slots. At the very least, drop the end redux. The power only uses 0.07 end to start with!

-Due to your set bonuses, practiced brawler is perma with only 2 rech IOs. If you exemp down and lose set bonuses, it won't be perma, but at 50, you only need 2. Keep 3 if you want to exemp down.

-If you can find a way to take Ghost Widow as your patron pool, picking up gloom would be a good thing. You can easily do this by dropping combat jumping and taking the slots from brawl.

-Touch of Fear is a great power. You're missing out by not slotting it.


There's a lot that can be done to this, but I think I'm just going to recommend you start fresh from the start. At the very least, you want siphon life.

I just don't see this being worthwhile. You can probably get around +25% damage bonus from set IOs without too much effort, but likely at a sacrifice to survivability. There's also the issue that the platform that you are working with is less oriented toward damage.

Both Fire and Shield are better platforms for looking at a more offense-oriented tank. Fire gets a damage aura and fiery embrace for +DMG. Shield gets Shield Charge and Against All Odds to increase your damage output.

I just don't see invuln as being the ideal platform for damage. Actually, if you're patient, I'd remake your character as a brute and bring it blueside when going rogue hits. You'll still have decent survivability numbers (a bit less than your tank), but will have a dramatic boost to your offensive capability. That's probably what I'd do.

While I would like to see origins tie more into the game, I just don't see any effective ways.

For example, in this case, we have four AT's that cannot pick an origin:
Peacebringer, Warshade, Widows, and Soldiers. These AT's would only be able to do natural or science raids, which means if a mutant raid team wanted a Crab Spider to round out the team's defenses - they couldn't.

Also, I like teaming with a close-knit group of players - as it sounds like you and PP enjoy doing. I'm assuming that you don't always play the same origin as everyone you knkow, because I know I don't. It would be annoying to not be able to team with my friends on the character I want to play on.

Furthermore, I have no idea what the population numbers of origins are. What if on a lower-populated server very few people played as 'magic' characters? They might have a very difficult time putting together a raid while the natural players seem to run one every night. That isn't very fun for the magic players. Sure they could play another character, but maybe that one is their main.

So, while I applaud your enthusiasm, I would hope that our end game content is not that restrictive.

If rage is perma, your defenses will not be debuffed. I didn't look at the build, so no comments from me.

I'm not interested in signing up, but I am interested in taking notes from some of these bases. I'll throw in some prizes redside from my personal stash if I'm particularly impressed by someone. (if you don't mind me tagging along)

You'll see me on AE Anon, or hit my global. I'm not exactly sure what my schedule looks like that weekend yet.

Sounds fun.

Boof meh!

You probably need to get that pink bar looked at. It isn't filled up enough.

Yup, you're a SMASHaholic.
*cue Homer Simpson's Rageahol reference*

Storytime.

TLDR: I taught a newbie about the market and made inf at the same time while recruiting for my rebuilding VG. Efficiency FTW.

Yesterday I decided to take my mid-level claws/WP brute out for a [SPIN]. I'm slowly putting together a team on my new namesake. I have a few global friends already on the team, and decide to pick the guy up that's been in cap. I send him a tell inviting him to the team. About 2 missions later I get a tell back. Guess he was AFK. He joins.

So, for the next hour or so, we're carving our way through missions from various players on the team and having a great time. Our young player poses the question: Does anyone know an active SG. So, we snag him up in the rebuilding Silk Panties of DOOM. Our capstone for the night was a bank mission with a full team and get surprised when an AV shows up with 2 minutes left on the clock. I blame the leader*** We finish the mayhem with 20 seconds to spare. Yup, having a blast!

So, when all the fun is done and the team decides to disband to head to bed, I decide I want to show off one of my IO'd brutes to my new recruit. I run an AE built specifically for survivable AoE-centric brutes. He's duly impressed.

So, the inevitable "What are IO's?" comes up.

I'm a little taken aback. I answer Invention Origin. A quick info check shows his power picks to be in order. Odd that he'd be asking that question. I spend the next hour talking about various aspects to the game and strongly recommending him roll several alts on both CoH/V.

So, I introduce him to the invention system by taking him to the black market and showing him how to frankenslot an attack to get more out of it without spending too much. I make him buy the recipes and help him identify ways to buy cheap ones (filter for uncommons and such).

So, I'm feeling pretty good about helping a returning player and showing him that those overwhelming prices don't have to be so overwhelming when starting out and I get another tell from someone at the market.

Do you have X* salvage? Apparently this player needed something that didn't have many for sale. I checked, and no I did not have it. It didn't take much to figure out that this salvage was probably being flipped, so I looked it up and yes, this one had a BUY IT NAO! of 1 mil or so.

So, what followed was a lengthy demonstration of how to compete with a flipper and not pay the BUY IT NAO price. In the course of the explanation, 5 of that salvage were sold to the flipper****.

So instead, I tell him about ticket rolls and rolling certain levels. I go and roll about 30 rolls of salvage and get 6 of those particular item. I give the player one and then I began talking about listing the item on the market.

I demonstrated bid creeping and identifying where the ebil flipper was and yes, I admit I listed those 5 commons under the flipper's price gouging. The end result was a player that was not only shocked on how easy one could acquire salvage without spending a lot of money, but how many players didn't mind spending that level of inf.

Now, I don't flip salvage anymore. It just isn't worth it to me. But I do have to admit, my demonstration has probably taken over someone's niche right now. I apologize to that marketeer**.

Anyway, what's your story? Have you run across any newbies recently that you were able to convert to the ebil side?

*Salvage name withheld to protect the innocent.
**not really. I made a cheap 4 mil with 0 effort last night.
***That would be me.
****I should have moved in quicker.

This isn't necessarily broken, but I dislike how certain uncommon sets require rare salvage. Cleaving blow is a big offender. Given how often a set like that drops and its lower cost on the market, it is silly for a 50k recipe to require a 2mil inf piece of salvage on a set that isn't popular. Changing the required salvage to cheaper items would really help low-budget builds.

As for Enigma's point, there are a scant few recipes that I like under 20. Explosive Strike finishes off my softcapped range defense on my hover blaster. Rectified Recticle gets 2-slotted in aim and buildup on some of my S/L builds.

Yup, mu is a common pick to keep players in burn patches. I've seen people go with web envelope because it has a larger radius. The issue with /soul is that it is a cone, rather than an AoE, making it more difficult to use in this manner.

Some players do find that they don't lose very much if they don't use burn, and so have skipped the need for elec fences completely.

When solo, inspirations drop like candy. I suppose going for 32% defense and soloing with a tray of lucks is a very viable option.

I'm also curious to the results. I am particularly fond of defensive builds, but after casting frostwork on my shield scrapper, I understand just how dramatic +HP can be. Paired with the stun of oppressive gloom and the occassional stun of whirling, I think you might have enough mitigation with that.

Anyway, I'm sure there are plenty of other opinions. This +HP route for DA is going into territory I haven't tried before, but it seems like a logical direction to go considering the massive heal.

The one thing that comes to mind that you have going for you is ice patch and irradiate/frozen aura. You'll be a little safer jumping in the middle of things and firing your PBAoE.

Couple of things:

Theft of Essense: Chance for +End will calculate on every individual you hit with your AoE heal. So you're getting a 10% chance on every mob (not quite additive, but decent chances). It's a good way to consistently get some endurance back from that heal. Also, look at frankenslotting both of those accurage heal sets

See if you can slot up health some. You'll like having a little more regen. Besides, a miracle heal IO will give you another 2.5% recov, and a numina heal IO will give you 12% more regen on top of what it's getting in the power.

Since you aren't on a defensive build, you don't have to slot so heavily for defense on cloak of darkness.

Yup, hamies are nice in darkest night.

Try these sets in death shroud and see if you like your overall endurance numbers afterwards:
Scirrocco's Dervish: Acc/Dam/End, Dam/End
Multistrike: Acc/Dam/End, Dam/End

2 adjusted targetting in rage (rech and to-hit/rech) will give you a 2% dmg buff at little cost to recharge.

I like your decimation in gloom.

--Did you know /DA loves Carnies?

Now IO stuff.
-If you can fit another slot in crowd control, you can get that nice +hp bonus
-I might suggest sacrificing that nrg defense in death shroud for multistrike's triple or dam/end for better endurance efficiency (you don't wanna burn end to quick)
-I find +end is more effective than +recov. Combined is even better.
-**IMPORTANT** - get that theft of essence proc in Dark Regeneration. IT's a 10% chance per enemy hit to give you 10 end back. That's huge on a heal like this!
-I might actually suggest getting a BoTZ KB in superspeed instead. Then you can drop the kismet in CJ and have a free slot open. That could go in crowd control for an nrg dmg proc. Oh, how I love crowd control! Or, a 2nd slot in taunt for the 1.8 end bonus. Between those two choices, I'd go HP.
-To save some coin, use the multistrike triple over the scirr triple if you're not getting any set bonuses. (I already asked you to buy a BoTZ +kb, so I gotta make it up to ya)

Good things I like:
-Your attacks are very endurance efficient. I think if you were to round it out with the recharge bonus you'd still be fine if you want to switch to the 5th crushing.
-Health is slotted nicely. Except for adding a panacea, there really is no possible way to improve on this (and that's expensive)
-Good recovery.
-+348.6 HP (23.3%) HitPoints - great number, and it's going to be hard to get it much higher without PvP IO's or slotting some patrons up for the purple pet set or devastation/apocypse.

If you do decide to go the defense route, just shoot for 32% S/L. A small luck will cap you. For the ITF, I find I need to get 5-10% higher than the softcap (via buffs) if I'm going to avoid cascade failure. So, you will likely find that weave and the small amount of defense that you do have won't do much on the ITF. My guess is you'll not be running weave or CoD on that, and be firing dark regen as much as you can.

Patient buying on the BM should get most of this up for around 300-400 million, including crafting costs. A quick check at the market should give you an idea about overall costs. I do know that some of the Touch of Deaths have dropped in price due to recipe rolls, though expect to shell out around 20 mil for the 2-3 expensive ones. Still not too painful.

There is one recipe in Gaussian's that can be expensive - and easily cornered on the market. I remember someone cornering that recipe and seeing it spike to 100 mil. Unfortunately, when I was offloading my gaussian's at the time, I only got 80 before the full spike hit.

I can talk to you more online about costs.

Yes, money sinks would be nice, especially if they are optional.

Someone suggested in a thread somewhere that we use the ingame advertising system to advertise things like Mission Arcs locally on our servers. Paying inf for ad space for arcs we want players to play seems like a great idea - especially since if an investor gets a highly-rated arc, you can wind up earning tickets!

Perhaps even placing an Ad screen in the MA building for this purpose would work nicely.