TopDoc

Nope, the duping I heard about was on live. There's no real point to duping Inf on test, because there's nothing worthwhile to buy there.

[ QUOTE ]
In that case, in the game-global sense, you're not generating inf, you're generating items.

Actually, since PvP farming doesn't generate any inf per item, the introduction of high-valued PvP IOs to the game should be a deflationary force on the rest of the economy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually each PvP Defeat of a level 50 by a level 50 earns you 973 Inf, plus you can also get Salvage, but you're still mostly right. Assuming a drop rate of 1%, the 97,300 Inf you get in defeats per PvP IO recipe is only about 1/5 the crafting cost. And the Salvage dropped per IO is not sufficient to craft it. While I usually have a surplus of Common Salvage that I sell, I have to buy a lot of Uncommon and Rare Salvage. I have to restock my farmer with Inf from my sales force.

From my point of view, I'm generating a lot of wealth. But from your point of view, I'm destroying Inf. I've destroyed hundreds of millions in Marketing fees by selling all of those IOs, and I'll destroy hundreds of millions again when I buy IOs to outfit my chars using that Inf. But I think that's a relatively small piece of the whole economy, and I doubt it will have a significant deflationary effect.

Looking at my old Drop Listing & Analysis thread, it seems like regular farming does produce more Inf than it uses in crafting and selling the good Recipes. I earned about 6.1M Inf per run between defeats and vendoring Common IO Recipes and Enhancements, plus more than enough Salvage to craft the 4 worthwhile Recipes. I even come out ahead when I take into account the Marketing fees associated with selling those IOs. Interesting that there's such a big difference.

I am generating mostly PvP Recipes that I craft and sell on the Market for that 100M/day. Though granted prices have been dropping recently as more people get into the action.

I heard a claim that some people have figured out how to dup Inf. Given the number of bugs in the game, I wouldn't be surprised. Do that a few times and you don't really care how much something costs. Say it takes 5 minutes to dup 2 billion Inf. Someone who can do that is not about to bid creep to save 10 million here or there.

[ QUOTE ]
Quick estimate: 100,000 players, 2 hours a day. (More on weekends, less on weekdays.) Half of that on highbies, making a million inf an hour after taking into account time spent on base stuff and marketing and "LFT" and whatever.

I'm burning 1/10 of one day's worth of influence.

[/ QUOTE ]

How do your numbers look when you take into account people like me? I farmed about 3 billion Inf in the past month.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can completely floor the Regen of an even con AV using Drain Psyche...

[/ QUOTE ]

That doesn't seem right. The purple triangles offer -regen resistance. Did you take that into account?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. Good enough, or do you want the math?

Because people have already started asking for it, here's Phantom Quark's build.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Phantom Quark: Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Apoc-Dmg:50(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg:50(3), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(3), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), Apoc-Dam%:50(17), EndRdx-I:50(21)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), Dct'dW-Heal:50(27), Dct'dW-Rchg:50(34)
Level 2: Blind -- Decim-Acc/Dmg:40(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:40(11), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:40(11), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(31), Decim-Build%:40(33), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf:50(A), CoPers-Conf/Rchg:50(5), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg:50(5), CoPers-Acc/Rchg:50(9), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx:50(15)
Level 6: Radiation Infection -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(7), HO:Enzym(7), Achilles-ResDeb%:20(9)
Level 8: Accelerate Metabolism -- RechRdx-I:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod:50(23), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:50(23)
Level 10: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(13)
Level 14: Super Speed -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A), Numna-Heal:50(27), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(39)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg:50(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg:50(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(25), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg:50(29), S'bndAl-Build%:50(37)
Level 20: Lingering Radiation -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(21), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow:50(36)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod:50(31), P'Shift-End%:50(34)
Level 24: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(34)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Rchg:20(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear:20(40), Abys-Acc/EndRdx:20(40), Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg:20(40), Abys-Dam%:20(42)
Level 28: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(A), Krma-ResKB:10(36)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(33), HO:Nucle(33), ExStrk-Dam%:20(37)
Level 35: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit:21(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg:21(36), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg:21(37), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg:21(39), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx:21(43)
Level 38: Flash -- UbrkCons-Hold:50(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(39), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg:50(43), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold:50(43), UbrkCons-Dam%:50(45)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(42), HO:Membr(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(50)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg:40(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:40(45), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:40(45), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(46), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(46)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Ragnrk-Dmg:50(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg:50(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Hectmb-Dmg:50(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(13), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg:50(29), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx:50(31), Hectmb-Dam%:50(46)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Containment
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]13% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]13% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]13% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]13% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]13% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]13% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]13% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]13% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]4.5% Max End[*]2.75% Enhancement(Terrorized)[*]4% Enhancement(Heal)[*]63% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]4% Enhancement(Confused)[*]115% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]10% FlySpeed[*]72.5 HP (7.13%) HitPoints[*]10% JumpHeight[*]10% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -4)[*]Knockup (Mag -4)[*]MezResist(Confused) 2.5%[*]MezResist(Held) 2.5%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 8%[*]MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%[*]MezResist(Stun) 2.5%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 4.7%[*]16% (0.27 End/sec) Recovery[*]44% (1.87 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]8.82% Resistance(Fire)[*]8.82% Resistance(Cold)[*]1.26% Resistance(Energy)[*]1.26% Resistance(Negative)[*]10% RunSpeed[/list]


<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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I'm working on a series of AV soloing articles for the City Scoop, and the one I'm writing right now is for Doms. So here are a few observations...

It is possible to perma-hold even con AVs as Siolfir said, though I figure things a bit differently. Every Dom single target hold lasts base 17.88 and 26.82 seconds for the regular Mag 3 and the extra Domination Mag 3 parts. With 95% Hold slotting, that's 34.87 and 52.30 seconds. If you stack 11 holds in 52.3 seconds (one every 4.75 seconds), you'll have all 11 of the longer duration ones, plus 7 of the shorter duration ones. That's a total of Mag 54, enough to hold an AV despite the purple triangles. Of course you want a little extra in case you miss. Against a +3 AV at 65% effectiveness, the durations are 22.66 and 34.00. You still want at least 11 holds but now you only have 34 seconds. That's only possible for Fire or Mind Control, because you need a really fast animating Hold plus massive (+200%) Recharge. I don't think the pet holds contribute enough Hold mag to make up for the slower animations. Use your AoE hold whenever your single target one misses, and pray. Use Gladiator's Net for the +Hold set IO bonuses in one or both of your holds. Megalomaniac and Force of Nature will help a lot here.

You really want to use Psi Assault. Drain Psyche can be slotted for Healing, and that affects both the buff and debuff. You can completely floor the Regen of an even con AV using Drain Psyche, and Drain Psyche can be perma on a massively tweaked build. With 96% Healing slotted, a +3 AV will be down to 7.7% Regen (average around 7 HP/second). You can easily beat that. Without Drain Psyche, a Dom needs pretty massive damage to overcome a +3 AVs Regeneration. A Mind Dom probably couldn't do it, given that Dominate needs to be slotted for Hold.

So given the requirements, I'd say this could only be done by a Fire/* or a Mind/Psi Dom. A Fire/Psi would be fastest for killing, but may fail at pulling. Your best bet there is probably to use Mind Control. Sleep them all, pull one far away and out of line of sight, and hope no one else comes. But I don't know the mechanics of agro in the final mission well, so this is more an educated guess.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the Kronos Titan. I'm not sure if it's a GM or AV class mob in that mission. And I haven't tried soloing GMs yet with my Dom, though I will be doing that tonight. I'll try and let you know how that turns out.

As others have said, Confusion is probably not an option. With 7 other AVs to attack, no one of them is going to take enough damage to be defeated. And given the very long animation time on Confuse (3.37 seconds according to Red Tomax), it's nearly impossible to confuse a +3 AV through the purple triangles. You could try Mass Confusion if all of their purple triangles are synched, and maybe have some fall during the resulting chaos. But after that they'll start buffing each other, and it probably won't work again.

[ QUOTE ]
Is there a specific drop rate or pool for purples, i've tried looking at paragon wiki, but it's all gibberish to me.

[/ QUOTE ]

From my tracking while farming, I got about 1 in 1500 mobs using the normal in-game distribution of Minions and Lts. Specifically, it was 13 drops in 18,116 mobs. While I've seen people say 1 in 5000, I've never seen any numbers to back it up.

See Here

Yes I implemented the previous build I posted, and it has done very well. But the future changes to Doms will significantly reduce her functionality. I'm waiting for Issue 15 to go live to make a final decision, in case the Devs pull one of their usual tricks.

I'm not big on PvP, so I'm not really sure what makes a good PvP build. Mids doesn't even have the PvP IOs in it yet, so that would make things significantly more difficult. And given that Defense and Recharge Reduction are significantly limited by Diminishing Returns, I don't think you'll be very happy with the results. A PvP Widow is not nearly as fun as a PvE Widow. But perhaps someone else watching this thread who has PvP build experience can make some suggestions.

[ QUOTE ]
You can keep up to 10 enhancements in your tray. Just make sure when you respec none are there and all you have to do is drag them there just like you drag them into your powers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Close. Make sure you start with a full load of crappy level 50 set IOs that you buy on the Market for 100K or so. When you sell them back at the end of the Respec, you'll get 490K each for them.

Hi. My name is TopDoc, and I'm a powergamer.

City of Data. Mids. ParagonWiki. In-game real numbers. Player Guides forum. Posts by Arcannaville and others. I use them all. But I go further. A lot further. I test. I document. I make spreadsheets. I crunch numbers. I have an "unintended statistical advantage". City of Heroes is a very diverse game, and that diversity gives me all the tools I need to do amazing things. When I know everything I can, I craft.

I mix ATs, powersets, powers, and IOs to create extreme results. I craft silly overpowered characters who can solo Arch-Villains, Giant Monsters or entire Task Forces. I craft SuperTeams who can roll over the toughest challenges in the game easily. And when I want to earn a particularly difficult badge, I figure out the most efficient way to earn it. Sure playing the game is fun, but I like figuring out how to play the game harder, faster, and louder. And I like that CoH is diverse enough to allow me to do all this.

My name is TopDoc, and I'm a powergamer who plays City of Heroes.

As others have said, the LotG is the only one that really matters. The Numina, Miracle, and Regen Tissue work as long as the power that they're slotted in works. If you get Health at 16, you can slot it with max level IOs for those uniques, and they'll still work when you exemp as low as 16 (and still have Health).

For the LotG, there's the Defense bonus (which is somewhat higher at higher levels), plus the fact that it only works down to 3 levels below the IO. The global Recharge part of it is considered a set bonus. It doesn't matter whether or not the power that it's slotted in is available when you exemp. If the LotG is level 50, you will lose them bonus if you exemp below 47. If you plan on ever exemping, I advise you to get low level LotGs.

All that said, I recommend always getting the lowest possible level on all of the IOs you mentioned. That way, you'll be able to unslot them (via Respec) and slot them into the new overpowered FotM Grav/Energy Dominator you'll make when I15 hits. Or maybe a Widow.

[ QUOTE ]
My understanding is that inflation by definition is caused by more money in the system, and/or what people are willing to pay. Therefor, more money in the system because of Purples droping more frequently will theoretically mean inflation in overall costs.

But also, if I get more purples, I have to be getting something else drop less often. That means something else, possibly everything, else is rarer, and we pay more for what is harder to get.

The most recent example is common salvage. You can get other salvage through MA Tickets, but not common, so when people were farming MA arcs, the price of some common salvage went through the roof.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your definition is somewhat off. Inflation is a rise in the level of prices, and generally means you can't buy as much with the money you have. High levels of Inflation are often associated with spikes in the money supply, and there certainly is some of that in the Luxury items in CoH. But the prices of TOs, DOs, and SOs hasn't changed since the game came out, and the surge in Inf means it's even easier to buy them. That's Deflation. There was a recent article on this elsewhere in the Market forum.

Purple drops may have displaced other drops, but it was only by a very small amount. Rather than getting 12 pool A drops, you get 11 and a purple. The loss of that one Pool A drop is pretty insignificant. Mob Recipe drops are not tied to Salvage drops, Enhancement drops, Mission Complete Recipe drops, Inspiration Drops, or anything else.

And Common Salvage IS available from the Ticket Vendor. It's just that lots of people didn't look hard enough to find it.

Here's my take on the whole mess. Posi said "Only the worst of the worst, exploitive, powerlevelled characters will be removed from the game." It is unlikely you qualify. Posi refused to quantify what really was abusive, but based on the accidental bans of level pacted chars it appears to be simply training up to 50 without having played the character long enough. I've heard the time of ten hours tossed around, but I have no idea if that's accurate.

Now there are some obvious exploits. If you can get under the map and attack mobs without them attacking back, that's an exploit. If you get Boss level XP from a Minion without any good reason, that's an exploit. Rikti Comm Officers (Minions) give Lieutenant rewards due to the chance that they'll summon reinforcements, and that was working as intended. But only a single Comm Officer per spawn will try to summon reinforcements, so logically only a single one per spawn should be worth the higher reward. So fighting spawns entirely composed of Rikti Comm Officers seems like an exploit to me. And the level 42 ones gave significantly higher rewards than any others, so that was pretty clearly an exploit to me.

The biggest problem with this is intent. Most people probably didn't know that only a single Comm Officer per spawn would summon reinforcements, and that was the basis for their XP bonus. And most people probably didn't know there was anything special about the level 42 ones. So a LOT of people used Meow farms to level REALLY fast without anything screaming OBVIOUS EXPLOIT. Well, other than the leveling speed.

I suspect the bannings were intended for people who powerleveled using the Meow farms while knowing exactly what they were doing. Those people probably could and did go from 1 to 50 really fast. And those people probably paid the price.

Now there are a WHOLE LOT of tactics that appear to be valid without being obvious exploits. The MA lets you make allies, so it doesn't seem like an exploit to use them. You can fight mobs that do damage you significantly resist, and you can fight mobs that are vulnerable to your damage. People do this in non-MA missions all the time. You can get fillers so you get more mobs in your mission, and that doesn't seem like an exploit. After all, you're still going to fight them. You can fight mobs like Freakshow who give more XP than normal mobs, but that's because the Devs have determined that the Healing and Rezzing they do makes them more dangerous. If you stick to these tactics, you're probably safe. You'd have to be really good to level too fast. But then you're not good, you're bad. Very bad.

Meh, it doesn't matter. The Devs aren't saying what qualifies as an exploit. No one here can tell you either. LOTS of people were asking these sorts of questions during the bannings, but posts and entire threads simply disappeared. So the only thing I can say is don't exploit, and don't be TOO good.

[ QUOTE ]
The rate at which I have read that purples drop is 1 in 3000-5000.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe this number is incorrect. Based on my Drop Listing &amp; Analysis thread, the drop chance is around 1 in 1500 mobs assuming a mix of Minions and Lieutenants (2 Minions per Lt). That's based on getting 13 drops from around 18,000 mobs (page 4 of the thread).

I started a new series on soloing AVs in the City Scoop, and the first two articles are already out. Looks like I'll need to do a case study on Doms in one of the future articles. I hadn't ever considered perma-holding them solo, but silly me I never ran the numbers to see if it was possible. Time to pick one of my Doms and do a Respec. I have a feeling my Fire/Psi will do pretty well.

I created an arc in the MA, #168611 "Level 50 AV Challenge" that has all of the level 50 AVs available. In the first mission (so far), they all tell you their Resistances as well. So if you don't have 80 minutes, you might look for some that are vulnerable to Psi and/or Fire.

Necross PM'd me asking about using Howling Twilight as a Regen debuff. It has a 500% Regen Debuff, so it's as strong as the other strong debuffs that I listed. But the debuff only lasts 30 seconds, while the power recharges in 180 seconds. Even with massive Global Recharge, it'll still only be on 30 seconds out of 45. So it's roughly on par with the Blaster version of Drain Psyche. It's certainly worth using. And it's auto-hit, which can be a big bonus against those AVs with Elude, Overload, or equivalent.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
From an economic point of view, CoH is suffering massive Deflation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with the term Deflation (I was using Inf Surplus), but we mean the same thing. I question the use of "suffering" though. I'd like some elaboration there.

[ QUOTE ]
2) Yes the Deflation is a problem, because it trivializes Inf.

[/ QUOTE ]

Along the lines of "suffering", I'd also like more elaboration on this statement.


[/ QUOTE ]
On every level ending in 2 or 7, I can upgrade every slotted TO, DO, or SO Enhancement I have without checking the price. Anyone who makes an effort (transfers from a 50, asks a friend, plays the Market, gets a lucky drop, or whatever) can do the same, which means a significant portion of the player base. It's no longer worth it to get debt or repeat TFs in order to earn more Inf as you level. Selling Enhancement drops is a waste of time. Earning Inf at low levels is a waste of time, because you earn a trivial amount compared to a level 50 char.

The game as designed increases difficulty gradually. At low levels it only takes one or two unslotted attacks to defeat a Minion. At high levels it takes several well slotted attacks to do the same. By constantly using the best Enhancements available, I'm beating the curve most of the time. I'd call it an "unintended statistical advantage".

In summary, Deflation means people run around with better Enhancements, and spend less time getting them. That means faster leveling, dogs and cats sleeping together, and the end of civilization as we know it.

I got all my original numbers farming a regular mission. Does anyone know if Dev Choice or Hall of Fame missions give out the same rewards?

From an economic point of view, CoH is suffering massive Deflation.

In the good old days, your main source of Inf was from defeating mobs. But the curve of Inf earned versus Enhancement costs was broken at the high end. Your first trip to 50 was balanced through the high 30s, but after that Inf built up in unhealthy amounts. As more and more people hit 50, the pool of Inf started building. Join an SG, get some Inf from the founder, and you're set for life. Start an alt, transfer Inf from your 50, and you're set for life. Deflation. The availability of Inf increased dramatically, while the Enhancement costs remained the same.

Then Update 9 came. Mobs started dropping Salvage and Recipes. Boom, higher income from doing exactly the same thing. Those people sticking to TOs, DOs, and SOs had an easier time buying things. More deflation. That said, the addition of IOs opened up an entirely new economic class for those who had massive Inf and the desire to move up. I'm referring to Set IOs, as I'm aware that using Common IOs is approximately the same as SOs. This class had a significantly higher cost of living, due to the higher cost of IOs (Recipes, Salvage, and crafting). You could certainly call this Inflation, but I don't think it really applies unless it affects the entire population. The lower class kept buying SOs, while the middle class started buying Set IOs.

Then purple IOs came out. Boom, higher income from doing the exact same thing if you were playing high level chars. Based on my drop analysis, purples approximately DOUBLED income at level 50. Double Deflation. Ony lucky drop and you could finance SOs for 10 alts through level 50. Purples opened up yet another economic class, the upper class. Those people who had the Inf and the desire could move up yet again, so higher cost of living means Inflation for them. But it isn't really Inflation for all of CoH.

A LOT of Inf these days is trickling down to the lower and middle classes. It's almost trivial getting enough Inf to buy a full set of SOs at level 22, and even uncommon Set IOs are oversupplied thanks to the MA. As Set IOs become more commonplace, it's reasonable to argue that the cost of living for all of CoH is going up. The question is whether or not the Inf supply is going up at the same rate. My guess is no, Inf is increasing faster than the cost of living, but it's just a guess.

One thing that is significantly increasing is the price of luxury goods, meaning purples. That's because more people are working their way into the upper class and competing for those goods, increasing demand. On the flip side, the introduction of the Mission Architect has reduced the supply of purples.

So back to the original post.

1) We do not have Inflation, we have Deflation. But the price of luxury goods is increasing.
2) Yes the Deflation is a problem, because it trivializes Inf.
3) There's nothing to do but start over, and that ain't gonna happen. Since they can't fix Inf, the Devs have started introducing other currencies like Merits and Tickets that aren't exponential in nature. I expect this trend to continue. Maybe have Praetorian Inf in Going Rogue that's flatter like Prestige or Tickets.

I went through ... I'm not sure how many rolls a few weeks ago. Probably thousands of Bronze rolls. I kept the following as they were worth crafting and selling...

Uncommon
Steadfast Protection: KB Protection
Steadfast Protection: Res/Def
Karma: KB Protection

Rare
Basilisk's Gaze: Acc/Rech
Basilisk's Gaze: Acc/Hold
Blessing of the Zephyr: Run, Jump, Fly, Range
Impervious Skin: Status Resistance
Kismet: Accuracy
Regenerative Tissue: Regeneration

I used a purpled Fire/Eng Blaster to solo Posi for a while. She was specifically slotted for the job. But I think a Fire/MM Blaster would do slightly better. No AV at the end, so Blasters provide the highest damage and therefore the fastest speed. I could do Posi in 70 minutes spawned for 2, which earned me 128 merits between my 2 accounts. The build helps with damage mitigation (lots of Ranged Defense through IO sets), while Inspirations do the rest.

I never opted out, and yet the checkbox was off for me. I guess that explains why I didn't get the Going Rogue announcement. I turned the checkbox back on, so hopefully I'll get future stuff. Perhaps someone could track down when and why the checkbox was turned off.

The last newsletter type email I got from NCSoft was the Spring Fling thing on 2/9/09. I have always gotten support ticket type emails without a problem, and this is the first problem I've had with newsletters. I've got a Yahoo email address in case that is relevant.