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They don't look exactly like banished pantheon zombies. Take another look. BP zombies have a glowing insignia on their chests. These Ghouls do not. As for the invasion zombies, they have little to no canonical information about them.

Is it a problem that someone won't do it 30 times? Some people won't level a character to 50 thirty times. Aren't there people that, even after years of playing, don't have a single level 50 character?

I have three toons with complete IO's sets: one with perma-am/hasten, one with softcapped AoE/ranged defenses, and one with perma-PA. The rest of my characters are in various stages of completion and I fully intend to complete them as well. When I'm through I'll have repeated the task 10 times. So your refusal to accept the possibility... it seems a bit foolish because people do outfit more than one character. Even more so, I've done it by playing characters that I enjoy and doing things that I enjoy, which does not include toying with the market for profit.

I'll agree with what Panzer said. Inventions can be very accessible. Basic IO's and using easily obtainable set pieces can greatly improve a character. With a small investment, you can reap noticeable rewards.

However, if you want to perform on the extreme end of the scale it will require a large investment of time. It's perfectly understandable if someone doesn't want to commit themselves to doing that, or to even using inventions at all. Doing so is just a playstyle choice, just as someone might choose to roll a new alt rather than grind through the late 30's-early 40's game. The only barriers to enjoyment are the ones we create for ourselves.

When invention sets first came out I had it slotted in Spectral Terror. It was underwhelming at best. It has a chance to hit all enemies in the area when you cast ST and each time ST casts its single target power. I'm unsure if it checks the proc again for enemies in Spooky's aura, but I had never noticed it.

Other than for the fun factor of rp'ing it as psychological damage, there's not much reason to use it.

The intent of the test seemed to be how much damage each primary can provide. Illusion's lack of a single target chain can be considered one of the weaknesses of the set. If it were allowed for Illusion then it would be necessary to allow it for other sets as well. In many cases, it could replace either the immobilize or hold, resulting in a faster attack chain and higher dps. When you view it in the vacuum of primary powers only, it only underlines Illusion's need of supplemental single target damage.

I understand your objection to MagicJ's test, but they were accurate for the time they were made. A new set of tests is indeed in order due to changes in how pets inherit recharge. When the test server eventually becomes available, I'll make up an AE arc and run through the controller pets to find out how each fairs in terms of single target damage.

The absence of evidence is not the... well, you know how it goes, right?

I see no reason to believe that whips won't be in another set nor do I see any reason to believe that they will.

Edit: Whatchu talkin' about, lady?

I'd say it's quite rare that anyone would slot only one aspect of a power. I can't imagine anything that doesn't benefit from more recharge, accuracy, or endurance reduction. Of course, if someone does that for simplicity's sake I'm not one to stop them.

3 lvl 50++ SO's: 96.48% enhancement
3 lvl 50 generic IO's: 99.08% enhancement

Using a blaster's Blaze, 3 IO's only pushes out about 5 more points of damage than 3 level 50++ SO's. So, in this case, the difference isn't very noticeable.

Looking at a more realistic scenario in which you're enhancing at least 2 aspects of a power, you can beat out SO's and save a slot with IO's.

3 lvl 50++ damage SO's, 3 lvl recharge 50++ SO's: 96.48% to each.
2 lvl 50 generic damage IO's, 2 lvl 50 generic recharge IO's, 1 lvl 50 damage/recharge from the Devastation set: 96.7% to each.

I'll re-iterate what UberGuy said because I whole-heartedly agree. Mid's is an excellent tool that takes all the math and fuss out of it. Just pop things in and if you see you've hit the red then you've gone too far. It's nice for planning out simple builds as well as planning out frankenslotted and fully IO'ed builds with sets.

I assume you must have been triple slotted for whatever aspect you intended to enhance. You must consider the additional bonus from each and how quickly you'll reach diminishing returns. Simply put, using IO's requires you to slot a bit differently. Triple slotting an aspect puts you far into diminishing returns, and you might find it very worthwhile to find a simple dual or triple enhancing IO.

If you take a look at a power like Mass Confusion where a standard slotting might look like 2 confuse/2 accuracy/2 recharge. With level 50 SO's that's a 66.6% enhancement to each aspect. Level 50 generic IO's off 83.32% enhancement to each. For Mass Confusion, that translates to a 13 second faster recharge, a 6 second longer duration, and an additional 10% accuracy.

Now, if you decide to go a bit deeper and franken-slot you can easily surpass the bonuses given by SO's with just 4 slots. Using the triple enhancement from the 4 common confusion sets (leaving out the purple set), you get enhancement values of 76.48%; that shaves 12 seconds off of recharge, adds 3 seconds to the duration, and give you and extra 5.9% accuracy with only 4 slots. Even if you don't start chasing set bonuses, simple frankenslotting can let you spare some slots for things you may not have been able to enhance before.

It's still not clear what you're saying. How does a TA help tank the big four?

To make things a little clearer, what you're looking at is actually a power possessed by Animated Stone called Resistance. If you could somehow slot Resistance it would ignore the enhancements. Animated Stone itself will not ignore buffs provided by you or by others.

I'm curious as to how a Earth/Cold with Aid Other would fair. With Cold's shields and Arctic Air you could beef up his defense a bit and top off his resistance to cold/fire/energy. His weak point in smashing/lethal would still be open though. However, Cold does have a regen debuff comparable to Therm's and can help with endurance maintenance with Heat Loss. Heck, maybe Frostwork could even be handy.

This is often stated though I've always felt it applied more to AoE damage. Illusion pets attack more targets, Mind has a decent AoE attack with Terrify, and Fire is simply damage focused. When it comes time to focus on a single tough target, I'm not surprised to find that Stony contributes a good bit of damage, more so than what you would get with Levitate.

I propose that if you're going to continue to make this argument you should perhaps document the errors present within Mid's and post them. There are occasionally errors, but the team working on it does a fine job correcting them when they are informed. Please put some substance to your claim.

Having the "essential" powers in no way makes a player competent. Transversely, a player is not incompetent for skipping them. Nor are they necessarily gimped. They are only gimped in the role that you want them to play, while they may very well excel at other tasks. For example, that /kin without speedboost and ID could have spent the powerslots picking up more personal defense that allows him or her to stand up against AV's. If you want a buffer then ask for a buffer when you recruit. Now, if someone intentionally misleads you... boot them by all means. If you're misled by your own assumptions though, that's your fault.

Additionally, if a team is having trouble, it's usually not the failing of one person that did or didn't take a power. It's happening in the way people are playing together. Did the tank not gather aggro? Did the controller not control? Did the scraps fall into scrapper lock and leave their squishy teammates behind? Did the blasters not wait for the aggro to be grabbed? I suspect that the problems with the team went far beyond a single player with a sub-optimal build for the task.

I agree completely. I'd actually favor Flash Arrow much more over either Entangling or Glue Arrow for its tactical applications.

I thought he was saying he doesn't speak the language of FF defenders. In that case, "No hablo" would be correct.

Anyway, I can understand booting someone if you put the call out for a buffer and they responded to it, but came with no buffs. Then they intentionally misled you. That deserves a boot. Otherwise, you're just making assumptions about what they can and should do. As long as they're making a meaningful contribution like soaking up the alpha and blasting away then they're still good in my book.

Repel has been suggested three times previously. I remember using it on the first controller I ever rolled. God, that was ugly. A grav/kin.

If you're going to crush my dreams, at least tell us something is being done to spruce up Gravity.

I always find it extremely odd when someone professes a liking for /empath on a solo controller. For the first 32 levels you have no one to buff and only two powers that affect yourself. Though I have to admit I've never seen a buffed up pet in action. Is it really worth it though?

On the other hand, I have played a few solo FF'ers. Admittedly, it did suck for a while and one could definitely say that Forcefields has fewer notable powers than Empathy.

I actually brought out my ill/kin today for a spin too. It's been at 50 for a while, my first in fact. So I did a respec and started working out some sets so I can reach near perma-PA. Changed over to the Fire Epic from the Psi epic too.

I'm not sure how I managed to play it before. I seem to recall a lot of going nuts with FS after dropping PA. Really, it feels a bit like playing a dom to me.

It was also animated by Shaft so I can dig it. Keep an eye for when the other seasons get released. I think its on its third or fourth now.