macskull

Hey you forgot to add my 500 15-19 rolls.

I'm happy, gives me another month to shuffle inf and enhancements around. Was a bit worried that I'd bump up against the 6-a-week limit getting the last of my things transferred, but now I don't have to worry about that.

You're missing the point - there is no "point 2" or "point 3" if the markets are merged. Everyone's dumping the supply into the same pool, and the demand is pulling out of it. There are no longer separate pools so inf gain on either side is no longer relevant.

(As an aside: okay, so let's see if we can get more people to play redside. Where will they come from? New players? Very doubtful enough new players to make a difference would come exclusively to redside at this point in the game, if they came at all. Logically, they'd be coming from blueside. How are you going to get those players to stop playing blueside and start playing redside? Even if you do manage that, that's less supply that's suddenly hitting the hero market, and I don't think anyone can argue that supply heroside is "high," either. Basically, what I'm getting at is population isn't going to change. Going Rogue might help a bit, but I'm guessing many people will abandon redside entirely because of its relatively poor market, making the situation even worse. I suppose we'll see exactly what happens when GR hits, but that's my bet unless there's something we don't know yet. Personally, I have no intention of keeping characters redside after I get a few accolades, because I'll be able to IO them faster and cheaper blueside.)

I support this request.

This bellyaching about cross-posting amuses me, because I'm pretty sure if the poster(s) hadn't obtained explicit permission to do so from a moderator, the threads in question would've been deleted by now.

Here's the deal:

Organized PvP on every server except Freedom is dead. Does it suck? Yep. Are the players to blame? Nope. Given free server transfers, and the fact that Freedom had established itself as the live PvP server well before the I13 fiasco, the options are to either get what's left of this game's PvP population to spread itself out in an effort to fill all the servers, or get what's left of this game's PvP population to consolidate in one area so there's more activity for everyone, at every level of competition, at any time of the day/week. Given those two options, I think every reasonable person can see which is preferable for the current situation. Test would be a nice place to run this, yes, but with Going Rogue looming on the horizon and so much unknown about how it's going to be tested, trying to use the test server for this event (and then having it interrupted partway through by a beta or whatever, as has happened many times to organized test PvP) isn't the best idea at this time. Transfers to and from Freedom are free until the end of February. If you have characters sitting around on any server that you want to PvP with, move them there. If you think you can have an arena-ready character leveled and IOd in a month, go ahead and see what you can do.

Regardless, the invitation is there. If you think the league being on Freedom is a slight on Protector, it's not - it's just the reality of the state of PvP in this game. If you're interested in PvP and want to broaden your horizons, so to speak, bring something over or level something.

Life as usual. PLing when I feel like actually advancing a character, getting the easier accolades now. Wandering off to play MW2 when I get bored.

OP:

It's not, really. If you decide you want your arc to be about story (and custom characters required to fit into that story) you run the risk of having anyone who's even a little bit rewards-focused ignoring your arc entirely.

Like I said before... get rid of the dam/range Posi pieces, put in the proc. You changed the slotting on the purple powers I see but you're still over the ED cap. Replace the dam pieces with dam/end. (Why would you not slot the chance for hold proc from Gravitational Anchor!?!?)

One of the goals of the changes was to reduce the performance gap between the experienced and well-built PvP build and the "so-so" build piloted by someone who hadn't really PvPd much before. While I think that it wasn't a bad goal to shoot for, it made several broad (and incorrect) assumptions about PvP in general:

* Necessity of certain builds to be competitive (ironically, with the removal of most skill required to PvP, this is actually more true than it was before I13)
* Necessity of an expensive build to compete (I PvP'd quite a bit before I13 on SOd or cheaply-IOd characters... of course I'd lose to those with better builds and more skill but that's part of the learning curve and the way MMOs with "gear" work)
* Imbalance in 1v1 situations (PvP followed, and still follows, a rock/paper/scissors balance for 1v1 situations... every build's not on equal footing relative to other builds but teaming helped or eliminated that gap entirely)
* Fights must be resolved (if a fight wasn't resolved under the old rules it meant both players were either really bad or really good, and the two builds in question were on roughly equal footing in a 1v1 situation)

Basically, it seems like the R/P/S balance that was present in 1v1 situations was considered unbalanced, so an attempt was made to put every build on equal footing (yeah, look how well that turned out). In an effort to "normalize" 1v1 PvP, they basically threw team balance and synergy out the window. I don't think many people would have a problem with the changes as implemented if they only applied to zone PvP, and options were available to restore all of the old-style mechanics. Basically... a way to keep high-end PvPers competing against each other without having to play with a dumbed-down system while doing so.

Personal opinion on the I13 changes - some were good, most weren't.

* Mez changes: good for casual zone play, bad for semi-organized (or uneven-sided) zone play and team/solo arena play
* DR: see above
* Heal decay: bad for everyone
* Travel suppression: bad for everyone (esp. teleporters)
* Base resistances: bad for everyone in its current form
* Global resists/defense in patron/epic armors: good for everyone
* DPA balancing: good idea, poor implementation - bad for everyone in its current form
* Removal of unresisted debuffs and damage - see mez changes

I've got a Nin/Storm/Soul that I dust off sometimes. Here's the build for it:

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Tsoo Nami: Level 50 Magic Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Ninjas
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Presence
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Call Genin -- HO:Nucle(A), SvgnRt-PetResDam(9), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg(9), EdctM'r-Dmg/EndRdx(11), EdctM'r-PetDef(11), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: O2 Boost -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dct'dW-Heal(5)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(7)
Level 6: Train Ninjas -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 12: Call Jounin -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-%Dam(15), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg(15), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), EdctM'r-Dmg(17), HO:Nucle(46)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Run-I(A), EndRdx-I(19)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Posi-Dam%(A), Achilles-ResDeb%(19), LdyGrey-%Dam(21), EndRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(25), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(25), P'Shift-End%(27)
Level 22: Steamy Mist -- TtmC'tng-ResDam(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(27), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(29), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(29), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), S'fstPrt-ResKB(31)
Level 24: Smoke Flash -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 26: Oni -- EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg(A), EdctM'r-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), EdctM'r-Dmg/EndRdx(34), EdctM'r-Acc/EndRdx(34), HO:Nucle(36), ExStrk-Dam%(36)
Level 28: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(33), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(36), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(50)
Level 30: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(37), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(37), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(37), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 32: Kuji In Zen -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(33)
Level 35: Tornado -- ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(A), C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(39), C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(40), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(40), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), HO:Nucle(42), FrcFbk-Rchg/EndRdx(43), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(43)
Level 41: Dark Embrace -- TtmC'tng-ResDam(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(43), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(45)
Level 44: Provoke -- Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(45), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(48), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(48), Mocking-Rchg(48), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(50)
Level 47: Combat Jumping -- Jump-I(A), Jump-I(50)
Level 49: Oppressive Gloom -- Acc-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Supremacy
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 10% Defense
• 2.5% Defense(Smashing)
• 2.5% Defense(Lethal)
• 3.13% Defense(Fire)
• 3.13% Defense(Cold)
• 1.25% Defense(Melee)
• 1.56% Defense(AoE)
• 1.8% Max End
• 3% Enhancement(Stun)
• 4% Enhancement(Heal)
• 30% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 90.4 HP (11.3%) HitPoints
• 17% JumpHeight
• 17% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 2.75%
• MezResist(Sleep) 4.4%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%
• 13.5% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery
• 20% Resistance(Smashing)
• 25% Resistance(Lethal)
• 21.3% Resistance(Fire)
• 21.3% Resistance(Cold)
• 20% Resistance(Energy)
• 20% Resistance(Negative)
• 20% Resistance(Toxic)
• 20% Resistance(Psionic)
• 5% RunSpeed

If you aren't having success with Weapon or Body, you're doing it wrong.

Just go with AR/EM. Boost Range is awesomesauce with AR's cones, and EM delivers some nice melee attacks to boost the relatively weak single-target damage of AR. Assuming you're not getting into melee range too much, the only real redraw you'll have with an AR/EM will be Build Up and Boost Range. Something like AR/Mental would get a bit more redraw as you'd be using Subdual, Psi Scream, Drain Psyche, and PSW a bit more (though it should be noted that the PBAoE nature of DP and PSW don't exactly mesh with AR's ranged cones).

Just got off test. Did 500 random rolls in the 15-19 range (all 9999 merits on Rad/EM Blaster, level 50, from I16 closed beta, which gave me 499 rolls, and then I went and did a quick Ouro flashback to get the merits for the last roll). Sorted, calculated, and figured out percentage weightings for each particular recipe and recipe type (i.e. percent of total for the Basilisk quad, Basilisk -rech, and hold recipes in general). Data is publicly viewable on Google Docs here (and yes, I've checked to ensure someone who's not signed into Google will have at least read-only access). If someone wants the original Excel file, I can provide that as well.

I have access to six or seven more level 50s on test with capped merits, so if we continue this experiment I'd be glad to help out (plus calculations for the next run will go faster since I've got the backend work on the Excel spreadsheet done).

EDIT: My data also seems to support Fulmens' hypothesis that weighting is based on individual recipes as opposed to sets, unless a sample size of 500 rolls is still to small to give meaningful results.

Also, unless there's something we haven't been told yet, I'm not sure if Ultra Mode will actually result in performance increases under SLI/Crossfire setups. I know the performance gain is negligible at the moment, but I guess it's one of those things we'll have to check out once we actually see it running on a variety of hardware.

All those powers you have the purple sets slotted in... get rid of the straight-up damage IO and replace it with the proc (replace the confuse for the contagious confusion IO from the purple set in Seeds). Otherwise you're way over ED cap and are just spending inf on useless enhancement percentages. Replace the dam/range Posi pieces with the proc as well.

As long as there is a way to communicate between players in this game, and some players remain painfully ignorant of how ridiculously easy it is to make inf in this game without resorting to RMT sites, RMT will continue.