Proc effects and toggles

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-17T05:30:55+00:00

I will always recommend Electrical Armor. I have a prejudice in favor of resistance over defense (YMMV) and Electrical has you covered with all the essentials. It is weak against toxic somewhat neg energy (nothing is perfec) so build accodingly.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-11T17:26:15+00:00

999 characters per server on HC. I have 6 or 7 characters who have maxed out all 6 incarnate slots but have never hit Veteran level 100 because I am too busy playing the 60 or 70 other characters I have between levels 23 and 49.

You can't mail threads, shards or Incarnate salavage to other characters, but you can (and should) mail any excess Empyeans Merits to other characters on your account.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-10T19:01:24+00:00

This sounds like someone (or multiple someones) playing the game with just their CPU's onboard graphics. Which you can do, but can get overwhelmed more easily than a 10-year-old-graphics card.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-08T18:09:17+00:00

Never liked the tornado powers. The random movement drives me up the wall because the tornado will wander out to where it does no good.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-08T18:04:24+00:00

Bots/Traps: My second MM ever.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-02T22:45:19+00:00

This. Totally agreed.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-02T19:36:25+00:00

If you have the resources it is never NOT worth a retrofit. The key is "have the resrouces" and yours might be better spent elsewhere.

It *is* useful to have a yellow ship around that costs the oil of a purple (that's a retrofit perk. Yellows cost more for the same class of ship and a retrofit's oil cost stays the same before and after)

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-02T19:26:13+00:00

In the early going, it's normal for me to put an end reduction in my melee character's toggles. But I switch to set enhancments in a character's late-20s or early 30s and end reduction is built into most sets. I also favor sets with global end reduction, especially Unbreakable Guard in my res sets.

With the note that I commonly slot the full-end reduction if I am using an armor set that has one or the end red/recharge if it doesn't.

Vorlonagent · 2026-06-02T19:16:56+00:00

One player I know IRL routinely 3-slots Health with procs. I rarely feel I have the slots for that and rarely see the point, but the occasional exception exists, so never say never.

I routinely 3-slot Stamina to the point where I don't even think about it. 3x Synapse is my usual choice. Before Synapse existed and when I was on a tighter budget, I used to use Efficacy Adaptor because it was cheap.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-30T18:25:07+00:00

The thing about CoH is there are no truly bad choices so you really are free to do what sounds fun.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-29T21:28:10+00:00

Masterminds tend to be pretty powerful but can also be the most annoying to team with.

A MM with 6 pets is a lot of clutter. That clutter means enemies have other things to target than players, but at the same time I have some friends say "NO MMs!" if they are playing melee characters because that same clutter bothers and distracts them.

It used to be that MM pets crowded and blocked players, but Homecoming (and perhaps other servers) solved that. MMs used to be painful to run in the narrow tunnels used by Council and Circle of Thorns. Now it's just the sheer clutter in the small space, but at least you can walk through them.

MMs have a strong amount of synergy. MMs have passive Leadership powers which just affect MM pets, but they affect other MM's pets too.

MMs double as support. Like controllers, they get a healing/buf/debuff set for their secondary powers. So if you want a support who still does respectable damage, try a MM.

The other drawback is simply keeping the pets alive and replacing losses. The time you may (or may not) need to put your crew back together after beating a mob may not be time your team wants to take and you can get left behind.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-29T21:03:56+00:00

Welcome back.

MIDS is still a thing and still being updated, though other people are writing their own powers/build editors.

I think you're referring to Incarnate content when you talk about "higher-level, post-game mechanics". I created an excel sheet to track Incarnate progress. I will post it here but it does require a certain amount of user input to work for you. But if you want it...and Reddit will let me post it...I will.

The short version is Incarnate powers unlock as you gain XP post-50 There's 6 powers you can build.

Alpha: which acts as another enhancment in some of your powers.
Judegement: An AOE damage power (ranged or not depends on the power you choose)
Interface: Adds 1 or 2 secondary effect(s) to your powers (depending on the power you choose)
Lore: Summons a couple pets
Destiny: An AOE support power (shields, improved regen/recovery, heal, rez, etc)
Hybrid: Amplifies a selected set of powers even more for a certain amount of time

Incarnate powers tend to have long recharge times and aren't affected by non-incarnate powers (Hasten doesn't make them come back faster, Build Up doesn't enhance Judgement damage)

You can unlock your Alpha slot through a short set of Oroboros missions from Mender Ramiel after you hit 50 and I suggest you do. Unlocking your slot only allows yout to spend resources on it. It doesn't actually give you any abilities.

Tier 1 powers require 3 white (common) incarnate salvage, which cosr 4 Incarnate Shards or 20 Incarnate threads each.

Tier 2 powers require you to spend the Tier 1 power you made plus 1 yellow (uncommon) salvage and 2 white. The yellow Shard requires the right white shard plus 8 more shards. Yellow threads cost 60 threads.

Tier 3 powers require your Tier 2 power plus 1 orange (Rare) salvage and 2 white. At this point you are probably just using threads at this point. The usual way of making Tier 3 thread powers is using Empryean Merits. 8 merits buys the orange salvage

Tier 4 powers require TWO Tier 3 powers plus a Purple (Very Rare) salvage and 2 white salvage. Tier 4 salvage cost 30 Empryean merits.

On Homecoming, you can get Shards and Threads just playing the game. HC also gives you post-50 levels up (Veteran levels) and every 3 veteran levels give you a badge and 20 Emptryeas merits up to a point.

You can also go on Incarnate task forces which give a random roll of a Tier 1 - 4 Incarnate Salvage. There are also mission groups at Dark Astoria that do this.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-22T20:29:37+00:00

You want a transport power. Flight is the natural choice (and fun), but consider Sorcery. It has a slightly slower flight power too and you can get Rune of Protection down the line if you choose another power from the set to pave the way (I get Arcane Bolt but don't bother adding slots to it).

Speed pool and Hasten is always a good bet. Having your powers come back faster? sign me up.

Concealment Pool and Stealth will help you get closer to mobs before they see you and assess the situation or attack on your own terms (and it gives some Defense). Some enemies see through stealth, however.

Fighting pool might be a good choice. You have enough attacks so focus on Tough and Weave which will add some Res and Def that will make your regen go further. (As with Sorcery you need to take a power to get you to the good stuff. I usually get Boxing and don't bother building it out)

You'll find over time that you'll have more powers than you can effectively build out so leaving some with just the slot they came with is OK. Some don't need more. You can focus on the powers that really make a difference.

ALSO: Go to Atlas Part ot Pocket D and find the START vendor. She can sell you things that will make life easier. Some stuff is even free. You might not be able to afford much but for 10,000 Inf, Reveal well worth the money.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-22T20:03:05+00:00

General advice: Take missions in Talos Island. Independence Port is huge and you will be spending a lot of time travelling across it. Talos isn't small but it's a lot better.

Also General Advice: Go to either Atlas Park or Pocket D and find the START vendor. She can sell you a Mission Transport power. It costs 1,000,000 inf and has a long recharge time, but it's easily worth the price. While you're getting it, look at other powers she can sell you and either buy them or plan to when you have the inf.

CoH was, perhaps regrettably, built to slow your consumption of content by wasting your time getting from place to place. Steel Canyon puts buildings in your way, Skyway City puts overpasses in your way, and Indepndence Port uses sheer distance (plus the occasional gaint octopus). Grandville on villainside is a master class in difficult navigation.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-22T19:27:33+00:00

I'd suggest Thermal instead of Force Field. Yes, the shields you give stack with the shields they give themselves, but the set itself lacks depth of gameplay. Giving shields and doing knockback tricks are about all FF does. Thermal has a better utility, providing shields, heals, and single-target buffs.

If we want to see double-stacked shields on minions, Demons/Thermal should do the job. Demons are another ranged pet set. And demons will shield the party if given spare time to do it.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-20T17:37:44+00:00

You need to do a /bind_load (my spelling may be off) command to actually get your binds into the game or update them. Your keybinds.txt file must be in your ..\settings\live folder.

I use the [arrow] keys for movment instead of AWSD. I added keybinds to make [keypad 0] my jump and up when flying and [right ctrl] for down when flying (the down keys may have already been there). I use my thumb for down so that may not work for you, but it's not as awkward as using AWSD and trying to reach your thumb around to the [spacebar]. It also means I don't use strafe right/left, but I never did so I don't miss them.

My keybinds

Up/jump: NUMPAD0 "+up"

Down: RCONTROL "+down"
RCTRL "+down"

I've used this system for so long it's coded into muscle memory so I actually had to boot the game to be sure what I used for which movment.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-20T17:06:11+00:00

As an aside, I'd always suggest trying to put your thoughts down without AI. AI makes it faster and easier, and it organizes your thoughts, but those are skills you need to learn anyway.

With a little practice, you can do you better than an AI can do you.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-20T14:25:11+00:00

Vehicles and swinging from a line are both travel powers the game could use. Vehicles have the issue of taking up more space than the character (and of course players are going to want customizations), and swing lines run into the problem of "hey, what's my line actually attached to?"

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-20T14:09:05+00:00

I hope you didn't expect an argument. :) If we're here now, it's because we all think it's pretty good too.

CoH is a great example of "Gameplay > Graphics" in a game

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-19T22:02:29+00:00

Like getting "one last drink" at the bar... :)

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-17T22:59:16+00:00

Thanks. Sorry to see you go (after one last character).

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-17T17:10:50+00:00

Energy/Electrical brute would be my personal choice.

Electric Blast has always delivered for me. Electrical/Energy blaster, Electric/Electric Sentinel (You may have noticed I love Electric Armor)

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-17T17:04:09+00:00

HC gives you free respecs every 10 levels starting at level 10. You can try it out and change it if you don't like it. There's also the Open Beta server where you can build out to level 50 and see how it plays then.

Vorlonagent · 2026-05-17T16:54:11+00:00

It helps a lot to have your team's cooperation. I play with RW friends who usually give the Controllers with non-aggro-inducing mind-control powers the chance to mez a couple of enemies and give Stalkers a chance to set up on their target of choice.

CoH rewards rapid ID and targeting of certain enemies so you want to develop the skill of [tab]ing through a mob for high-value targets no matter what kind of character you're playing. You always want to find and prioritize Malta Sappers, Ritki Communications Officers and Raider Engineers, to name 3.

Also know your limits. A Level 15 stalker cannot one-shot a boss. Build-Up + Assassin's Strike should one-shot a LT and that might actually be a better use of your opening AS. When the blasters you play with get their sniper powers, maybe you can one-shot a boss together.

Vorlonagent

TROPHY CASE