1601

Oh good, it’s not just me that keeps getting Black Widow melee drops. I have three stilettos and a couple of body armor that all focus on melee. But I also got the Anti-Metal Ammo which is pretty awesome for ranged, so it all evens out. Got to 52 just before the patch today, and I gotta say her SHIELD air strike ultimate is one of the coolest effects I’ve seen so far.

Agreed on those first three powers, but I’m not a big fan of Timed Explosive. I assume you’re looking at the taunt aspect of it, not the damage? I haven’t noticed the taunt really doing much in boss fights, and against anything else I don’t really need the distraction since it’s all dead pretty fast anyway. Maybe it’ll be better in level 60 content, but in the 50s nothing much can kill me other than a charging Rhino that I don’t see due to all the effect spam.

Haven’t ventured into those forums; one of the nice things about QT3 is not needing to go to individual game forums as much. I suppose it’s a good sign that you have both people who love the character and those that don’t; tells me that she’s got a unique playstyle that appeals to some but not all, and in a game like MH where each character needs to stand out, that’s a good thing.

1602

Not sure what they’re doing, but they just went down to patch and the build I use has been nerfed in damage, meaning there’s even more focus on group utility (because she’s already low damage, so why the hell else would you bring her along?)

Not liking this direction at all. :/

It’s worth pointing out that mechanically the only way to get reasonable damage from her is to use her native mechanics to avoid having to use basic powers (so that you can load up gear for damage to help make things up). It’s an interesting play style, but it’s very rotationally heavy compared to pretty much everyone I’ve played previously… (Invis every 4 sec or so, use the mana regen AE every time it’s up, etc… since they’re all needed to regen spirit).

Asking players to play with this much attentiveness for middle of the road or worse performance just seems very odd. And note that this particular play style is completely orthogonal to raid utility. (Stuff like her force dome requires stacking duration and eats the focus that you’d otherwise use for invis to pump mana regen. And of course if you’re the raid shielder you’re going to be sitting outside of much of anything popping your AE spirit regen and throwing up domes, because you’re FAR more useful doing that than you are doing crappy damage. Especially when you’re giving everyone else 120 spirit per second. That’s right, a maxxed cascading wave gives the equivalent of a full perfect roll spirit regen artifact to EVERYONE nearby.)

I think they really want to make an MMO style raid with class interlocking, and I think they also have no clue how to do it. Poor IW is the guinea pig while they figure it out I guess. :/

1603

I take it back about Timed Explosive. I had been doing Midtown and some story missions, but today I did a Red Doom terminal and Timed Explosive saved my butt. I think previously I’d been putting it too far away or something, because the bosses had been mostly ignoring it. But this time I must have done a better job placing it because Doom spent a lot of time standing over it glaring menacingly, while Natasha shot him in the back. Well worth 1 point for such situations.

1604

Mouselock, I gather the changes were a direct result of fixing incorrect tuning tags. I don’t understand why those continually get screwed up, but that’s what they are saying. They are clearly still tinkering with her too.

Bob, glad to hear it. I got Timed Detonation on a grant earlier and tried using it for the bonus damage on Coup, but it seemed like much of the time the stun didn’t affect mobs or the duration was extremely short. I definitely want to max red room reflexes, widow’s kiss, rolling grenades, CdG, but not sure what else just yet. Considering one of the melee skills, like sweeping kick for the knockdown or Deadly Blade for the bleed.

1605

Right now my Natasha is 54 and running maxed Red Room Reflexes, Coup de Grace, Kevlar Reinforced Bodysuit, Twilight Cloaking Device, and Rolling Grenades. She’s got one point each in Timed Explosive, Widow’s Kiss, Silent Killer, and Anti-Personnel Grenades, and whatever is left in Snap Shot. I find APG to be handy in getting that stun for the bonus damage on Coup. My standard attack chain on something big (say, a yellow Sentinel) is to toss a couple of Rolling Grenades, throw APG to stun, and Coup for the big damage. I’ve seen numbers as high as 200k float up off the Coup on a crit, although usually it’s in the 5 digits. If the thing is still standing, throw more grenades and/or shoot it with Snap Shot. Occasionally I’ll throw in Widow’s Kiss also in order to reduce incoming damage, but mostly that’s only necessary on actual bosses. Unfortunately the stun doesn’t seem to affect bosses as much, but I’ll still try the same chain when it looks safe…say, after popping the cloaking device.

1606

I really like the game (obviously since I’ve spent so much money/time on it) but sometimes I really wish it was a bit ‘cleaner’ and less busy. Combat is just a mess of crap on the screen and you rarely can see or enjoy what you’re doing. This is an area where I think other ARPG’s have a leg up. I know they are pushing the crazy, amazing, loot and damage explosions! I just think I’d much prefer a more concise and cleaner version. Raids are going to be a cluster fuck of random button mashing imo.

1607

Apparently the damage has gone up on Timed Explosive. You might take a look compared to APG. I will probably end up using her slot 2 unique for the grant to the Kevlar armor passive, freeing up points for something else.

1608

Saw this and thought, well, that’s great if you have the slot 2 unique. Lo and behold, what should drop during my last trip through Midtown before the event ends but that very unique…2 of them, actually. When my Natasha hits 60 (probably in the next event, whenever that is) and I respec her, I won’t need to put anything in that passive. Good idea!

Thus ends the great 10-month anniversary event. When it started, I had a level 58 Storm and a 20-something Wolverine. At the end, I have three 60s: Storm, Wolvie, and Thing. Plus Black Widow at 58. And all those donation items got my crafter to 20 and enchanter to 16. Clearly I played way too much over the last week, but I figure if you’re going to overindulge, you might as well do it when they’re giving you free stuff.

Loved the event, but I must say this game is in the same zone as the Steam sale cycle for me. Why play/buy when there’s no event on, when you can just wait a bit for the next event/sale and play/buy then? Anyway, it’s been fun, and I’m sure in a few weeks there will be another one.

1609

But there is an event on! It’s Rune Week - the ten-at-once event and Rune Week overlapped some, that’s all.

1610

What level should you get your crafter to before it gets to be a better idea to level up the enchanter? Or am I going about it all wrong from the start?

1611

Nice, Bob. I hadn’t worked on Gambit during the event, because I needed more uniques on other characters, but decided to finish my second prestige up last night. Lo and behold, I get my first slot 3 unique drop off a trash mob in Midtown while doing LQs. Lousy roll, but hey, it’s something. Also randomed another costume and got Mr. Fix-it for Hulk, which I just got as my freebie when I bought Original Widow during the BOGO. Oh well.

I have so many characters to work on at the moment. My next Gambit prestige is a weird one: street sweep, ace of spades, and Fold 'Em. I put those together because they are all linear and energy. The one after that will be a PBAOE build with Bo Vault, House of Cards, and Grand Slam, which should be a lot of fun.

Ive got a ton of low-mid level characters eight now. I’ve had a great time with Black Widow so far. Hawkeye started out terribly weak, but everyone says he becomes a beast later on. Doc Strange is not my speed at all, but looks cool (I think I came up with a build I can use for him, but he’s never going to be an optimal character for me). Emma has been fun, but not in Widow territory. IW I enjoyed in the first 20 levels, but damn if Widow’s stealth mechanic isn’t much more fun to play. Still, I want to keep working on IW because of her group utility. Human Torch…not really my cup of tea, but effective. Ms Marvel and Jean…I can’t really find a build for either that I like (should have spent more time with Ms M while retcons were free). And I’ve got about 600 splinters too. I’m planning to buy Wolverine, since he’s getting his review this month and I have two costumes for him. Also thinking of Rocket, Cap, and Black Panther.

1612

I’d say get the crafter to 16-18 then the enchanter to 16, then go back to crafter, then enchanter. Everything except Runewords is unlocked by 16 on the enchanter and most of the crafter stuff post 18 is not going to help you until you are very far along and rolling in dough.

1613

Certainly reasonable, though you might consider getting the enchanter up to 5 first. Brigand’s Fortune is a phenomenal runeword that is good for any character and uses runes that are relatively easy to get. At the very least, get your enchanter to level 1 to make Seer’s Brilliance.

1614

Hawkeye started out terribly weak, but everyone says he becomes a beast later on.

I hope so. He was my starter character, and I’ve still only gotten him to level 35. For me so far, seems to be the weakest character I’ve played so far. Add to that he seems to roll all of 3 feet, and its fairly painful to play him. Hawkeye’s start tech arrow is fun, but beyond that…

IW I enjoyed in the first 20 levels, but damn if Widow’s stealth mechanic isn’t much more fun to play.

Fairly disappointed in her. She does seem fairly weak overall, and she has the worst model in the game I think. Hopefully group mechanics will pay off more later if they add raids and such, but right now, damage in modes like x-def seems more important, both area and single target.

Ms Marvel and Jean…I can’t really find a build for either that I like

It took me along time to get into Ms Marvel, but love her now. Once she gets crashdown strike, I enjoyed her a lot more, but thats very deep into her levelling.

I need to investigate Black Widow more. I’ve played her a bit, but still haven’t clicked yet. Mostly using grenades and her ‘machine gun’ type dart attack. I’d love to find some attacks that make her more mobile.

Finishing up the Captain now, a few more levels to 60. Really gotten into a good rotation with him of airborne assaulting into a group, torqued shield throw to clear more, then vibraneum bash and shield throws for whatever is left (not much). I’ve found him very durable, even without using his indestructible shield power a lot, and his damage surprised me. Cap is fun in x-def too, as he’s able to help clear the mob waves, focus on bosses, and makes everyone attack really fast and hard.

Wish I had more Odin marks though, gotten spoiled with having legendaries on the characters I’m levelling because of the odin mark chests from eggs. I have four characters with legendaries now, but haven’t spent any marks on legendaries.

1615

Got DD to 50, he was fun but I think I can mark him off as a potential main. Got Thor to 50 as well, not my style but holy hell is he powerful. Tremendous sustain too.

Think my main is between Spidey, BP and Colossus now. BP confuses me sometimes on how to itemize since he has such an odd mix of phys/energy/melee/area/range/etc.

1616

His uniques are very strong and I think they make a big difference in his case.

Fairly disappointed in her. She does seem fairly weak overall, and she has the worst model in the game I think. Hopefully group mechanics will pay off more later if they add raids and such, but right now, damage in modes like x-def seems more important, both area and single target.

I don’t know the technical details, but apparently they reskinned her old model, which had some limitations. Not clear why they chose to do that, but apparently it accounts for the oddness like her neck being overly long.

Yeah, I don’t have Crashdown Strike yet. I had been hoping to play her as a ranged character, but I don’t like Photonic wave. I just need to go back to the drawing board with her and look at a more melee build or something movement based. In her case I really wish they would make one of the passives into a Photonic ability that let’s you spend her energy on whatever you want whenever you want. I do not like the fact you can use certain powers whenever you wish but that if your bar is full the energy is automatically spent.

Changed my build up some on BW. Now rocking Widow’s Kiss, Timed Explosion, Remote Detonation, Coup de Grace, and Sweepkick.

Finishing up the Captain now, a few more levels to 60. Really gotten into a good rotation with him of airborne assaulting into a group, torqued shield throw to clear more, then vibraneum bash and shield throws for whatever is left (not much). I’ve found him very durable, even without using his indestructible shield power a lot, and his damage surprised me. Cap is fun in x-def too, as he’s able to help clear the mob waves, focus on bosses, and makes everyone attack really fast and hard.

Wish I had more Odin marks though, gotten spoiled with having legendaries on the characters I’m levelling because of the odin mark chests from eggs. I have four characters with legendaries now, but haven’t spent any marks on legendaries.

I was looking at Cap’s trees the other day after playing Taskmaster. He looks really cool. Some people on the forums are complaining he needs some passive health regen.

I like Thor. He’s fun. Haven’t played BP, but would gearing for unaware target damage work with him? That is, do his summons pull enough attention off you?

1617

I was looking at Cap’s trees the other day after playing Taskmaster. He looks really cool. Some people on the forums are complaining he needs some passive health regen.

I saw the thread, but didn’t read it a lot. Cap seems fairly tough in x-def to me, and in general. Its entirely possible that I got lucky with the uniques he’s wearing, but I haven’t really tried that much to optimize him. He’s just a fun character for me to play through, not a main I want to cosmic with. Still though, Cap has pretty high defense without really trying, and seems to last in the ‘pocket’ in x-def a lot more then most of my other characters beyond Ms Marvel.

I do think its funny that Ms. Marvel seems to have the best health regen in the game though, more so then Deadpool or Wolverine. I never really read anything with Ms. Marvel, but I don’t recall her as anything beyond really tough in the comics (no health regen).

1618

I ended up turning down some of the effects and it helped a bit. Sometimes it really is hard to tell what is going on and locate some of the bosses in groups. One thing that they really need is a loot filter. I’d love to be able to set it not to display white or green items.

1619

My regen on Ghost Rider is about 40k standing in an Inferno. I misspoke before when I said I had about 600 splinters. I’m actually over 800 now. Still haven’t decided.

I hear you re: cosmics. I’ve had a number of characters I had a lot of fun with that just don’t work well in cosmics for me for various reasons (e.g. Moon Knight). My “best” character in cosmics is GR, but I hate his personality. I haven’t tried Colossus since they boosted melee damage, but changing up some gear he might be pretty good. I haven’t tried with Iron Man since I changed his build up a while back, but he should be pretty good. I can definitely do ok with Gambit once I’m done prestiging him and get his gear/build settled but not sure how tedious/slow he’ll be. Black Widow SHOULD be rather good, once I get her geared out. I might have to give Deadpool’s axe legendary to her.

1620

BP seemed pretty good on cosmics. The only issue was bad affix combos on the bosses. (Mortar + Beetle Hord with all the associated poison clouds + the cosmic circles). It’s a general “Sucks to be melee problem” though, of course, since way too many affixes require relocating from where you are right now, and that just neuters melee compared to range. (Mortars are particularly egregious since they take so long to hit that it’s hard for me to time them precisely, which leads to huge amounts of time off the boss.)