Baby Steps into the Deep End

I caved in. Last night.

I downloaded Mids' Hero Designer and took a look at the funky program that's encouraging 50% of forum-goers to spew up huge chunks of unreadable text in their build posts.

(Which reminds me, I'm boggled as to why these people like to post their level 50 IO'ed builds to the forums. It's ridiculously theoretical. It'll cost them millions of influence, and their character is going to be hopelessly ineffective for the greater part of their lives until that last magical jigsaw puzzle piece clicks into place...)

One thing I'm rather enjoying with this new blaster alt is that I'm learning a whole new game system again, and seeing it with newbie-ish eyes. A over two year old game spruced up systems-wise with the addition of these Inventions.

Of course, the thing that makes me run screaming away is all those horrible numbers and math and formulae and percentages and trying to wrap my numerically-challenged brain around all of the above. Sometimes it seems too complex. Especially when I look at it from the point of view of my existing level 50s, which I am emotionally invested in, attached to, and love their current performance and efficiency.

In other words, I don't want to gimp them accidentally. And I also have the mindset that a level 50 is "done." "Complete." Taken out for a spin now and then, but why repeat excessive missions without a goal? So the impetus to understand Inventions has been rather low. Couple that with the absurd price richocheting of Wentworth's, and it has always seemed too risky.

On the other hand, a lowbie blaster alt on a server I'm not really emotionally attached to, who has started completely broke with a strong impetus to get enough influence to survive and keep leveling (and yet can obtain emergency help/supplies/teaming from a friend if in dire need) has turned out to be the perfect recipe for wading with baby steps into Invention Sets.

I think this is how the designers intended newbies to see Inventions.

A lucky arcane salvage drop or two has made Phantom Felon rich enough to afford SOs, and with a small amount of reservoir money to consider some sets.

Now some sets are automatically out because they are so hotly desired and contested that their prices run into the millions. Perhaps some people do chase them and make hundreds of millions playing the market so that they can afford these insane prices and buff out their characters to the maximum.

But that's not for me. I don't derive enjoyment that way. One colossal concrete goal of 'happiness' far off in the distance, expensively priced, is not something I would be happy with.

Conversely, I'm finding small thrills by scanning the consignment house for odd leveled set recipes going for cheap bargain prices (tens of thousands), and sitting down in real time with a hero planner open and tweaking my current build on the fly and planning slotting a few levels in advance.

It gives me an immediate goal to look forward to. And I think it's more flexible and adaptive, since one's build is designed for what works NOW, and not 30 levels in the future. *hugs two vet respecs*

Gone are the days when one just needed a 1-50 holy writ of a build to follow and slot slavishly.

Heck, these days I don't see the point of suffering through 6-10 teen levels with no powers except stamina and travel powers. Hence a lvl 20 respec to put it in as necessary, but I got to try out all the fun powers and see what works for me first.

Mids', by the way, appears to be quite the customizable godsend. It's making understanding inventions and sets and bonuses a lot more palatable in small amounts. I especially like the ability to switch between two alternate slottings, so that one can compare the difference between a standard SO slotting, and any other weird ideas provoked by low prices on the auction house.

And it helps that this blaster isn't anything more complex than (melee damage set) and (ranged damage set) and maybe (stun). Everything else, including funky slotting for uber set bonuses, is just too expensive and slot-harsh for me to consider at this point, and that simplifies things a great deal.

Honestly, I don't even understand what most of the set bonuses are doing yet. Actually calculating how much stun resistance I have will have to wait for another day, and so on.

But yesterday's playing around and getting small kicks in improving percentages over SOs, and yet getting bonuses to boot (and it'll never expire!) has done me a world of good. It's encouraged me to at least start reading Inventions guides and try to digest some of the simpler math about recharge rates and such.

I still want to end off with a bit of a rant though. I really dislike reading the umpteen posts that splash up some template designed with Mids' and that uses an exorbitant and probably impractical amount of set IOs to basically bend the character to some perceived goal of uberness. And worse, it ends off with: what do you think? Comments, advice, please.

Jeez. Look, if you had the time to play with Mids' and design some dream character, the very least you could do is annotate the damn thing so that we can understand what you're striving towards, and help I9-challenged players (me being one of them) figure out this whole Inventions deal.

And honestly, if you're fooling around with Invention sets, why are you looking for advice? A program lays out all the percentages for you already. You've obviously thought it through (...we hope.) If you're mature enough to buy IOs and test drive sets, then Daddy doesn't need to hold your hand to tell you how good you're doing and to watch out for that tree. You can jolly well make those judgements for yourself.

Slotting has become intensely personal with I9: Inventions, and quite hard to say if it's wrong or right. You just had better know that you need a certain amount of accuracy to actually hit anything, and how much damage/end/rech/fluffy poodles you are happy with is entirely up to you...

The whole exercise just strikes me as trying to brag. Oh look at my very powerful character on paper. *coughs*

Who knows, all your plans might just evaporate on contact with the enemy that is 'no money left' and the near impossibility of finding a Unique or a Proc that is a linchpin of thy build...

Okay, rant done. Now if only I can find a post on the dom forums that isn't one of the above and/or how doz I get perma-dom wif IO...

Maybe I should just type 'lolz, hav u seen teh BM pricez 4 wat u want, th1nk ag4in n00b. If u rich, u go 4head and spend or farm, dun b0ther 2 ask' every time...