I need help. I'm a 60-year-old player. After playing the game for more than 5 years i just recently discovered what range and melee tapping means. I’ve played the game since about 6 months after it went live. My main is atomic and has 189 to 190 cr with 222 sp. My question or issue is I have a hard time learning the activate power and timing the tap or tap twice power interface. I use a laptop and mouse to play the game. I struggle to pop and maintain the QGA. I currently use the Geiger blast and beam rotation found on DCUO bloguide. I’m frustrated because I suspect my damage output should be near the top but instead its 3rd or 4th. Do all powers in DCUO have the activation tapping interface or is this limited to atomic, quantum, and mental? I ask because I’m an old fashion hack and slash player. Clipping, moving, jumping and tapping has been hard for me to get used to, not to mention master. Since I like to hack and slash, is weapon mastery an option? My preference or style of play is to use powers and play from mid-range to range. Admittedly I am a dinosaur play style wise. I gotten this far mainly playing solo and doing a lot of PUGs. Because I’m married, I frequently league hop or go prolonged periods w/o a league because I don’t have the time to develop friendships that come from prolonged play. Game play time, for me is very limited and frequently interrupted or occurs in spurts. Maybe it’s time for me to give up gaming or find a solo player game. I’m sorry, please excuse my thinking out loud. Thank you and much appreciation for your advice.
I also play on a laptop but I use a mouse + keyboard combo. I don't use the keyboard built into the laptop because that would be too cumbersome. FYI. I was confused too when I referenced the loadout on DCUOblogguide.com. Basically there are two ways to use it. Method 1: 1) Atomic Powered Assault (starts AM / power return) 2) Beta Surge > Neutron Bomb > Nuclear Burst (only fire 1x each - the actual order does not matter) 3) Finish with Geiger Blast for med or melee range. Finish with Geieger Beam for long range. Method 2: 1) Beta Surge (tap range 3x) 2) Neutron Bomb (tap range 3x) 3) Nuclear Burst (tap range 3x) -Upon completion of the 3rd range attack of the 3rd power your Quark-Gluon aura will be activated. -With all 3 powers, the third range attack can be clipped into the next power. -Once again, the order does not matter. Only that you've successfully completed all 3 powers clicking range 3x each. -If you hit Geiger Blast or Beam it will cancel your Quark-Gluon aura. Simply continue cycling through the 3 powers and tapping range 3x each. 'Round and 'round you go until you're either interrupted and have to start again or until you're done. Power will regen using both methods. 90% of the time I'm using method 1 because it hits so much harder. But method 2 does have its uses. There are times when you want to get your attacks off faster. In those cases, method 2 is the way to go. I'm not entirely confident that I answered your question completely but I hope this helps.
What Freeman said. Atomic has two Advanced Mechanics. And, while you could use the same loadout for both, they are mutually exclusive. One is a combo setup. One is a build-up-and-burst setup. For the combo, you are doing full damage when you have the aura on, and complete combos. To do the burst, on the other hand, you must forego the aura, and forego any combos, do three of the buildup powers, and then a Geiger power as the burst, without ever being knocked about. As for being the top of the scoreboard, it's situationally dependent. For instance, if you have a lot of low-health adds and short fights, Munitions and pet powers are going to have a leg up. Or, lots of widespread things to attack, Celestial will do well. And so forth. Don't worry too much about the scoreboard, so long as you know you're contributing. Make your character strong with at least beta mods for affinities, core strength, max damage, escalating might, and blast adapter white mods, wear gear for the correct role, and try to keep your skill points close to your CR. Understand your loadout. That's what matters. Make sure you're pulling your weight to complete the instance while having fun.
