Stealthrider

Yeah it's pretty old, lol. I've since soloed it with insps without much issue, literally just popping resist insps to deal with the autohit nictus. Pulling one proved too annoying to do. I've been trying to play without insps though so I've considered ITF to be undoable for now. Also have done ATF (without optionals) on +4 with insps and Lore (Arachnos) pets, only using the latter for the twins fight. LRSF, as I detailed in the thread, is still *almost* doable with insps/no lores. Possibly with the new Placate cooldown, it could be doable under those conditions. Still messing around with the new patch options though, so who knows what'll be in the future? Doubt I'll update the thread with a new build until it's worked out fully and put through its paces, but for now the pre-page 7 version still works just as well as previously. Better, even, but with the same limitations. Edit: Actually realized I never did post the current version of the build. NW6.5.mxd

Post page-7 update: +4/x8 LRSF still not quite doable without insps. Kronos is still potentially a multi-hour fight, though there was a noticeable increase in damage against him. Crimson, too, was faster. The crit buffs and Placate cooldown buff are huge. Not convinced Pain Tolerance is worth dropping any other power for just yet. Psy Scream is actually useful, yay! Still not amazing, but significantly better. Things I'd like to see from a future Widow update: -Endurance cost reductions. Still too end-heavy to drop Ageless when soloing hard content. Please devs, give Widows' blue bars a break! -Irresistable -regen debuff on Poison Dart. Its current debuff is a joke. Now that Mental Blast is at least somewhat of an option for a ranged set mule power that isn't totally worthless for damage (mostly due to being Psi), it'd be nice if Poison Dart had its own niche. Irresistable -regen would, selfishly, make soloing AVs much more pleasant, but would also provide an actual reason to take the power more than just as a set mule. Which would be nice. -Some more defense debuff resist somewhere. Would go a long way toward preventing feel-bad moments when -def heavy mobs cascade into making your defense worthless. Doesn't have too be much, just a bit more than what we currently have. -Some health regen somewhere. Max HP is nice, but Widows are already pretty solid at mitigating incoming damage. Recovering from that damage is another story. I take Aid Self for a reason. Boosting regen would make playing without it more pleasant. Overall, a solid update. Build's still strong, still fun.

Yeah, you definitely wouldn't have lasted long in pre-issue 14 CoH. People want Barrier because it's an easy way to guarantee that no one's build is subpar for the content they're attempting. If you want to successfully run a 4 star with any number of pugs, you want at least a handful of Barriers. Not bringing them is trusting pugs to have competent builds, which has never once been a good idea in any online video game ever made.

My dude, I've got some really bad news for you. Literally nothing in the base game, going all the way back to issue 1, was designed to be soloed. It wasn't until CoV that soloists got some love. But with all the available tools, there is nothing in the game, short of hard mode TFs (even 1-star, and for some chars 2-star, is possible) and flashback LRSF/MsLib TF old-school mode, that can't be soloed. If you're having trouble soloing, it's not the devs' fault, either Paragon or Homecoming. The tools are there, it's up to you to use them.

There's a *lot* wrong with this build, I'm sorry to say. I don't mean to be harsh, but there are some important lessons to learn here. First off, you have both Combat Training: Defensive and Foresight set to maximum effectiveness. That is to say, you don't have the resists you think you do unless you're at 1% health. Those powers provide scaling resistances. At above 75% health, they provide no bonus whatsoever. You *will* get one-shot, especially with few HP bonuses. Second off, you have Follow Up set to four stacks. *Four* stacks. That is simply not possible, and not even remotely reflective of your actual damage values. Especially with the Gaussian's proc toggled on, too. Be mindful of cooldowns and durations. Frankly, it looks like you were trying to "bullshot' your build, displaying a perfect-case scenario that is not realistic in order to "showcase" your build. If you want a proper look at your actual performance, turn all damage and scaling bonuses off, set yourself as "attacked" in configuration (to properly display things like Mask Presence's in-combat buff vs its out of combat buff), and turn off procs like Gaussian's. Third, your power selection is all over the place. Taking Maneuvers is not the worst idea, but there is no reason to stack Assault with TT: Assault. Even Maneuvers is questionable, as while you're providing extra defense for your team, your usefulness will suffer greatly. You don't have the endurance to handle it, even with Cardiac core. Combat Training: Offensive is useless. Swipe should not be slotted like a primary attack power, as it is not worth using in a rotation. Shatter Armor gives you additional redraw to worry about on top of your existing redraw, making it garbage. Web Envelope is therefore just a waste. Hasten is not perma, though you're lucky in that you managed to get Mind Link to just barely perma without it. You're lacking the important recovery uniques in Performance Shifter, Numina's Convalescence, and Panacea. The way I see this build playing out is a lot of deaths to random damage getting through, and a lot of downtime while waiting for endurance to recover. The latter problem can be addressed with Ageless, but at that point you've invested too much into your endurance issue that didn't need to be invested, and not enough elsewhere to actually make you an effective combatant. Please take a look at the several strong Night Widow build guides. There are differing opinions on how to build a Widow, but there are also a lot of things held in common. You can learn a lot from them that will help you understand Widows better.

If any effort is put into improving VEAT costumes, I'd rather it be spent finding a way to add a second VEAT costume slot.

Considering that there are low/mid level arcs that throw EBs at you (Like Roy's arc in Talos, where you have to fight the same EB three times, then *immediately* when he's done for good, another one shows up auto-aggroing on you. Try doing that on an on-level Blaster), no thanks. EBs are fine where they are.

I never use temp powers to solo anything. Or Lore pets. I only use Insps when absolutely necessary.

Been a while, but I'm back at it. Soloed the ATF at +1/x4. Only AVs I didn't kill were Emperor Requiem (ran out of time because I didn't start fighting the other AVs 'til like 25 minutes left. I was too busy taking in the deep lore), Hero One, and Incandescent. If Hero One would have actually stayed placated, I probably could've taken out Incandescent, though. Speaking of Placate, Rodney and Zoe took almost three hours, simply because I couldn't get Rodney to stay placated enough. That, plus a few badly time unlucky hit streaks, made that pair the toughest part of the ordeal. Or rather, the second toughest part. See, the first time I tried it, I had it on 1 Star difficulty. Made it all the way to Zoe without too much issue, though the Smelters and Boomers on that difficulty felt like they completely ignored my defenses. Still managed to make it, though with more deaths than I'd have liked. Was doing alright on 1 Star Zoe, too, though that run ended tragically after a handful of Boomers and Smelters started camping the mediporter, killing me over and over again as soon as I rezzed. After 20 minutes of that, I gave up and restarted on +1/x4 normal difficulty. Unfortunately, I don't have screenshots of the big fights, because I'm dumb and forgot. But I did catch the last bit of the fight against Midas on video. Figured you wouldn't want to see the entire half-hour long battle, anyway. https://imgur.com/a/ol35h6j But that's not all! Before trying the ATF, I attempted the ITF. This time it was on +3/x4. It was largely a piece of cake, right up until the second Romulus, where i realized that auto-hit negative energy damage was actually a problem. A problem I unfortunately couldn't solve. Will attempt it again at some point, when I solve that problem, but for now let it be known that yes, you can solo TFs on a Night Widow, even difficult ones.

It depends on a few things. Do you prefer to deal ranged damage or melee? Fortunata for ranged, Night Widow for melee. Do you prefer heavier team support or heavier damage? Fortunata for team support, Night Widow for damage. Do you want to solo difficult content? Technically both but Widow will have an easier time of it and a higher ceiling.

If you scroll down a bit you'll see this thread. Should provide everything you're looking for.

Here's a proven Invul/StJ build. It's mine. It's a good deal of fun to play, decent damage even with the t1 and t2 4-slotted. Decent damage for a tanker, that is. Tanks pretty much anything in the game without fear, including Psi damage in moderate doses. Get your hands on the Might of the Tanker proc ASAP. Edit: Those should be Kinetic Combats, not Smashing Haymakers. Make sure to attune those to get them to scale properly to 50. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Natural Tanker Primary Power Set: Invulnerability Secondary Power Set: Street Justice Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam(3), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(3), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(5), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(5) Level 1: Initial Strike -- SmsHym-Acc/Dmg(A), SmsHym-Dmg/EndRdx(31), SmsHym-Dmg/Rchg(33), SmsHym-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33) Level 2: Dull Pain -- DctWnd-Heal(A), DctWnd-Rchg(7), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(7), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx(40) Level 4: Heavy Blow -- SmsHym-Acc/Dmg(A), SmsHym-Dmg/EndRdx(43), SmsHym-Dmg/Rchg(43), SmsHym-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 6: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(9) Level 8: Unyielding -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam(34), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(37) Level 10: Taunt -- PrfZng-Taunt(A), PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg(11), PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(11), PrfZng-Acc/Rchg(13), PrfZng-Taunt/Rng(13), PrfZng-Dam%(15) Level 12: Resist Physical Damage -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), Ags-Psi/Status(15), ImpArm-ResPsi(17), GldArm-3defTpProc(17) Level 14: Kick -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A) Level 16: Combat Readiness -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45), GssSynFr--Build%(45) Level 18: Invincibility -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(19), LucoftheG-Rchg+(19), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(21) Level 20: Rib Cracker -- SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(A), SprGntFis-Dmg/Rchg(21), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(40) Level 22: Tough -- RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(23), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(23), RctArm-ResDam(25) Level 24: Weave -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(25), EndRdx-I(29), LucoftheG-Rchg+(46) Level 26: Tough Hide -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(27), LucoftheG-Rchg+(27) Level 28: Spinning Strike -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(29), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(40), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(42), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), PstBls-Dam%(42) Level 30: Resist Energies -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(33), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(34), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 32: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 35: Shin Breaker -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx(36), CrsImp-Dmg/Rchg(36), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50) Level 38: Crushing Uppercut -- SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(50) Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 44: Physical Perfection -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(46), PrfShf-End%(46) Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48) Level 49: Resist Elements -- ImpArm-ResPsi(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(9), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(48) Level 50: Mighty Total Core Judgement Level 50: Assault Genome Level 50: Ageless Core Invocation Level 1: Combo Level 1 Level 1: Combo Level 2 Level 1: Combo Level 3 Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Task Force Commander ------------

Gather round, children, and listen to the tale of my attempt to solo the LRSF. https://imgur.com/a/j5lzoQb <-Clicky to see if I succeeded. Warning: Long Imgur album.

So I've been spending this morning attempting to solo the LRSF, and it's been going fine...until the Ms Liberty fight. Now, this fight is an absolute cakewalk in a team, much like the entire LRSF is these days with Incarnates. But while soloing it, I've encountered several problems with the fight that make it almost impossible to complete, problems that--were Incarnates not so obscenely strong as to trivialize the fight--would undoubtedly be an issue for a normal team as well. The main issue is Ms Liberty's "For Liberty!" buff, the one that is supposed to be negated by the Orestes Rifle power. The Rifle does what it says on the tin: it negates Ms Liberty's power-up, but there's a couple of catches: 1) Ms Liberty gets to attack before her buff animation finishes, which means she gets to attack before the Rifle's draw animation finishes. That means she always gets a free, super-buffed attack off before it is even possible for the player to counter with the Rifle. 2) The For Liberty! buff's cooldown is shorter than the Rifle's, if it has a cooldown at all. I've had her re-buff several times while the Rifle was still on cooldown, making it literally impossible to deal with her insane buffed attacks. I understand that soloing TFs isn't exactly a good indicator of their issues, but in this case I would consider these significant enough issues to warrant changes. Simply increasing her buff's cast time to match or exceed the Rifle's draw time, and increasing its cooldown to match the Rifle's, would make this a much less frustrating experience. For the record, I did finally beat it after an hour plus of trying, but I got lucky: she only used the powerup once, and missed with the follow-up attack.

I love how you think .59% end/s is too much, its almost nothing. Sprint for instance takes up as much endurance as 1/2 your defensive toggles. Same with maneuvers. You just horribly slotted your char and were missing and doing no damage meaning your attacks were what used up your endurance, not your toggles. Sums up this thread nicely.