Linea

Tuesday at 11:20 PM

tldr: We all do crazy things sometimes, particularly when it comes to concept builds. If it's FUN for you, do it.

I build Extremely Heavy Armor builds. Many tanks have less armor than one of my average squishy builds. Each player has to adapt the build or the idea accordingly. The average player will in general be better off emphasizing less armor, more AoE and/or Proc based Offensive Builds. There are other builders that specialize in that direction.
I build a build as a whole. I typically do not slot powers, I slot builds. It's a completely different way of thinking.
As a relatively new player, you can completely skip IOs for now, and just use SOs and the Upgrade Button. Get a feel for things first.
If you want an easy introduction, I'd recommend
- Sentinels - These are probably one of the best picks for getting a feel for the game in safety. Rad/Rad Sentinel might be a good pick for you.
- FF/ Defender - If you want Sentinel Like, a little more complicated, and adds buffs for the team while still being pretty safe to learn on.
- Huntsman - Soldier/Bane with mostly rifle attacks. This also adds team buffs and debuffs, and is the next pick for safety and ease of use. You can bring one of these to Atlas at level one and still be a hero. (I haven't done this recently, so I'm not sure of the mechanics, or if you'd have to pop through an SG base and/or Pocket D to accomplish it)
- Masterminds - I probably should have mentioned this too. You let the pets take the hit, while you primarily act as a defender. This is another fairly safe learning environment, not as safe as above, but pretty safe, and masterminds excel on simple SO builds. You can also make these as heroes, and I'm pretty sure you can start directly in Atlas now without needing to travel or change alignment.

Scorpion Armor is a major keystone to sealing up defenses.
Rune/Hybrid Melee T4 +Resist/Rune/Demonic ... Rune/Hybrid/Rune/ ... gap: Is very effective.
Rune can be used reactively as well as proactively.
Rune's recharge is fixed, you can't change it nor enhance it.
Even if you do your job right, people WILL need at least minimal healing. But minimal is usually enough.
I would agree, Res and Fallout are less useful in PUGs. I generally just use the temp Res power. Counter, Faithful Fans of Fallout teams are a blast with everyone nuking and dieing in rotation. It's hilariously fun. But those teams are almost non-existent these days.
No clue why in picked which power now, but I frequently pick at least one fast recharge power if the build feels awkward. If it doesn't feel awkward, I pick the higher DPS power regardless of recharge. That build is an Alpha build, there could be plenty of things in it that need changing. It's also ancient and the game is very different now, including many revisions to the powers themselves.
Snipes are a major DPS boost, particularly if you are running tactics.
I bind Aim to Key-Press and Attacks to Key-Release so that I never have to purposefully press it unless I want to. But also skip Aim entirely sometimes.
Powers Exemp to Power_Taken_Level - 5.
- Sets Exemp if the Power Exemps, AND:
  - Sets Exemp to IO level -3, except: PvPs, Purples, and Attuned always Exemp to the minimum level of the set -3. That's 7 for PvPs, not sure what it is for purples, but probably 7. For other sets you have to look it up.
    - IO Enhanement Values ARE modified by Exemp Level. Mostly this doesn't change much till you get below 30, and doesnt' change drastically till you get below 20. You'd have to see if the Wiki still has an article on the math for that, it's very complicated.
Slotting level does not matter, only Power_Taken_Level and IO Level.
6-Slotting 49 on respec is a feature.
You can trust mids numbers the least, You can not always trust what the in-game numbers tell you either, they are generally only estimates.
The only source that is 99.9% accurate is City of Data 2.0 ... and then you have to do the math part yourself.
If CoD says 2 seconds, that should be accurate. However, It also says "Stacking by Caster" and "Replaces Effect".
- You also have to account for Purple Patch and Resistances. But that's still about 3 seconds out of the box. If you want maximum effect, given the 50/50 odds, then yeah, 8 or 9 seconds would be good. But I'd also put a lockdown proc in it.
If you want perma anything, you almost always need hasten. Also max recharge is around 400%. I'd have to look that up again.
- Perma-Hasten and Perma-AM are probably both around 165 Global Recharge, and that's not going to happen without both.
As with Aim, I'd use binds to alternate Hasten and AM, so that I don't have to think about them too much.
- But I also do some very advanced bindings that I would absolutely NOT recommend to a new player, nor most veteran players.
Defense Slotting is entirely doable. However, once you get into the 30s and higher, tactics and similar buffs take over and tend to make it obsolete. It will extremely rare to run into a higher level team that actually needs defense debuffs. But I also built a Petless MM and soloed a +4x8 ITF with her. We all do crazy things sometimes, particularly when it comes to concept builds. If it's fun, do it.

Monday at 07:22 PM

Updated build on the more costly end.

AR Nin Sent- Mind Hunter IO 2f+ - [i28].mbd

Monday at 03:44 PM

On 4/28/2024 at 12:17 AM, One IV All said:

I still haven’t ran an SR Tanker yet, but I know @Linea talked about how amazing it is if piloted correctly.

tldr: I also said it's incredibly hard to drive at that level. Other sets can be trivially easy to drive and almost as good.

Context: standard content rates about 1, incarnate content 3, and official hard-mode stops at about 7. Which either translates as all (tank) the armors sets or half the armor sets. It's not an accident that it's balanced on that break-point.

I think I rated SR as a 13, but was only able to achieve that level of success 1 out of 13 tests, and failed miserably the other 12 times. I know it's doable. I've done it. I've seen others do it better. But it's the very rare pilot that can manage it. As I recall SD was 12, but most pilots barely build SD's durability above a 2 or 3, instead preferring offense. Inv, Stone, and similar topped out around 10 or 11. The various resist sets topped out in the 6-7 range. But don't knock the resist sets in a team environment. If a resist set gets defense buffs from the team, they can effectively walk around all day as perma double T9 equivalent. Acquiring a similar level of resists buffs is less common.

April 26

1. Detention Field. After that they all have uses, it's just a matter of preference. At a minimum you want Deflection, Insulation, and Dispersion. I'd add Damping to that list as well. You could be selfish and only go with Dispersion and Damping and effectively be a Sentinel, but you may have issues with other players (expectations and attitudes) in teams.

2. Any. Water is one I'd recommend. FF/Water makes a powerful solo-able combo.

3. yes definitely, and you should.

The main questions you need to answers are:

4. MRA or SLEFC type defense. MRA will block all but the non-vectors Psi attacks, but only at standard soft-cap. SLEFC leaves more holes, but can reach Incarnate soft-cap Levels.

5. Dark (Full Offense), Soul (Offense/Buffs), or Power (All Buffs). Many Hard Mode teams will want one of the latter two, where the first is best for soloing and standard teams.

Attached are some older builds, NOT UPDATED for Damping Bubble Changes, NOR the other -RES changes, NOR the Dark Soul Transfer Changes.

But they can still give you some ideas to start with, then adjust for the more recent updates and changes.

FF Water - Budget Build 2 - [i26].mxd

FF Water Dark - Soul Drain - Overwatch 1 - [i25].mxd

FF Water Soul - Heavy Support 57-74 - Overwatch 1 - [i25].mxd

FF Water Soul Def - Heavy Support - ITF MRA 2c - [i27].mxd

FF Water Soul Def - Heavy Support - ITF SLE 2b - [i27].mxd

April 25

This is a conversion of Hornet to Stalker. The 801 builds are intended as extremely heavy armor for soloing Hard Mode and Equivalent Content. Most players will prefer offensive oriented builds instead.

I recommend EnM/Ena on Scrapper instead of Stalker, and Recommend StJ/Ena on stalker instead

StJ Ena ShadowMeld Stalker - 801 - Recharge-T9 ver 1c - [i25].mxd

StJ Ena WaterSpout Stalker - Alpha T3 - [i25].mxd

EnM Ena ShadowMeld Stalker - 801 - Recharge-T9 ver 1c - [i25].mxd

April 24

Here is a less expensive variant of the above build.

Rad Rad Scorpion Defender - Alpha 0 - [i25].mbd

April 24

1 hour ago, PhotriusPyrelus said:

my debuffs don't seem to matter at all

Appearance is the issue here. Trust me, those debuffs matter. Even if you join me running Hornet and manage to pull a duo in an 801, where I might look like a god and you a squishy grape. Even then, your debuffs 110% matter. I can't count the number of times a crucial buffer or debuffer "felt" like they weren't contributing, quit, and then the whole team falls apart, or at the very least slows down to half-speed. Defenders absolutely matter. There are some defenders (and corruptors) that I personally know, that when they join the team, I automatically add another Star to the (Hard Mode) difficulty level. I rarely do that for other ATs. A top of the line tank maybe, and even then I would normally want TWO top of the line tanks before I added that Star that the defender automatically adds by themselves.

Because of the crazy multipliers and rules, a Rad Emm just showing up to Hard Mode can add something between 180 and 800 raw dps equivalent to the team when taking out the big AVs and GMs. A pair of them do this even better and more reliably. Is it "needed"? Sometimes yeah. Is it helpful, ALWAYS! But it's not big and flashy, no.

In standard teams, build your own armor up some, then build more toward offense and AoE. The average PI Council Farm is a Paper Tiger carrying a Glass Blunderbuss.

Attached below is an ancient fully armored SLEFC build. It's not cheap, but you can also apply roughly the same IOs to many builds.

Rad Rad Scorpion Defender - Alpha 1 - [i25].mxd

April 19

On 4/13/2024 at 5:21 AM, nihilii said:

That being said, I find it tough to break even just 300 DPS on a Fortunata ...

I'd love to see @nihilii's Psy/Nin/Psy Sentinel.

That tracks with my experience, and is why my main Fort was a Melee Fort. The Sentinel could be cheaper to build too. I find Fortunata's almost always want the most expensive builds possible.

April 18

TLDR: Mid-Range Cost build for standard content without undue weaknesses to Psionics.

This is a concept build, intended for hunting Psionics.

This is what happens when you mix concept, role playing, and power gaming all in one.

No-FX: I really like the No-FX options, and I love the look of the AR on the shoulder.

Cost: It was also intended to be lower cost, and it is compared to my average build cost, but it's also higher cost than what I consider low-cost. The low cost was in direct competition to meeting my minimum benchmarks. I (almost) always lean toward Armor benchmarks.

Damage: It's a sentinel. The defender version gets damage multipliers and a snipe, most likely making it's ST damage roughly equal. AoE, the defender gets less damage per target, but more targets, and slightly better recharge, again making them mostly equal but different mechanisms. This is NOT an Armored Blaster.

Alternatives:

Defender: The above mentioned defender, but it costs the same or more and relies on APP powers and above. If it were not for the desire to have lower level performance, and reasonable costs, I would have probably picked the Defender. You can even scale the defender performance to cost much more easily, both directions. But I wanted straight up simple damage with a simple build and lower costs. Sure I ended up mid-range costs, but still, close enough to the intent, and I don't do many Sentinels.
Ranged Fortunata: Fort is another alternative, and perhaps the best alternative, but it requires a full Tier 4 IO build at considerably higher costs, and it's not an AR.
Other: I looked at another dozen or so builds, including Armored Blasters, but none really fit what I was looking for, either Conceptually, or in Armor, or Psionic Armor aspects. I blame the Concept Build aspect. 😜

I'll eventually respec into the AoE build, as this is intended for normal standard play on normal standard teams where everything is dead in 3 seconds and your best bet is AoE and more AoE. But the other build might be a bit more solo friendly, so who knows which one I'll keep or if I'll end up with another build entirely. It may or may not be possible to put more resources into the build to push up recharge and try to create an 801 capable variant, but I'm not currently sure if that would be possible or not.

AR Nin Sent- Mind Hunter IO 2d - [i28].mbd AR Nin Sent- Mind Hunter IO 2e+ - [i28].mbd

April 12

I have Tier-4 FF/DP/Souldrain listed as 234 dps. Water should be at least that good, and should be better. Looking over the data I do have, I would expect it to fall into the 250 dps category. 250 is effectively the minimum required dps to take on most +4 AVs.

If for some reason you fall short of that you should still pass the +3 AV test, although to spawn a +3 AV frequently requires setting the difficulty to +2.

April 12

The Corruptor offensive advantage is strongest from level 20 to 41, or when teamed with significant +damage buffs. Once you get to 50+3 with full Tier 4 Incarnates, assuming mirrored builds, the offensive difference falls into the +/- 5% range while solo. That small damage gap does increase while teamed due to the -damage debuff* defenders suffer while on a team. Meanwhile the Defender builds are much easier to build and much more flexible overall. On the negative side, most people do not build the Defender the way they would build the Corruptor, which in turn creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of Defender inferiority. Lastly, don't forget FF now has , at least some, debuffs.

* Losing a buff is the same as being debuffed.

April 12

This is the closest I'd have.

You'll have to adjust the build for recent changes.
I expect this version could manage a solo +4x8 ITF. However, it may need to use Daggers and/or inspirations and/or Lore Pets to kill the AVs.
On the other hand it should be nearly as durable as many tanks you'll come across in the wilds.

FF Water Dark - Soul Drain - Overwatch 1 - [i25].mxd

Context: All of my builds solo a +4x8 ITF as proof of concept, but most of those only do so once and only once, and I'm not at all averse to using Inspirations and Lore Pets, nor any other resources as needed. Even the "almost"-petless MM soloed a +4x8 ITF, but used Lore (Hence the "almost") and Inspirations as needed.

April 4

To continue further down this path ...

April 2

This subject comes up from time to time. "I'm a tank and I have better stats than you, how do you not die?"

The short answer is that Angel plays 4 dimensional chess. So long as she doesn't blink AND doesn't make even one tiny mistake, she lives.

I thought maybe graphing stats over time would help, but, ... The analysis didn't turn out well. It's such a complex question. You'd really need a couple dozen of these, and I don't have that many dozen free hours, so you get one.

March 28

I tickled his toes, but I don't think I hurt a hair on his head. Then that Meanus almost killed me once too! Then the I got kicked out back to the entrance. Does that mean I was doing so little damage to him the level decided I was "idle" and kicked me out? *chuckles*

March 26

I've soloed +10 regular mobs, but I think a +10 Giant Monster is out of my league. 😜

This should be a blast!

March 20

I would recommend Bopper Builds, and a few others. You will most likely NOT want one of my builds, as they are primarily built for Soloing the equivalent of Hard-Mode.

Here's what sitting in my archive ...

Time DP - Kiski - STF SLE Malfactor 2 - [i25].mxd Time DP - Quarterback 2d - [i25].mxd Time DP - Kiski - Sorcery 4i-b - [i25].mxd Time DP - Bopper Proccer 1 - [i26].mxd Time Dp Power - Bopper 1 - [i26].mxd Time Dp Soul - Bopper 2 - [i26].mxd Time DP Defender - Dahkness 4-Star ITF v4 - [i27].mxd Time DP - Kiski - HMITF Dark 4i-e - [i27.5].mxd Time DP Defender - Dahkness HMITF v7 - [i27].mxd

March 11

On 3/8/2024 at 12:14 AM, Ultimo said:

The idea is that each mission should become harder and harder, and I wanted to figure out what power sets are the most difficult to fight against. It might depend on the class of the character, but in general terms, what are the four most difficult to fight power sets?

tldr: Primarily, just be careful and conservative in what you add until you find the balance you want.

+4x8 MOSTLY, but not always, as each map has it's own definitions. But MOSTLY, the maps will spawn ... 2-4 Bosses, 4-6 Lts, 8-12 Minions.
MOSTLY, but not always, they spawn as: Random Starting Index, then Linear. so make sure to use random placement, and account for that.
Use a large enough pool of mobs that you don't get too much overlap, if any, in the debuffs. If you make 4 mobs, and 1 is a debuffer, you'll end up with at least 4 debuffers in that +4x8 spawn, and frequently twice that, and if two or three spawns are close together, 6 or 10 times that ... it'll get out of control very very quickly.
Typically limit debuffs to only 1 mob, but preferably not a minion. Even Lts trend toward dying to easily. A mix of one Lt, one Boss often works well. But that means you need at least 10 Lts and 10 Bosses in the pool to pick from, and only ONE in each pool that has debuffs. You also want to make sure that in the end spawn list, that any debuffers are separated by several normal mobs on both sides of the list of them. I used groups of up to 150 mobs, and a balance ratio of 1 in 4, but I was also aiming for maximum achievable challenge. I'd recommend you run some 801s, up to about 801.5 or 801.6 difficulty before you decide to put more than 1 in 10 debuffs into a mission.
Particularly avoid things like Sonic and FF ... it's very very easy to get wall to wall FF or Sonic bubbles in a +4x8 situation, and end up with something completely unplayable. But if you keep it 1 in 10, it should work out more reasonable.
That means if you wanted a /Rad Debuffer and a /FF Buffer, you'd want 20 mobs in the LT group, with 10 on each side of both, in the final spawnlist. you can manipulate the spawn list by editing the mobs, external tools, or reloading them files alphabetically.

March 1

most likely. just play around with it. I'm too busy IRL to do any play-testing. It's all just a matter of what fits for you.

I really wish they'd fix the domination issues, this is a long standing issue with other powers and sets, as well.

And maybe wiggle the endurance knob a bit from what I'm hearing.

February 27

I overlooked that. The original build that was built on the idea: Someone is always dead in hard-mode, so I was aiming for 65 ranged defense with vengeance, but also aiming for 168 global recharge. ... and this fell short of both marks.

February 26

Updated for This Afternoon's version of Mids ... and again no promises that any of this will work.

MRB 3.6.6.3, then Updated, Db Version 24.2.717

Arsenal Arsenal Dom - Foxhound 6.4c ITF - Ranged Dampener - [i27.7](1).mbd Arsenal Arsenal Dom - Malinois 1c - [i27.7].mbd

February 26

1 hour ago, captainstar said:

Why there is no IOs in the ITF version?

I just downloaded the copies from the forums and they loaded fine for me.

Maybe, Update mids again? ... This one is MRB 3.6.6.3, then Updated, Db Version 24.2.704 ... and there's another update ...
Maybe, don't load both in parallel, load them sequentially. Load one, wait till it's completely loaded, then you can load the second beside it. Double-Clicking and loading them in parallel tends to freak out one copy or the other of MRB.
After that I'm out of ideas?

And there's another update ... so I'll have to redo them again.

February 26

Updated to swap in Ice Mistrals ... no guarantees any of this will work.

Updated below...

February 25

Might as well share these here as well.

Quote

You will probably need to update your mids before downloading.
Standard Alpha First Pass Conversions, ... use with a grain of salt.
Malinois is a standard all around build
Foxhound is a more focused Ranged Defense conversion of a Hard Mode build. Tranq is a place holder for ignite in this build since I don't know what I can or can't do with ignite yet.

Updated below ...

February 11

If you're into Nature/ ... you should look up my old Fourcade builds.

Let me see if this has them in it ... Nope that was binds.

Probably one of these ... That build is at least 4? years old.

Near-Perma self damage cap while solo, and with Linea approved durability.

I likely ran it with Amps, Dampeners, and Base Buffs?

Nature Fire - Fourcade 2td - [i25].mxd

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