[What are the WORST Armor sets?]

The problem I'm seeing is:  I'm effectively agreeing with all of you.  I would say, so far, Willpower, Regen, and Fire(scrapper) are all on my list.

• Regen - If any armor should have -regen resistance, it should be regen.  IMO regen should be effectively immune to -regen.
• Willpower - Should probably have a half measure of both -endurance and -regen resistance.
• Fire - I feel subjectively I agree with this assessment, but have NO idea what I'd do to fix it.  The one thing fire has going for it is "Taunt Into Burn", and the scrapper version loses that.  But at the same time, ANY buff to /Fire on Brute or Tank would be unwarranted.

And as to the reason I'm asking the question:  So far I'm leaning toward Willpower. 

I have no desire to play Regen or Fire ever again.  I've played way to many Regens, and have never really liked fire outside of farming where I tolerate it.

[IT'S A TRAP! (Or, is it?)]

If you are going after AVs:  Web Grenade and the Trap with -Regen.  

 

Traps is a great set.  The downsides are that it's position based, strategic, and slow moving.  The average team is Perma-Super-Speeding at 90mph from one end of the mission to the other.  Perma-Super-Speed does not play well with traps.

[Making a Sorceror?]

Once upon a time, I did this with a scrapper and pool powers. 

• My most recent Psi Hunter is a Ranged Fortunata, although Melee Fortunata would have been a more optimal choice.  The downside of Fortunatas is the expense. You pretty much have to go all in, full expense, break the bank, with little room for compromise.
• If you want Staff/Psionics, then we're looking at a Scrapper or Stalker with APP, and/or Sorcery.  Given Staff's weaknesses, I'd go Stalker for Staff/. On this front /Nin is a very good Psionic Armor as well.  MRA Defense combined with Psionic Resist.
• However, we have Sentinels now.  If you want all ranged, that would be a near perfect choice.
• If you want ranged and melee, then a Dominator (Assault Sets are Ranged/Melee) or Melee Fortunata (Claws/Psionics)

 

 

[What are the WORST Armor sets?]

We always talk about the best armors.  What's are the Worst Armors?  And why?

 

[Newer player scrapper help]

Kat / EnA would be my pick.   Get the Defense Unique IOs as early as reasonable.  Divine Avalanche slotted for recharge and defense, combined with Kinetic Dampeners and reasonable sLenfc defense from EnA.  Ease in to the edge of a mob and start with DA, then watch your defense numbers, and stack DA as needed.   relatively early in life you should be able to push softcap on M/L with senfc not too far behind.   It's one of the few combinations that I completely broke in a good way. 

 

Later, Once you get enough levels and recharge to start stacking Energy Drain +Defense, you can push well over Incarnate Cap defenses.   If you push even further into the high recharge overload build, with Rune/Hybrid/Rune/Demonic, stacking everything, you can push well beyond most tanks, or limited periods of time; and then transitioning with Demonic (accolade so it works in Hardmode), or other temps to bridge the gap outside of hardmode.  In the end you can push 7m or so pure insanity.

 

 

All of these probably need updating, my end-game build ended up EnM/Ena instead of Kat/Ena.   But Kat/Ena is a ton of fun, and can be leveraged much earlier in life with lower investment costs.

 

Alpha - This build is lower recharge intended for higher armor values at all times.

Psi Armor - Trades some armor for higher Psi-armor while using Rune/Hybrid/Rune.  Psi is your primary weakness as EnA

Alpha 2J - This buid is higher recharge intended to run overload as often as possible and/or needed.

 

 

 

Kat ENA Shadowmeld Scrapper - Psi-Armor 3 - [i25].mxd Kat ENA Shadowmeld Scrapper - Alpha 2 - [i25].mxd Kat EnA ShadowMeld Scrapper - Angel 2J - [i25].mxd

[Fortunata - Concept Build and some old builds]

This is a concept build, so I made some choices that may not entirely make sense. 

It's a Ranged Fort build, although I typically recommend Melee Fort Builds instead.

Considerable Debate vs Fate Seal, Vengeance, or Aim.  As well as some debate about exactly how to use a few of the last slots.

• Aim, as is, is perfect for Aim/Nuke 100% chance.  Slotting aim more could shave 10 seconds off and let it be used in other ways.
• Vengeance would be great for running this in 801s, and for further buffing regular teams.
• Fate Sealed is really probably not needed, but might also be just enough extra control to control a few of those targets than can currently slip out of your hands.
• For a ranged build you really probably want to add Scream too.  Otherwise it's clunky till you get recharge up toward late build.  I filled that slot with Envenomed Daggers Instead.

Fortunata - Mind Hunter 1c+ - [i28].mbd

 

 

I'll also include some older builds that may require updating if you wanted to look at them or use them.

Fortunata - Isabella - Rev 8j (Psi-Tank) - [i25].mbd

Fortunata - Celine - Rev 8j - [i25].mxd

[Katana Scrapper: What Secondary?]

Divine Avalanche helps seal up issues with the Heal-Tank armors.   But the new Axe Roomba would also be fun.

[Katana Scrapper: What Secondary?]

Kat / Any - I'd play Katana / Wet Tissue Paper.  I just love Katana.

 

Kat/Bio - This is probably the ONE.

Kat/EnA - This is probably my number TWO pick for Katana.

Kat / Regen - Classic, but I'd recommend Kat/Bio instead. 

Kat/WP - if you want to split the difference between /Regen and /Bio, and want minimal FX

 

 

[/energy. What's the best primary for it?]

Beam/Energy is a really nice sniper build.  I didn't do Beam/Energy this last time around because I wanted a lazier build.  Less range, but more lazy.

[Best set-it-and-forget-it Defender]

FF / Bots MM or FF / Water Defender.

[Advice about staff]

Pro

• Staff / Bio is one of the most "Fun" and adaptable builds you can play. I Highly Recommend it as a "FUN" build.  Its easy to build and performs well on SOs.  /Bio adds to the flexibility, and helps mask the otherwise lower damage.  It's a great cheap build to learn on, and it's relatively forgiving of build issues.  You effectively have 3x3 = 9 stances to help counterbalance and fine-tune build issues.

Con 

• End-game on a full Tier 4 Incarnate Tier 4 IO build, it will perform sub-par to half of the other alternatives.  But in the big scheme of things, that's not really all that bad either.  It's still a scrapper, and scrappers rule.

[Help with a Mids Build for a Water/Energy Blaster]

I am currently enjoying building a ranged only blaster concept, but that's not at all the norm for me, and even it has a couple of mostly unused melee attacks.

 

My standard builds are heavy armor intended to fight in melee range, and stay in melee range.  Water is an excellent primary for this, perhaps even the best primary for this. That said, most players will prefer a more offensive and less defensive build.

 

Here's a quick conversion and rebuild of one of mine, adapted to Water/Energy.  It is intended to run Rune/Hybrid/Rune/Demonic/KitchenSink.

 

Water Energy - Cia 2b - [i25].mbd

[BEAM RIFLE OR ASSAULT RIFLE]

Beam hands down, unless it's a concept build.  

Overall Beam performance once you get the nuke is better.  

I personally dislike for entirely subjective reasons both Flame Throw and Ignite.  If you DO go AR, do NOT skip Ignite, it's one of your better powers.  You probably shouldn't skip flame thrower either, but I've yet to be able to enjoy it.

I would say do NOT skip Grenade, just slot it with a SA KB/KD(cheap), or OF KB/KD (twice as good but much more expensive)

 

[how are blasters supposed to solo?]

I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned it.  But Slot the Blaster AT +status proc in a T1/T2 attack, you can use those even when mezzed and with the proc you can 'sometimes' dig your way out of a mez hole.

 

I go full defensive IO build from level ~10 or however early I can.  Swap out early IO sets at around 20.  That may not be an option for you.

[Beam Atomic LRM Sniper - Concept Build]

LRM D 1b+

This is another Concept Build.  It's based on an older Beam Energy LRM build, but I wanted simpler to drive. 

• It's a Long Range Fire Support build instead of a brawler.
• Triple Snipe and Triple Nuke capabilities.
• I'm Planning on using Intuition Radial T4 +damage/+Range and Clarion Radial T4 +range
• You can get some armor using Kinetic Dampeners to seal up SL.  I'll probably run Dampeners full time.
• Then if you want to seal up ENFC you'll need to add Amplifiers, which I'm not planning on doing due to expense.  But if you have a particularly difficult challenge or TF you're wanting to solo, it might be worth it for the short term.
• I'll also attach Alpha 5i as an armored variant.  I don't plan on building this one, but I might change my mind and put it in one of the two alternate build slots.

 

Beam Atomic Sniper - Mila Liski - LRM D 1b+ - [i25].mbd Beam Atomic Sniper - Mila Liski - Alpha 5i - [i28].mbd

[Please Help Me with My Rad/Rad Build]

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.

 

 

[AR / Nin - Standard Build, Psi Capable, Moderate Costs]

Updated build on the more costly end.

 

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

[Infinitum Build Collection]

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.

 

 

[Three questions on FF defender]

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

[EnM and StJ / EnA Heavy Armor 801 Builds]

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

[Are Defenders Worth It?]

Here is a less expensive variant of the above build.

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

[Are Defenders Worth It?]

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

[The ultimate Psychic Sentinel]

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.

[AR / Nin - Standard Build, Psi Capable, Moderate Costs]

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

[Is there a Defender Water blast/force field build that can solo Av's and Eb's? And if So Does anyone have a Mids build?]

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.