Linea

Re: DDR TLDR: "There IS still a DDR skew. I've minimized it as much as is possible in 801 given the current limitations in AE." Incarnate To-hit is a thing. DRR is a thing. Defense Base of +50 is a thing. These are baked in dynamics of the game and they definitely skew things. It's unavoidable. It's the game we have. If there is DDR, there really should be an RDR to counter it. Such that Defense Builds get DDR, Resist Builds get RDR. Everyone else gets Nada DR of Either. The base 50% defense should really be eliminated or at least modified as well, if you really want balance between Defense and Resist Armors. Right now, from Zero To (+4x8) "Cimmie Test" .. there IS actually balance between Defense Builds and Resist Cap Builds, even though most players never realize it. The increased HP/S combined with 90% resist and roughly 8% actual to-hit with +4s .... works out to a fairly even balance. However, once you stress builds beyond the standard "Cimmie Test" and start pushing incarnates and higher incoming dps as well as other types of debuffs, the balance starts shifting more and more in favor of DDR. *IF* RDR was a thing, it combined with resist debuffs could be used to help keep things balanced. But it's not, everyone gets RDR for free: "Resist Resists Resist (debuff)". Because of this, I put in as much -resist as I could manage to help counter-balance the DDR issue, and then tested it extensively on various defense and resist builds. There IS still a DDR skew. I've minimized it as much as is possible in 801 given the current limitations in AE. That said, one of the builds I run is a "Resist Cap Only, to !@#$ with defense build". It can pretty much take a room full of these guys all the way down to -35% defense and still balance out indefinitely. At -45% or lower it starts hurting, but that will only happen if you Leroy a Room, and the Room has a pretty high number of defense debuffs in it. There will be at least one room like that on any given run, but there will also be lots of rooms NOT like that. The other side of Resist Cap Build balance is: *IF* you get defense buffs from your team, you can effectively be running around perma-T9 Armor, no penalties. Getting that level of Resist buffs from a team is much more rare and considerably more difficult. Which also comes back to the skew between defense buffs and defense bonuses and resist buffs and resist bonuses. So yeah, lots of seriously baked in long standing skews that would need to be addressed. The Cimmie Test: Grab your ankles for 10 minutes inside a spawn of 6 +4 Cimmie Bosses and friends. Make sure all 6 bosses are aggroed and stay aggroed. Use only defensive powers, no offense.

Ok, that's Hilarious. 801 is a Series: 801.0 Easy, 801.1 Intermediate, 801.2 Hard (My Benchmark), 801.3 Harder 801.2 is the Standard I judge my builds by, and was the original. If you can solo 801.2 +4x8 with-in the 2 hour timer or less, you are officially Linea Approved. 801.3 is because I had some teams just stomping 801.2. 801.3 departs from the "Soloable +0x0 on an SO build" benchmark. It was rare to have a team steamroll 801.2 like that, but it does happen. 801.0 and 801.1 are for the teams that were struggling too much in 801.2. If there's need I may or may not work on an 801.4 in the future. The Spawns are very carefully balanced such that a Linea SO build can solo +0x0. No promises on what anyone else can do, but in theory an SO only team of Tier 4 Incarnates should be able to manage +0x0. Balance-wise there is at most 1 "Dangerous" EB at the center of each spawn. Then at most 1 "Dangerous" Boss. Then usually only 1 "Dangerous" Lt, however there is a chance to get 2 "Dangerous" Lts. There are rare "special" enemies: Sappers, Hard to Control, T9 Armor, Blind, ... etc. However, these "special" enemies are carefully limited. Because of the way AE spawns groups, (random starting index, then sequential) All of this has to be done with a special script that modifies the .cvg outside of CoH while you simultaneously edit the .cvg in-game ... or by using a text editor manually. I got tired of doing it by hand and wrote the script. (You can actually do this with in-game only tools, but it's so convoluted and time consuming I'm not even going to try to explain it.) The Scary Ones (801.2): Water/Atomic Blaster - +2x8 (I did it Once and Only Once +4x8 with the blaster, but I only officially rate this build +2x8.) Empathy/Fire/Souldrain - +1x8 (Are you tougher than a Squishy Empath? ... You need the //souldrain build for the offense to complete it within the 2 hours, but you need the armored build to survive it +4x8. You can't do both builds at the same time.) The Rest (801.2): Time/Fire/Souldrain Def - +4x8 Plant/Time/Fire Con - +4x8 Illusion/Rad/Scorpion Con - +4x8 Kat/Bio Scrapper - +4x8 DB/Bio Scrapper - +4x8 (This one is very hard) Kat/Ena Scrapper - +4x8 SD/Radm Tank - +4x8 Kat/Rad Brute - +4x8 StJ/Ena Stalker - +2x8 Dark/Rad Def - +1x8 Nature/Fire Def - +2x8 Fire/Nature Cor - +2x8 Melee Fortunata - +2x8 Dark/Storm Con - +2x8 Dark/RadA Dom - +2x8 Storm/Elec Def - +1x8 Huntsman - +1x8 Huntsman SO Only Build - +1x2 Water/Atomic Blaster SO Only Build - +1x4 Kat/Radm Tank - +4x8/+2x8 (I'm not sure she has the offense to finish it in time. It's close, and I've not put the time into finishing testing it. If you include offense, you'll have to rate this one +2x8) Inv/Radm Tank - +4x8/+1x8 (Definitely does NOT have the offense to finish it in time. If you include offense, you'll probably have to rate this one +1x8) Eafn/Earth Con - +4x8/+0x8 (This one is odd ... as long as one pet or team mate is alive, she very very rarely dies +4x8. This makes her very durable. However, her offense is terrible, and if she's solo her pets die too easily.) Eafn/Water Def - +1x8 (Same problem as above, but even more fragile due to lose of controls. However, this does at least have a bit more offense.) PS: Yes, I'm well aware of the one thing that (almost) just completely neuters them. And it's there on purpose as part of the balance. If it's ever considered too much of an issue, I'll adjust it; assuming adjustments are even possible within the limitations of AE while not breaking the "Soloable +0x0 on an SO Only build" standard.

I was gonna say, +0x8 should be less than an hour. pretty much a cakewalk.

You didn't specify difficulty, maybe it was mentioned elsewhere: +0x8 I wouldn't even need half my armor. +2x8 or below is an absolute cakewalk. +4x8, Jil (Emp/Fire/Souldrain) has right at 250 ST DPS ... that means 1 hour per +4 AV kill without lore or inspirations. I recommend you use both, otherwise it'll be a long day. Jil's +4x8 Solo ITF run was right at 3 hours as I recall. /Electric is lower dps: /Electric would be lower dps. I can tell you 250 dps (or lower) is absolutely maddening with the AVs running (it' not nearly so bad in anything OTHER than the ITF with the track-star AV). You make two steps forward, they run, you take 1.5 steps back, repeat. If I rebuilt as Emp/Elec/Souldrain ... I'd just gulp a bucket of reds when I hit the AV and take your money. Without the candy, but with lore, it's gonna be maddening. It would probably be similar to my 6 hour solo tank run. You make progress while lore is up ... ambush lose all the progress ... (make progress with lore, stalemate, lore, ambush, start over,), (lore, stalemate, lore, stalemate, lore, ambush, start over) ... finally eventually (Lore, stalemate, lore, stalemate, lore, stalemate, dead! ... and he ressurects! *head desk*). Welcome to a 6 hour solo run with a low dps build. (Note: Back on live, my first ever solo +4x8 ITF took 16 in-game hours over a period of 30 real-time days. Sanity is over-rated.)

/editbase 1 for editing your base. /stuck will usually drop you near your portal. If you get stuck in your portal, do the following in order until it's fixed: Rotate the portal 1 click Move the portal up 1/4 units. (potentially off the ground by 1/4) Make sure the area around, below, and above the portal is clear and unobstructed. That will normally do it. Object creep may eventually mean you have to wiggle it again in a few months, but once it stabilizes it's usually fine.

My main(s) are just what's most fun for me. Ciaraine (Armored Blaster), Kiski (Armored Time/), Kate (Kat/Bio) ... but many more as well, that's just the current top 3.

You can res with temp res powers from p2w. Absorb pain will be your most common cause of death. you use it, you pull aggro, you die, and you can't even be saved by another teammate because of the -heal. If you're dead you're not keeping other teammates alive. Here are 2 relatively less expensive SLE armored builds. You can drop the price even more by pulling out some of the more expensive pieces and the build will still function. At least 1000 ways you can modifiy and improve these. I've posted similar with even more armor if you search the forums and discord. Emp Energy - Burke IO - [i26].mxd Emp Energy - Strauss IO - [i26].mxd

The EAfn design is genius. It props SO builds up, while simultaneously holding the excesses of Tier 4 IO builds back.

CM will probably never bey AoE, but Fort could be made AoE as well, similar to the aoe upgrade to bubbles. I would not mind if a CM alternate power pick worked like the EAfn bubble. But I know the devs have said they really don't like alternate power picks.

Empath Solo +4x8 ITF: Emp/Sonic Thread: I've also posted offensive empath builds in various discords. Any changes to empathy should be additive or optional, but not change the base for those players that like it and use it as-is. Primarily because I'd hate to see Green Machine builds broken. Green Machines can wreak havoc even on SO only builds. Otherwise, just design a completely new set. That's probably the better route to go.

As said above. That's complicated. It depends very much on each build. I have Mirrored Armored Self Damage Cap* Builds for Nature/Fire Defender and Fire/Nature Corruptor: The Defender does 3% more ST damage and 6% less AoE damage. Because of the way multiplier numbers work, and the lower damage cap of the defender, the defender build is essentially self-damage capped, while the corruptor with it's lower multipliers and higher cap is not damage capped. The defender build is also easier and more flexible to build. But if you join a team with other +damage boosts, or a Kin, then the corruptor's higher caps come into play and it will then, on the team, while damage buffed, assuming you stay damage buffed, then do 5/4 damage vs the defender due to the higher caps. On the other hand, the defender with it's higher multipliers will have the team as a whole putting out more damage. So which is better? Higher ST damage? Higher AoE Damage? Higher personal damage on a team? Higher team damage on a team? Better durability? More build flexibility? Easier and Simpler to Build? Define 'better'. That definition will determine the answer.

It's how you build the build. If you want to do everything, you really are going to have to invest in a build. Exactly how to build varies widely, and will vary widely player to player. I heavily armor my builds so that I can solo 'main-tank' stuff that is well beyond average difficulty. +4x8 Council are not at all the same as +4x8 Resistance, as an example. Here is an older chart of various builds. For AVs you want at least 250 ST DPS ... for AOE you'll have to decide that yourself by the % listed. MPL is minutes per level, smaller is better. This can be used as a proxy for AoE potential. Note: Some players say pylons and mpl are not valid ways to measure dps. ... For Pylons, IMO they are a decent proxy for AVs, and for the most part I only care about ST damage vs AVs or GMs. Just be aware that Avs can run, and that running can halve your applied dps. "Yay, Track Stars!" ... However, if you are worried about damage vs Bosses and EBs, you may want to do a 3rd ST DPS test for those purposes. .... For MPL, mostly I just say to be aware that if a build does not have an immobilize/taunt, it will be at a roughly 10:7 disadvantage; and that's why I have two columns for mpl. Dur is the durability rating. It is both objective and subjective at the same time, and based on me doing the driving and my playstyle of +4x8 pulling the entire map well over aggro-cap such that you might just end up facing down 16+ Bosses+. Soloing a +4x8 ITF you can end up facing 8 EBs, 8 Bosses, and that is going to be a real problem for Ciaraine who is rated 18, it will be 3 times more taxing for Faidh who is rated only 6.

Yes, but. +0, cake walk. +4, with difficulty. You'll have to use lore, keep your lore alive, buffed, and on target. And you may even need to use some reds. I soloed a +4x8 ITF back on live with Time/DP, but I really wouldn't want to duplicate the 4 hour task. I don't expect it to be nerfed much, if any. The 'bug' that was an issue has already been fixed. If it does get nerfed, it will likely only be the Clarion_Special*PBU*Farsight combination; and hopefully that isn't completely nuked. Considering how hard that is to pull off, I don't see that much of an issue with it.

That which kills AVs best is not necessarily that which kills hordes well. 8/10 of my builds have soloed a +4x8 ITF, but I'm not sure I'd recommend any of them for the job. The ones that take out the AVs most easily struggle with the hordes, and vice versa. All of the following have soloed a +4x8 ITF. At least once ... and probably never more than once as it's a non-trivial task for most build. Kat/Bio* - The more durable DB/Bio, 801 certified. It struggles more on the AVs due to lower ST dps, but the durability more than makes up for it. This is probably my top pick for the job. DB/Bio - less durable, more dps, assuming you can keep yourself alive, it chopped up the AVs very nicely. Armored Illusion/Rad - Destroys AVs, takes out 54+ GMs in 3 minutes. By far one of the best AV/GM killers in the game. But it struggles vs hordes, the AoE damage is relatively low. Armored FIre/Atomic Sniper Blaster - This one will be difficult from a player resources perspective. Consider it an advanced class. But the payoff is nice. you walk into a room, stroll around collecting up the whole room .... then nuke the whole thing flat in about 10 seconds. Then with roughly 325 ST DPS you have enough firepower to take out most +4 AVs, it won't be fast, but you can do it ... assuming you can juggle your survival ... and use pets as available to speed things up. StJ/EnA Stalker - 500+ ST DPS or more *rolls eyes*, but roughly equally durable as the armored blaster. Harder to put in the durability hole as compared to the blaster, but once it's in the hole it has a harder time digging itself out of the hole as compared to the blaster. Roughtly equal overall durability. Also relatively low AoE, most stalkers have relatively low AoE due to an AoE Attack being sacrificed in order to add the Assassin's Strike. Kat/EnA - Most broken (in a good way) build I've ever played. The ST dps is probably too low for lots of +4 AVs without using reds. The worst part of the build is the heal comes late-game. Bots/Traps - Classic AV killer, but may struggle on some of the harder AVs or in over-aggro situations. Relatively low objective DPS. subjective DPS is much higher. Time/(FIre,Water,Ice,DP)/(Dark,Soul,Mace) - Tank-Mage, but depending on build may need reds for the harder +4 AVs. Armored Nature/Fire/Dark Self-Damage Cap Defender - I do not normally recommend resist based builds on 75% resist cap ATs ... but this one is might just be worth the cost. Armored Water/Atomic Blaster - This is my "main tank". Very Durable (at least in my hands), and good overall damage. However, ST damage is a bit weak, you'll need reds or pets to take out any of the harder +4 AVS. Armored Procced Storm with (Fire, Ice, Water, DP) - This is probably the very advanced class. I'm not even sure which way I'd build it Def vs Cor, but probably Def. Then balancing Armor vs Procs will be a nightmare. However, the DPS potential along with debuffs is just plain old silly. I can see a build like this hitting 500+ ST dps, more than enough to take out stubborn AVs in 5 minutes or less. Add pets and you should have enough offense to rival the classic Illusion/Rad and have more overall AoE capabilities as well. But it won't be an easy build to design nor easy to drive, at least not when facing +4x8 over-aggro cap hordes. And more ... there are lots of builds that can do the job. I've even soloed a +4x8 ITF with my Empath, but I really don't recommend that, it was a 4-6 hour run. There is absolutely no build that is best at all three, Farming, ST, AoE, and Durability. The closest you'll get would be Titan/Bio, but Titan/Bio really needs to be built toward relatively high recharge and not armor. Titan without enough recharge falls off both an objective and subjective dps cliff. If you can't build it to it's strength, you're better off with a different set, like DB/Bio. Titan build correctly would be even less durable than DB/Bio, but higher dps. But that in turn means you have to work much much harder to keep it upright vs the harder enemy groups and/or AVs when solo. Teamed this isn't an issue, but solo can be a different story.

Yeap, been there, done that with my Huntsman too, very similar tactics. The "Track Star" drives me batty.

Defenders are, IMO, the most versatile AT. I can build one defender to be tougher than tanks and have equal to greater damage than that tank (But I don't taunt as well). I can build another to rival scapper's damage (The scrapper can have better focused damage to cut through the middle of a pile, but much less AoE, and little to no debuff for hard targets). I can build many that push into the blaster spectrum of damage, and have better survivability than blasters (blasters have better alpha burst, but not long term sustained damage). The only thing really holding back defenders are the AT caps. There's just very little I can do about the damage cap and resist cap. That skews builds toward defense, which means you have to counter DDR, but that's not an impossible thing to do. And it skews you to defender damage caps which limits your burst damage, but when you can sustain that cap longer, your overall long term sustained damage can be greater. Depending on exactly which sets, builds , teams, and targets, sometimes a corruptor is better; but by and large the greater flexibility of the defender build usually ends up better. I probably play my main blaster more than my defender or any other build, but I also wholly acknowledge that the defender is overall the more powerful build, only slightly less durable than the tank, and only slightly less damage than the blaster. The defender however, does take a lot more player resources and in-game resources, the blaster, scrapper, and tank are much easier, simpler, and cheaper to drive.

Here is how I rank blast sets. Based on my playstyle, +4x8, Solo, Linea-Style Armored Builds, No-Procs (this was pre-proc builds), Harder Mob Types like Incarnate Resistance that don't clump or play nice for AoEs and Debuffs, etc ... other significant changes have likely happened since then as well .. But the bottom line is, there are plenty of viable choices other than Sonic.

That's how I approached it, mostly. I think I'd pull the one unique slot from Weave back into AB to guarantee it's recharge. Otherwise, that looks like the best build yet.

I generally recommend: Fire, Ice, Water I personally like DP, and dislike Sonic, but those are personal tastes, neither objective nor even subjective to performance.

Put the acc proc in weave, it's sooner. You might not even need the acc proc, given you slot tactics sooner in the build. With that in mind, replace the acc proc with better slotting in tough, or with a resist unique in weave or ... Also move the resist unique in maneuvers to Weave so it's available sooner.

Harlequin Device is a translation of my (almost) GM Compliant build. Burke and Strauss are more traditional Empaths with more healing capability, and then varying armor vs attacks, and should be close enough to be easily modified to be GM compliant. None are Proc-Builds. /Energy is ripe for a Proc-Build. Incarnates are mostly place holders. There's so much in each build that would vary by taste. Note: these may or may not use the MRBU update. MRB: https://tinyurl.com/y6akcwre MRBU: https://tinyurl.com/vnhnjlo Mids Archives: https://tinyurl.com/wsn5v4j Emp Energy - Burke 6 - [i26].mxd Emp Energy - Harlequin Device 2 - [i26].mxd Emp Energy - Strauss 5 - [i26].mxd

I've had a few fish poop try this with me. It's annoying, but more likely to get the fish poop warned or banned than you. One-Star them so you can recognize them in the future, and/or add them to your ignore list.

Interchangeable builds without the need to respec. Emp Rad - Burke IO - [i26].mxd Emp Rad - Burke 6 - [i26].mxd

If you set Mids->options->config->exemp_math->base_to_hit=48, that will take care of 50+1 vs 54s automatically for most powers and builds. Of course always double check, mids does have it's issues.

An older Fourcade Variant, NOT proc based, .... and it wouldn't be unreasonable to pull some defense and start working procs into the build on the offense side especially. (almost all my builds were designed before the proc and ppm changes were finalized and really started working their way into builds) Nature DP - Fourcade 2 - [i25].mxd