Xandyr

Read between the lines.... it's a Nemesis plot. FREEEEEM!!!! And the "things I know and can talk about, others I can't " comment? That means they're looking at more ways to nerf regen.

I'm no expert, but here's a build I threw together. Gets you soft capped Defense to Melee/Ranged/AoE. Brute (Street Justice - Shield Defense).mbd

You have Rest turned on. Click on it to turn it off. Then you'll see your real #s (59.05% Resist to S/L, 33.68% to F/C/E/NE/Toxic, 0 to Psi).

I threw together a build to give you another option. Yours is good. You have perma Hasten (mine is off by 6 seconds). I kept Grant Invis/Stealth since you had it in your build (for the Defense and to mule LotG). I dropped the TP pool for Leaping (CJ and Super Jump....that's a personal preference...I had an accident a few years ago and am missing part of my left index finger, so SJ is easiest for me to maneuver). I took Dark Pit and Oppressive Gloom for set bonus and to stack the stun for some Crowd Control. My Resists and Defense are a little higher than yours. In the Snip, my totals are on the right, yours on the left. What Alpha do you plan on taking? Several of them would fit really good: Musc for the Damage/End Mod/Defense Debuff, Cardiac for End Redux/Damage Resistance, Intuition (Def Debuff/To Hit Debuff/Damage), Vigor (Accy/End Redux/Healing). I have a Necro/Pain MM and I actually took Vigor Core. It's worked out pretty good. I switch between it and Musculature Radial (Vigor when teaming, Musc when solo). Either way, I think your build is good and I hope you enjoy playing it! Defender (Pain.Dark).mbd

Yes, I know it's a self buff, that can only be used if a teammate dies. If what you're chasing is the set bonus (mainly ranged Defense), then that's your prerogative. A simple "I want to get as much Ranged Defense as I could" would have sufficed. Personally, in my humble opinion (which isn't worth much compared to the Build Gods' opinion), since Pain kinda likes to be in mix of things, it might be important to put a little focus on Melee/AoE Defense. For your teammates to get the benefit of Soothing Aura (15' radius) and to apply Anguishing Cry (PBAoE with a 25' radius), some Melee/AoE Defense might be needed was well. The clip you posted has power choices taken in a manner that is impossible to do in game (powers taken when they aren't available). Your slotting leaves 23 additional slots left for the other powers you plan on taking...which there would be 10 other powers available to take. What people need to realize is that one person may want to build for a specific goal...i.e Ranged Defense. Someone else may want to build for more Damage/Procs, or more AoE Defense. And yet another person may want to build to be more support/better heals/more regen/etc etc. And you know what? There's nothing wrong whatsoever with how a person wants to build their toon, or what goals they want to shoot for.

Hey all! What's the consensus on Necro/Sonic? Anyone played it? I'm thinking that the pets would easily be Resist Capped, and with all of them using their heal fairly often, that this combo might actually be pretty good. With Sonic Siphon and Disruption Field, the undead should be able to pump out some really good damage. The lack of a heal does deter me a bit. I run a Necro/Pain and it's a beast. Was trying to come up with a Primary to pair with Sonic. Thoughts? And thanks in advance!

Why 6 slot a rez? To me, that's a waste of slots. And be sure to put the Panacea proc in Soothing Aura. It will proc on everyone in the radius.

Told ya so haha

What primary are you thinking? Kinda sounds like you want FF. It's relatively "cheap", doesn't require a ton of slots, can mule all the LotGs/shield wall/kismet/steadfast, and now does -resist. And damping bubble gives great debuff resistance. On a side note, I have a necro/pain that's tough as nails. I find myself going ahead of my group because it's that sturdy. And it's been a long time since I've played her, but Demons/EA is extremely sturdy.

Fixed that for ya. 😎😉

Personally, I would take Soothe over Share Pain. Once you use Share Pain, you won't be able to heal yourself at all. May wanna swap the Shield Breakers in Anguishing Cry for Analyze Weakness....that 2.5% End Recovery bonus puts you over the cap. The ACCY/End Reduction of your pets seems low. I wonder if the To Hit Bonus from Serum and WoP will make up for the Accy. As far as Pain goes, it looks like you're on the right track. Slotting the Panacea proc in Suppress Pain gives it a chance to proc for ALL friendlies in its radius. So, as long as your pets (and teammates) are within the radius, then it'll Proc on them. Throw some Resist IOs (maybe Unbreakable Guard) in WoP, and might as well throw another 1 or 2 pieces of Gaussian's' in there. You've got it perma, along with Hasten, Painbringer, and Anguishing Cry. Good deal...even better that you've got Serum perma. I actually enjoyed Mercs/Pain. I do think that my Necro/Pain is sturdier, but Mercs are in a pretty good spot. Have fun! THAT'S what's important.

As far as a secondary that would kinda fit your background, Rad comes to mind first.

I'm no expert ( @StrikerFox comes to mind for being an MM expert), but here's something I threw together that I think checks off all the powers you wanted. Mastermind (Necromancy - Traps).mbd

You might want to consider taking 1 or 2 attacks just to be able to spawn a spectre. They help draw aggro, plus do damage. Definitely take Soul Extraction. Summons the "soul" of each of your pets. It's great for extra damage/mitigation, plus a great place to put the unique Pet IOs. There are 2 that increase your pets' defenses by 5% each, and 2 that increase their resistances by 10% each. There is a Mastermind IO that increases your pets' AoE defense, and another that increases their Regeneration rate and their Resistances by 15%. Just by getting them, you're increasing their Defense by 10%, their Regeneration rate, and their Resistances by 35%. The Defense ones will really help since you'll have the FFG. Necro is one of the sets that were revamped recently. They're WAY better now than they were Live. The 2 upgrades can now take Resistance IOs and Heal IOs. The IO system can be difficult to understand, and it can also be easy to understand. If you look at, say, Luck of the Gambler (a Defense IO). You'll see that this set has 6 "pieces". One of which is a Defense/Global Recharge IO. If you slot this one piece in a power that takes Defense enhancements, it will increase the Defense of that power, PLUS increase your Global Recharge by 7.5%. Global recharge is great, as it will let all your powers Recharge that much faster. Now, if you slot this piece, AND another enhancement from the same set, say the Defense Luck of the Gambler, it will increase the Defense value of that power. PLUS, since you have 2 enhancements from the LotG set, you will increase your Regeneration rate by 10%. By looking at the set bonuses of different IOs, you can slot enhancements to help increase your Defense, Regeneration, Resistances, Range, End Recovery, etc etc. So...if you want to focus on building for Melee Defense, you can look at all the IOs that give a set bonus that increases Defense/Melee Defense and slot those. Hopefully that makes sense? I'll try to get on later and see about a build.

What are you running with /Pain, and how's it going? Likes? Dislikes?

I've played it with WP and Bio. Both pairings are great. Never did any 4* content with either. Having said that, I've survived about everything thrown at them. Build WP for +HP, +regen then def/resist. It's hard to faceplant with softcapped defense, backed up with good resists...while regenerating 200-300 hp/sec. Bio is....bio. Offers more damage, and the +def/resist Staff offers helps survivability. Dark/Staff sounds fun as well. May have to try that.

Zect is on the forums. I'll just say that he believes there's only one way to build a tank, and it's his way.

Can NEVER go wrong with /Dark!

Don't forget /Pain. I feel like /Pain gets overlooked...but has some amazing powers. Regen aura, heals, +Resistance, -Resistance, -Defense, and Painbringer is awesome. On my Necro/Pain, with how I have it slotted, it gives +800% End Recovery, +1168% Regeneration (about 39 HP/Sec), and a +37.5% Damage buff. It can be made perma, but only on 1 pet or teammate. Combined with Suppress Pain (at least how I have it slotted), you're giving that 1 pet or teammate(as long as they're within a 15' radius of you) around 55 HP/Sec. That will typically leave you to worry about other pets/teammates' Health. Plus, that 1 target will not run out of Endurance during the duration of PB. World of Pain (slotted) gives about +17.5% Resistance to all, a +7.5% To Hit buff, and a +12% Damage bonus (to all within 35'). If you team, hit WoP, then use PB on your hardest attacking teammate...that's +49.5% Damage bonus, plus the end and regen to handle about anything while dishing it out. Or, use it on one of your T2 or the T3 pet. I've had a blast with /Pain partnered with Mercs and Necro. My latest project is combining it with Demons.

I paired Sonic with Ninjas. I figured with their inheritantly high defenses that the Resistance would help them out. Plus, they seem to heal themselves reguarly. It's worked out pretty good.

@zect is apparently the best builder in all the land.

Am I missing something? The build I posted for Bio/BA does not have any Patron powers. If I were to try and take a Patron Power, I'd go Soul Mastery and take Gloom and Darkest Night. I'd probably slot 3 Apocalypse in Gloom (mainly for the set bonuses) and slot DK with 4 pieces of Dark Watcher's Despair ( set bonuses, plus that would get roughly -22.79% To Hit Debuff). A problem with Bios, as I've said before and you did also, is that all 9 powers are great....almost essential. That leaves little to "play around with". I definitely like getting Tough/Weave. Maneuvers is always good (helps hit the Defense soft cap, plus another place for a LotG). Hasten is almost mandatory...then your Travel power. I personally always take CJ/SJ on all my toons ( I had an accident and lost the tip of my left forefinger, so it makes it a little difficult for me if I Hover. CJ is easier for me).

Would it have anything to do with level shifts?

I've not played the revamped BA, so I'm just kinda guessing on it. Tanker (Bio Armor - Battle Axe).mbd

I threw this together fairly quick. Might give you an idea or 2. Tanker (Bio Armor - Spines).mbd