Gammos

Hello everyone! I figured it would be easier to revive this old thread instead of creating a new one. with all the changes that have happened to Tanks in the last 3 years, I wanted to refresh and update my SD/DM Tank. Right now, he's super sturdy but I'm sure he's not optimized. I'm looking for great defense, good AoE and overall survivability. On this current build, I'm checking all three boxes. If you wise experts would take a look at this and see where I could improve, especially with all the new changes in the last few issues (such as being able to skip Shadow Punch altogether), I would be eternally grateful! Here's the current build I have: Data Link

Yes I noticed. I slotted the Lady Grey IOs to help increase the debuff potential. It sits at -17.42% (In Mids) and when I tried to increase it further, I only saw it go up to -17.97% which wasn't worth any extra slots. At one point I had -to-hit slotting in there also, but I took those out to add to Radiation Therapy It's definitely up there with Icy Bastion (Stalker Ice Armor) IMO. The only reason I have SJ there is for the slow resistance IO. I don't really use travel powers anymore, mostly rely on NJ+Sprint+Swift. Maybe I can swap out SJ and switch Maneuvers to lvl 30 so I can pick up Meltdown at 38. If I use Ageless Radial, it will help my debuff resistance across the board, including slows right?

Definitely going to go after the Accolades, thanks for the reminder! So, I wrestled between Keeping Meltdown vs going for Tactics. The main reason I went for Tactics is because I didn't have enhanced perception built in the build. Therefore, things like Arachnos were blinding me and I would have to pop a yellow (if I had one) to see them. Meltdown is a great power though...Especially for harder content. I have to factor in Incarnates also because there might be some benefits I haven't considered also

Lol very true! I mistook my HP being blue for being at the regen cap instead of just being at full health haha. Here's where I stand on that: Is there anything you would change in the build to add more HP? In a way that doesn't sacrifice anything too much I suppose

Update: So, After taking all that everyone said into consideration, I altered my build on the test server and I must say, i'm so much happier with this new build! I realized I was really giving wayyyy too many slots towards endurance recovery when it wasn't necessary for Rad with the all the baked in endurance recovery tools. Instead, I diverted those slots so I was able to add more regen into the mix without sacrificing too much damage. EM is a beast and the toon feels very life and death sometimes, which keeps things exciting. I'm playing +3/8 and I was able to handle Carnies and Arachnos with this build. That being said, anything that attacks my regen is a serious threat, so I have to be careful. However, I haven't even started testing Incarnates yet so i'd say I'm in pretty good shape! Here's the updated build. Let me know if you see any further little tweaks I can make: Data Chunk: Full Build:

Good to know! Might make one soon 🙂

I'm not sure if you've already made your preliminary decisions yet or not. I'd like to throw Claws/Nin into the ring. An amazing blend of ST and AoE plus (full chain potential for both). Nin provides a great balance of steady protection with utility clicks and enough speed potential to make standard travel powers irrelevant. It's enough clicks to keep me engaged without feeling like a chore. Plus he's super zippy and I can play bounce in and out of mobs, destroying them from multiple angles...I can't say enough good things about the paring. My Claws/Nin is a Tiger turned ninja assassin named Klawe 🙂 Cheers! @Gammos

Thanks! I'm glad I know that for future planning 😄

Is it because it's an IO bonus versus a set bonus so they count as two separate lanes?

By this, am I to assume that the rule of 5 applies to bonuses that offer the same percentages as well? In other words, if I have 5 LotG 7.5% recharge increases, and I have some random other set that provides 7.5% recharge, that extra set would not be counted? Or were you just saying 6 10% recharge bonuses were overkill at that point?

Honestly, I've so far avoided Bio because it seems a little too complicated for me at first glance haha. Combo systems have always been a little challenging for...part of why DB and I never really got along when it was first introduced haha. I know it's not the same and I do want to try it sometime soon though!

Update: By just tweaking my playstyle a bit and keeping Particle Shielding up at all times, I was able to clear an Arachnos mission without dying (+2/8). I enjoy near death playstyles (My main on live was a F/F Blaster), so I look forward to tweaking this build and getting better at Rad Armor. I play so many Def based powersets so it's nice to switch it up now and then..

I will check it out, thank you!

Definitely using this strategy. By the time you realize you need it, the long animations of the powers leave you dead in the water

I think that's really the issue for me. Even though i'm leveling up this toon through missions and the like, i'm still not getting a grasp of how to best approach survivability. You saying it's a hybrid set is super helpful bc I hadn't really considered that! I'm going to rebuild with that frame of mind

Thank you!

Good morning! I am leveling an EM/Rad scrapper who is currently at lvl 47. I actually really enjoy playing with him but I feel as though I cannot seem to grasp the strength's of Rad. I don't have as much issue with EM because it's pretty straightforward. I took the below build to test server last night and got steamrolled multiple times (I auto-completed). Granted it was Arachnos so that might be why. Another mish I tried was Council and I got through it, but not as smoothly as I wanted. Both of these missions were set to +3/8 so I could really test out this build I made. I'm not an expert with Mids so if anyone could please take a look and offer advice, I would appreciate it! Also, can anyone offer insight as to Rad's strengths and challenges? When it comes to large mobs, I must be doing something wrong. Thank you! Export Link: Full Build:

Thats a point I forgot to really take into consideration. I was basing it off of the numbers I was seeing from Mids. That's true, i'll be keeping it! I'll look into it and adjust! Finally you need to understand the fundamentals of proc builds. Those builds need a few things to function: I'll need some real world experience with the build to be able to observe and fine tune things to fix holes. This is great thinking. I picked up Ageless as a way to help deal with Endurance and recharge speed. Which is where my thinking was for getting ML to perma status. I could be off however! Honestly I never even looked into Field Medic! I'm in shock because that's such an amazing power and I could definitely fit it into my build somehow. Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate you taking the time to lay all those points out. I will look into your build and gain some playtime with my Fort so I can see where the room for improvement is, and what powers I've chosen that are kind of unecessary. Thanks again!

Solid points! Thanks for the feedback! Arachnos are definitely a pain!

Thanks for your feedback! So I kept those within the build for the soft control aspects (- recharge etc.). I may end up switching out one day however. Spin is awesome indeed. I can probably switch the places of Psychic Scream (16) and Spin (38). Good idea! I thought about getting Aid Self at some point. If I find myself on the ground too often, then i'll respec it in. Much appreciated!

Alright, so I tweaked the build a bit and settled on this build I'm bringing to live. I ended up taking both Total Dom and Aura of Confusion because they ended up being amazing panic buttons lol. My last two powers were kind of placed there since I didn't have anything else I really wanted. Mystic Flight because I needed some vertical movement and Vengeance to help the team in case of opportunity. I'm looking forward to bringing this to live!

Ok perfect that makes sense! Yes they use endurance like a bottomless pit. I did some testing last night and I realized I don't need tough to survive. I'm going to swap out that power pool and test some other options out. First i'll see how AoC and aid self work in this build. Maybe try an APP next...or even Teleport pool... *starts tinkering* Yes that was intentional. I use Ninja run, sprint and movement bonuses to get places in a zippy manner. I also get jetpacks for vertical movement. I may not have added them to the build. I tested with SS at one point and I didn't feel it was necessary with all the new travel options available. These days almost everyone has a team TP option haha. Thanks again for your expertise!

Ok thank you for the clarification. It's been a long long time lol Noted, I'll see if I can pick one of them up earlier for when I ex down! Mannn those guys...Yes that's what I gotta do be one drained me in like 2 hits haha Yes I'm on the same page, I think I should be ok without it on a premium build. You don't think it's worth it for the extra ~20%? I'll do some test without it toggled on in Beta and see if I can do without it. Maybe I'll be able to dip into other power or ancillary pools then haha. Thanks again for your feedback!

Hey everyone! I've been doing some extensive research and testing (some of my fav aspects of the CoX universe actually), as well as using @Gulbasaur's excellent thread for a basis. Seriously, thanks for your dedication! Check that out here! I've been trying to get the best Fort for my playstyle. My main was a Fire/Fire blapper on live. I enjoy being in the middle of things as well as having a healthy amount of AoE. I do not, however, enjoy long cast times (I'm looking at you Psinado). Basically, This is an end game build geared towards handling super tough content. I'm not as concerned with ex'ing down as of now and one day soon i'll create a 2nd build for the NW aspect of this toon (I simply LOVE VEATs). Questions: -When you EX down, assuming your IOs are attuned, but the power isn't available at that level, do you still receive the IO benefit/set bonus? -What about if it's not attuned, does that matter? - I'm deciding between Aura of Confusion or Total Domination. Shouldn't Confuse with the contagious confusion proc be enough for a pseudo sub for AoC? -Are there any mobs you pro Forts avoid? Anything end-draining can potentially have me by the throat. -Is 55% Accuracy and 127.1% +To-Hit to not need CT: Offensive? Overall Build critique: I'm by no means loaded with inf. However, I won't mind working towards this build over time for these expensive IOs. This is the build I put together and tested (with the exception of switching swipe for subdue). I feel like I have too many attack powers and I'm trying to lock down 2 attack chains (one ST and one AoE). I switched out swipe for Subdue since it's ranged and more powerful. I put TK blast in its place but honestly, I'm not sold on either one. If someone has a better suggestion for this build, I'm all ears! TL;DR: AoE/ glass cannon junkie trying to get the most he can out of this amazing AT. I welcome all feedback. Thanks everyone! Screenshot of build Data Link

So, I took the basis of your suggestions (because numbers make my head hurt haha) and tweaked it a little more to my interests, which might provide an alternate perspective for the OP. I've been looking for a good Dark/SR build since I got mine to 50 ages ago but he's been shelved until recently. I was tempted to get rid of SS since I usually ninja run everywhere and there's a lot of movement bonuses built in. I also decided not to take any APP attacks since I believe my attack chain is full enough as is. Plus, while Dominate was tempting, it wasn't strictly necessary to complete an attack chain (I don't think). My calculations may be off, but here's my attempt. On paper it looks good but feel free to pick it apart hehe 🙂