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Blaster. Avoid ATs with Mez protection. They teach newcomers nothing about the game. If you want to teach him the various nuances of the game and establish good fundamentals, go blaster. If they are supported/built/played well they can wreck shop and they are exhilarating to play, if they are supported/built/played poorly they die with a look. Experiencing that dichotomy and learning that not everything in this game is derp lol melee ROFLSTOMP with incarnates will make him a better player overall. And he can take those fundamentals and be a better teammate when he playes support ATs as well.

I never said anything about nerfing AE/Powerleveling and yet people dive right into this "Don't Nerf AE" rhetoric. Let me put this into simpler language so the "DON'T NERF AE" crowd can understand. You farming for inf, you multiboxing and PLing your own alts or you trading PLs with other farmers - I don't care. I PL too from time to time. I see nothing wrong with that. You inviting some random newbie that just started this game to a farm to fast track them to 50 and thinking that you are being helpful - I have a problem with that thought process. I care more about changing people's mindset about how they can help new players in their COH journey so that it's a memorable one that will keep those newbies coming back. Too often it's just power-leveling. It's not the only path and I don't believe that's the best path. As for the fire farm for influence comment. What about teaching newbies to craft and convert IOs, how to turn merits into inf, etc... How about teaching them craft cheap builds to speed run TFs so they can rack up merits/hami-Os in a short time and turn that into profit, and then use that profit to upgrade/fund alts? Nah that requires too much effort to write and explain stuff to people new to the game right? Much easier to just let them sit on a farm, which they've already sat through for 50 levels, and further solidify in their mind that the only way to make inf or do anything in this game is through farms right? Simple language time: There are other methods than power leveling and farming to enable and help newcomers to the game. You just need to be wiling to put in the effort. Not everyone will listen, but you will be giving those that do listen an option and the ability to choose between farming/PL vs the alternatives. You don't need to defend AE, you don't need to write up elaborate justifications for why we should keep AE. None of that is relevant to what I'm talking about. Is that clear?

I took spirit shark but it's not used and I don't even bother slotting it, I needed a pre-req to get to arctic breath and I didn't really care whether I picked spirit shark or school of sharks. I'll share my build. It doesn't place high emphasis on extreme levels of survival for the reasons I mentioned but it hits the important marks. This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Crabby Baney Panda: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Single Shot -- SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSpdBit-Rchg/Global Toxic(3), SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3) Level 1: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(5), ImpArm-ResDam(5), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(7) Level 2: Burst -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Apc-Acc/Rchg(13), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Apc-Dam%(15), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(17) Level 4: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(17), WntGif-ResSlow(19) Level 6: Build Up -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(19), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(21), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(21), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(23), GssSynFr--Build%(23) Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25) Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(25), ShlWal-Def(27), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27) Level 12: Venom Grenade -- Rgn-Dmg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(29), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Rgn-Knock%(31), Ann-ResDeb%(31) Level 14: Pulverize -- SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprDmnofA-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprDmnofA-Rchg/DmgFear%(34) Level 16: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 18: Frag Grenade -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(36), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(36), FrcFdb-Rechg%(36) Level 20: Tactical Training: Leadership -- HO:Cyto(A) Level 22: Mental Training -- Run-I(A) Level 24: Cloaking Device -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(37), LucoftheG-Def(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48) Level 26: Shatter -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Hct-Acc/Rchg(39), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Hct-Dam%(39), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40) Level 28: Tough -- HO:Ribo(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(40), StdPrt-ResKB(40) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(42), Rct-Def/EndRdx(42), Rct-ResDam%(42) Level 32: Crowd Control -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Arm-Dam%(43), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(45), FrcFdb-Rechg%(45) Level 35: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(45), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), LucoftheG-Def(46) Level 38: Spirit Shark -- Empty(A) Level 41: Arctic Breath -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), PstBls-Dam%(46), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(47), ImpSwf-Dam%(47), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(47), TchofLadG-%Dam(48) Level 44: Surveillance -- AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(48) Level 47: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A) Level 49: Wolf Spider Armor -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 1: Conditioning | Hidden Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(7), Prv-Absorb%(9), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(9) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PwrTrns-EndMod(11), PwrTrns-+Heal(11) Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon Level 50: Born In Battle Level 50: High Pain Threshold Level 50: Invader Level 50: Marshal ------------ ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1488;731;1462;HEX;| |78DA65944B4F135114C7EF7466280C1428E5512808949616DA4E0B115DF94004132| |8A60682C64D73A1039DA469EBB41AFB01FC06463451578ABA51164A30BAF103B0F1| |1BB872C52331317161EAE99C736DD159F4D773EEB9F7FCCFB98FE5FB57DB3637172| |E33A9772EC74BA5F4ACC537B2F94229BD52C8654CC3725EE7E5BB16CFC98CB1AE39| |8BAFAF5746AEF0BC511949F17C863BC11DFC774E49AF45A4578A66C6B08433B86A7| |1336FE6B7D2D77866CB289F0E1283AC2D5528E4F4A4C18B6069B6B152348C8CCBFE| |BB606E65CB30D021A2606E296B167DF34573435F9B9F5D4D278D7B262F67793EBDC| |C4B65C3AA78416280D127D9BF5507CB298C4D29CC71875844BE6DAD07C9EC976C3B| |95007842C030B2298874FC8D6555558A3AECE0369D1847B6278853C8CE18B2175A2| |70B39728F8483BFC11C5258970F33D7D4A898A3AAAA2F7066D74B64F70EF115ADF8| |9AF806E9870C4ECA20392380A916E6257E84A55B44A12D94DEBB20DB83038BC4259| |4D10451AD14ACB64EE3F283678933C833E788E789DF71723BCC72495883E27A88CE| |9147C46DE263E4E813A403B477506B5947153E563B6A6ED10BF77BDCAFD10FC43DE| |49843457EC375C61EA0984F50AE872A609E198022B3CFE0EC11CE9E18B323DF81B3| |4F34A68F1A13E8247623E31E644D623FD5A6F68F63AE4018393E419C24469021D22| |443453E71027C175153A8961B4E40C88B54206848C81922391347B83F13C7C41F58| |AD1BA286859CE1A7D892C967C4E7C40B983E7A092745498E1B32F945263F658A52E| |1312A38460DA8250E8AFD09DAFBB3EB622C2C0E49B849B6E5C7F6B1AB3AED8BBE83| |65E9ED68C70F30F92E743D42CAA5C85774C6BF003D0ADB87415DEC933E802BEE813| |3219C8969AC6549A95FDFEAA0226E3D44305B63F2944BC63429A57E8D9964C71D6A| |F57568EAD1FFAE63ADF1B118A5BBB2888F43F321DACD6BD8B113ADF1F9D9C6D4DA0| |9EE89F61399F40084FE1B5A8371B3D1B8D568DC6E34FE0011B0E481| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

You interpret my comment of "stop enabling" as "remove AE" Not the same. People's choices and their actions have consequences and that's what's driving people away. AE is a tool like any other. Bridges existed long before AE and the removal of AE isn't going to stop people from PLing. People may think they have good intentions inviting a newbie to their fire farm to sit all the way to 50 and incarnates. Their intention might be good, but choices and actions have consequences. I'm not asking to remove AE, I'm talking about a need to change the mindset in how to best enable new comers to encourage retention. A community is good only if there is a community, and these enablers (let me spell it out for you "I want my freedom" fighters, enablers are people) are achieving the opposite of what they hope to accomplish through their current methods.

It's as much about retention as it is recruitment. Unpopular opinion but stop enabling newcomers to shortcut the game straight to 50. Sitting in a fire farm with 2xp doesn't give these players any appreciation of the game and when they hit 50 incarnates trivialize the game and they think that's all there is to it. Skipping to 50 in 2 hours doesn't give you anytime to create bonds with the characters you make and that's a powerful emotion that draws people back. At that point there's nothing that makes this game sticky because in their mind COH is about fire farming and wrecking everything endgame with incarnates. Wouldn't you move on if that's all you think this game offers? There are good kinds of enablement and bad kinds of enablement in this regard. Giving newcomers influence so they can get a head start on their COH journey is good. Giving them advice on how to play/build/make inf is good. But carrying them straight to 50 and beyond and depriving them of the real game experience is terrible. I know people think they are being helpful doing this and this is what constitutes a good community in their opinion but choices have consequences. And I believe we are reaping what we sow right now. This may or may not be the biggest culprit that contributes to the declining population but I believe it is an important one that should be recognized.

I initially went down the route of investing heavily into the cones from Leviathan with more conventional slotting via artillery and other sets to shore up AoE. It was more AoE for sure but slow as heck as you noted. With the introduction of the Ice Mistral set I revisited my bane and respecced it to only use Arctic Breath as a proc monster and that's working out significantly better. Kill speed matters and Quality > Quantity. I want to re-emphasize that the lack of AoE burst is the biggest weakness for Banes. No DDR, no reliable AoE soft control, no heal or click temporary god modes, and a heavy single target focus makes it weak against large packs of enemies with debuffs. And you can't overcome that weakness by sacrificing slots to build for more defense and more resists when you are going up against the likes of vanguard/rularuu/resistance that can strip all of that away in a few seconds. Kill speed matters, and killing stuff fast has side benefits such as mob fear AI and too few build makers recognize these subtle in game mechanics and instead push for that 45% def/75% resist build goal like it's the holy grail. Likewise going thematic with mace mastery isn't the best choice if performance is a priority. I know there are people that want that thematic match and that's fine, that's a conscious decision they make and I hope they recognize the pros and cons of going that direction. But if they recognize the weakness with Banes and they want to patch it up, ditch shatter armor and take Arctic Breath.

If the rest of my rotation are enhanced like that I agree, but they are not. This is a power with base 32 second recharge which recharges in about 9-11 seconds pending FF procs in my build, and it consumes 19 end. It's also a mid-late game pick where you are either at a point where you are able to slot the recovery procs and such into health/stamina to shore up your end management, or you have incarnates that can eliminate any endurance woes period. My point is that AoE alpha strike capabilities will make Banes more well rounded and this is the best option from a performance perspective. There's nothing that compares to arctic breath and this power alone elevates your AoE volley from pew pew status to a mini-nuke that you can use every fight. Take this, completely proc it out, and watch your AoE go from "can't even kill minions" to actually meaningful with stuff falling over DED. AND you still get the benefit of some incidental -def and -res debuffs on those that do survive.

The problem with Banes in my experience is that they are not suited for a war of attrition against large packs of moderately difficult enemies that bring debuffs to the table. Whereas some of my blasters can nuke the spawn and trigger mob fear AI, end the fight quicker and survive, Banes do not have that luxury of killing stuff en-mass quickly and that becomes their undoing when fodder are allowed to live to stack up cascading debuffs. Sometimes the best defense is overwhelming offense, but even with the grenade attacks, a Bane's overall AoE alpha strike capability is still lacking. I see a lot of banes taking the thematic approach for mace mastery for a -20% res single target attack, emphasis SINGLE TARGET. It doesn't really patch the AoE weakness. There's a lot to unpack here. This is the complete package - AoE mitigation, damage, debuff all rolled into one. If you want combat effectiveness this is a far superior choice to shatter armor because it helps thin out the fodder that if left unchecked, can stack debuffs on you that leads to cascade failure. If you built your bane halfway decently, you are not in need of yet another single target attack even if it carries a 20% -res. Thanks for attending my TED talk.

Blacksmith Panda is now 29 levels wiser and picked up a new gig. Wait, he's still not getting paid.... Come to think of it, he hasn't gotten paid for anything....

I have a feeling we are not talking about the highest DPS fire/fire/fire build anymore. That highest DPS build might be too "HOT" to handle for the OP And it looks like the defensive hover build has "MELTED" away other alternatives. I'll see myself out...

91 - 48 - 34 Invul/Fire Tanker Thus Blacksmith Panda is born. Here he is doing some contract work for the midnighters And he did not get paid... Now he's a saaad panda.

This is why we need a guitar case as a costume weapon option.

You came to the same conclusion about Hot Feet as what I've been saying for ages: Auras that can be detoggled on blasters are trap powers if you actually intend to use them rather than have them as mules for set bonuses. I suspect this is a carry over from melee players who are indoctrinated into the school that damage auras are "free damage" and adds a lot of value on Melee AT builds. I don't disagree with that, but that doesn't carry over well across to blasters, and blasters are not designed to stand in one spot chipping away at one foe and letting the aura nick away at the rest. If you desire a smoother attack chain at lower levels proccing ring of fires is a terrible idea. Powers with low base recharge don't proc well, and you are better off switching fire blast for flares. Flares has higher DPA than fire blast and can basically chain itself. On your note about endurance consumption. Have you looked at the recovery numbers stamina offers vs Cauterizing aura? The reason you are starved for end is because you chose to 2 slot cauterizing aura not with endurance mods, but with heal. Did you feel that healing made any significant contributions to your survival? Again I'll echo what I've been saying for ages about blaster sustains - their primary purpose is endurance recovery, slotting them for heal/regen won't significantly impact your game play whereas slotting them for end mod will. On another note, panacea +end +hp is way better than a Numina in health. I'd also recommend digging deeper into the flight pool for evasive maneuvers for more combat mobility. Mobility is key for melee heavy blasters. I would have preferred Combat Jumping + Super speed as that is the most power/slot efficient way to achieve good mobility AND invisibility. If you didn't know, SS + a stealth proc makes you invisible to almost all mobs. But if you are enamored with hover then I would try to fit in Evasive Maneuvers. I prefer SS+combat for it's ability to joust, but flight does have it's merits in difficult encounters where keeping out of range is advantageous. In those scenarios I just use a P2W temp jetpack. If you subscribe to the idea that hovering keeps you safe then powers that requires you to be on the ground and powers with small radius have poor synergy with that game plan. It's blasphemy to some firex3 blasters but I prefer combustion to fire sword circle for that kind of game play as it has a larger radius which allows you to use it while hover safely above mobs. Most people crap on it because of the animation time but why does that matter if mobs can't reach you to swing at you? Similarly I'd ditch burn - small radius and requires you to be near the ground to use. Lastly I really don't get the popularity of Firex3. I wonder if it's popular because people really do dig the thematic approach or if people really believe Firex3 is the build that does the most damage because they just blindly believe what they are told from the help/general chat in game, and they don't look at the actual nuances surrounding balance between survival and damage, synergy, game play and strategy to see how it'd actually play out. Fire blast is so good it can carry any secondary, and aside from people clamoring about FSC, maybe burn from a damage perspective, there's not much that else that gets high praise in fire manipulation.

There are a few ways you can approach this and it depends on your play style and risk tolerance. Of all your attacks only 2 requires you to be in melee range. There is a huge incentive for you to use hail of bullets, but not so much trip mine or time bomb (FYI trip mine is the better pick between the two because of the recharge). So from a survival standpoint are you getting scorpion shield just so you can survive the 3-4 seconds those powers require you to be melee for? I've put together some videos that demonstrate how to minimize your melee exposure while using melee/Pbaoe attacks. If you are comfortable using those techniques then you might be able to shift your defensive focus further away from S/L. There's nothing wrong with staying on the S/L and Range defense route, however, defense shields like scorpion shield offers another slot for LOTG 7.5 which is always nice. However, depending on your comfort level with those techniques and how you use the other tools in your kit like caltrops, you may be ok with not investing as much into S/L defense. I will say that if you stick with the S/L and range defense route and want to get S/L to respectable levels on a device blaster, then you will have to mule powers like boxing/kick even though they will never get used. Ponder on that for a bit and figure out which direction if the best fit for you. For now I'll focus on feedback on your revised build. 1 - Turn off the green dot next to hail of bullets. It gives a momentary buff to positional defense that skews your totals. Without it you are at 39% range defense. 2 - Time bomb is generally regarded as garbage. Trip mine has a shorter recharge and if anything serves as a one slot wonder for the force feedback proc. You can lay the mine even with no mobs around and it will have a decent chance to trigger the proc. 3 - Suppressive fire does low damage and conventional wisdom is that it's better served as a proc-monster attack. However, I'd argue that you can just as well replace suppressive fire with Taser with the same slotting if you prefer to keep the recharge bonus and squeeze a bit more damage out of the power that you slot with Apocalypse. 4 - If you slotted piercing rounds with frozen blast just for the slow resist then 2 pieces is enough. Another way you can shuffle that is to just dump 2 frozen blast pieces in to caltrops, so you can slot piercing rounds with something else that gives you more relevant bonuses. 5 - Shield wall gives a beefy +hp bonus at 3 slots, you can poach a slot from combat jumping and add it to Weave, then replace the 2 LOTG with shield wall. 6 - You can also replace the 3 gift of the ancients in scorp shield for 3 reactive defenses, def, def/end, and the +res unique. 7 - If you want to be effective exemplared, the level at which you pick key powers is important. Hail of bullets is your nuke, it should be taken at 32. you can defer tactics as a later pick. Targeting drone will give you enough to-hit already. The only reason I would take tactics on a device blaster is to get to Vengeance for that LOTG 7.5 to be honest, or if I'm going completely proc monster with my attacks such that I slot very little accuracy in them. 8 - I'd take out the decimation build up proc in executioner's shot and replace with a 5th winter's bite for range defense. It will have a very low proc chance and it's not going to be all that effective in executioner's shot. 9 - I would also swap the sets between time bomb/trip mine and hail of bullets. You'll use HoB more so stick the set with the damage proc in there.

Next topic - AoE radius and positioning. I see a lot of hover blasters use their PbAoEs Nukes like inferno/nova close to the ground right in the center of a dense pack of mobs. Why? They don't understand that PbAoEs are spherical. Similarly you can tag mobs on different elevation levels with your PbAoEs if you position yourself correctly. Here's a clip that highlights how.

In retrospect I probably should have reserved a few posts for subsequent topics. Oh well. Here's the next topic: Pulling. It's a lost art. Teams don't experience the type of overwhelming odds that require tactics/pulling today and most people have no clue to to execute a good pull. So here's a clip highlighting how to pull off single pulls with consistency. TL/DW version: Have some form of stealth Use a low damage attack Pick mobs at the perimeter of the pack Move and break line of sight as quickly as possible after the attack, even on a miss. (You can see I applied the concept of jousting - using momentum to carry me past the point of execution, in a few of my pulls) But there is more to this. For this to be effective on teams, each member of the team needs to be out of line of sight. If mobs see any teammates they can and will trigger their aggro alert and that can result in multiple adds. That's why it's important to tell your teammates to stay back and wait. A lot of pulls go bad because of curious observers or overzealous melee trying to "protect" the puller.

Now that we are allowed to post videos again I think it's time I put together some videos highlighting some blaster techniques/tips/tricks, these are not just for blasters though, you can use these for any AT that you play. First up I want to tackle this notion that melee/pbaoe powers means you need to build for a significant amount of S/L or melee defense on a squishy AT like a blaster. I see this mentality a lot - "oh inferno/nova etc requires me to go in melee so I need melee defense!" No you don't. Most players don't understand the power of movement. Rather than me explaining it with words and stuff, this video demonstrates the concept. In the video I intentionally turned off scorpion shield to bring my S/L defense down. By using this technique commonly called "jousting" you can minimize your exposure to melee, and thus minimize your exposure to melee retaliation. The absolute wrong way to play a blaster, especially one that's heavily invested in melee attacks, is to stand still. If a mob can't reach you to use their melee powers they are either shooting you or chasing you. And if you happen to have high range defense you can deflect a good deal of ranged retaliation. Use that to your advantage. Generally speaking, mob melee attacks hit harder than their range attacks. Standing still is basically inviting mobs to walk up and slap you around. This can be done by pressing the attack just as you jump away or run past the mob. The momentum will carry you and you will animate the attack away from the point of impact. This technique can also be used by melee ATs for the Battle Maiden fight in Apex TF. When you see the blue patches on the ground, joust away your attack and move out of the patch. One last tip - The celerity/unbound leap stealth procs are cheap and there is no reason not to stick one in sprint for any AT that you play, but especially squishy ATs. The stealth it offers allows you to make your approach without getting shot up before you can get your nuke/attacks off.

Blasters, I always hide behind them. It works 100% of the time, 50% of the time.

Field operative should be taken at level 20, it will solve all your endurance problems, and I would slot it with end mod rather than pure defense. Acrobatics is not that useful, one sleep/stun and you are still mezzed. It's even less useful when you layer high defenses on top of it. You have to dig deep into the jump pool for very little return. Gladiator's javelin in pistols just for the 3 pts of kb is also overkill. PVP builds need a butt ton of KB protection, PVE builds don't, and yours is not a pvp build. 4 points is enough for most cases and you can get that from the blessing of zephyr IO. There are wasted slots in those powers that you 6 slot, I'm looking at dual wield, executioner's shot, hail of bullets, the 6th slot doesn't do anything meaningful for you. 5% toxic/psi Defense isn't going to save you when you have low tox/psi defense to begin with, and likewise for fire/cold defense. You are also missing the defiant barrage ATO set, it's a good set, you should fit it in. You are also missing force feedback proc opportunities, everyone loves more recharge, and that proc can go into a number of powers including: bullet rain, hail of bullets and trip mine. You also have lowish slow resistance, you won't notice the lack of slow resistance for most vanilla content, but take a spin against animus arcanus in night ward and you'll feel the hurt. Other things you are missing that you should absolutely try to fit in: Panacea +hp+end - it's better than all the other recovery uniques you can slot in health. Shield Wall +res Unbreakable constraint chance for smashing damage in suppressive fire FYI investing 5 slots to get 2.5 defense is really poor return on that investment generally speaking. There are edge cases of course. But for this build, there are better uses for those slots you dumped into Tactics and Weave. Take weave for an example. You get 5% recharge and 2.5% range def by investing 5 additional slots to it. If you remove just 2 slots and put those 1 each into super jump and superspeed you get the 2.5% range defense from 2 blessing of zephyr 2 piece bonuses. Take out another slot from weave and put it in trip mine and you get the 10% global recharge bonus from armageddon. Weave still have a total of 3 slots which allows you to slot 3 LOTG, one of which being the LOTG 7.5. You are able to net 12.5% more global recharge that way. For the first pass you can look at all the slots you invested that don't provide any meaning contribution towards the set bonuses you really want. Cut them, slot them elsewhere where those slots CAN make a meaningful contribution towards your goals. Hint: 2 piece rectified reticle provides far more S/L defense than 6 piece guassians.

Try Ward's arc from Night ward, you can access it from ouro. Bring a team or solo it with a spawn density for a full team. NGL I think you will get torn apart due to lack of slow resist starting at maybe +2/8

There are 2 things you need to be mindful of when making builds: 1 - Focus. Most builds out there lack focus and they try to do a little bit of everything and end up being not so good at anything they attempt to achieve. Know your game plan, know what powers and what set bonuses you need to achieve your game plan, and don't deviate from from that plan until you achieve your planned goal. For example, if my goal on a blaster is survival I'd try to hit the survival goals such as softcap range defense, before I start playing around with other ideas such as procs or other bonuses. 2 - Slotting efficiency. If you allocate just 1 slot to get 1.25% defense in one power and you have to allocate 5 slots to get 2.5% defense in another power, what's more efficient for your slots? Spotting opportunities like that is what top end builders do. A lot of average builds out there will 6 slot a full set into a power and call it a day. If you want to elevate your builds above those, understanding and optimizing your slots is the key. The very rare purple sets are a good example. If your build focuses on global recharge, you get that bonus at the 5 slot from your hecatombs, Armageddons, apocalypses. etc... Yet you'll see a lot of builds that slot the full set. What's that last slot doing for your global recharge? Absolutely nothing. Good builders will spot those, and move those slots elsewhere to squeeze in another recharge bonus or something else useful somewhere else. These two ideas also does not equate to cookie cutter builds. But just because you veer off the beaten path doesn't mean you can't optimize within your own framework of pool powers and power combinations. If you want to learn I can teach you. Here's some reading material to start:

If you want to try something weird and wonderful. Look no further!

Try the soul noir variant.

There is less benefit to shoring up melee defense when parry is used, and without parry you are not getting over the melee softcap even with an additional 5% melee defense from Sup GF, hence the emphasis on S/L def. 40+% S/L def standing with no buffs is pretty significant and that helps more than melee def when you are trying to "Tank Stealth" missions. Anyway the build hits the hitpoint cap as the OP requested assuming all +HP accolades. I would try to cram in Force feedback and other procs in, but the first sketch accomplishes the max HP request.

When I say procs I don't mean just one proc with the rest of the set. See the build I posted above your post. Here's the build breakdown: When rage crashes all that damage enhancement you put into powers go to waste. Proc damage is not affected by rage crash. So instead of slotting key spammable attacks the way you normally do, you stuff them full of procs and let rage take care of the damage and accuracy slotting that you'd normally slot those powers for. This also means rage is a cornerstone of your build and you want to double/triple stack it when possible which means the build will focus on recharge, not only from set bonuses but from generous amounts of force feedback procs as well. Global recharge helps not only rage but your other spammable powers come up faster, as proc chances are not affected by global recharge values. If you want to keep mu this is how I would do it: This Villain build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 49 Science Brute Primary Power Set: Super Strength Secondary Power Set: Radiation Armor Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Jab -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury%(5) Level 1: Alpha Barrier -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(7), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7) Level 2: Haymaker -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(13), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Hct-Acc/Rchg(15), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(15) Level 4: Proton Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(17), UnbGrd-Max HP%(17) Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(19), WntGif-ResSlow(19), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(21), Rct-ResDam%(21) Level 8: Knockout Blow -- PrfZng-Dam%(A), Hct-Dam%(23), NrnSht-Dam%(23), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(25), UnbCns-Dam%(25), FrcFdb-Rechg%(27) Level 10: Fallout Shelter -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27) Level 14: Hand Clap -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), PrfZng-Dam%(29), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(29), FrcFdb-Rechg%(31) Level 16: Radiation Therapy -- PrfZng-Dam%(A), Obl-%Dam(31), Erd-%Dam(31), ThfofEss-+End%(33), TchoftheN-%Dam(33), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(33) Level 18: Rage -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(34) Level 20: Beta Decay -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(34), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34), CldSns-%Dam(36), AchHee-ResDeb%(36) Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 24: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 26: Hurl -- ExpStr-Dam%(A), Apc-Dam%(36), GldJvl-Dam%(37), PrfZng-Dam%(37) Level 28: Particle Shielding -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(37), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg(39), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(39), Prv-Absorb%(40) Level 30: Boxing -- AbsAmz-Stun(A), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(40), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(40), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(42), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(42) Level 32: Foot Stomp -- PrfZng-Dam%(A), ScrDrv-Dam%(42), Obl-%Dam(43), Erd-%Dam(43), Arm-Dam%(43), FrcFdb-Rechg%(45) Level 35: Electrifying Fences -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(45), PstBls-Dam%(45), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(48) Level 38: Ground Zero -- PrfZng-Dam%(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(46), TchofLadG-%Dam(46), Obl-%Dam(46), Erd-%Dam(47), ScrDrv-Dam%(47) Level 41: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 44: Ball Lightning -- JvlVll-Dam%(A), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(47), PstBls-Dam%(48), Ann-ResDeb%(48) Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 49: Gamma Boost -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 1: Stamina -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(9), SynSck-Dam/Rech/Acc(9), SynSck-Dam/Acc/End(11), SynSck-EndMod/+RunSpeed(11) ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1377;667;1334;HEX;| |78DA5594DB6E12511486F73043B1B495B648CF9442A11C3B6DBD34319E6A13A5984| |61E0027B0A19350200324365EFB0CDE1A0F97C6638C5EFA003E454D5A6B0F266AA2| |170697B3FE9DB613862FFBDF7BFD6BADBD67A6707F75B05A5DBB2AB4811B75ABDD2| |E5D77BA1DE92B966DD9284B5DD0E5A37BCA954B055997D22C765BD229153B8E6CD4| |3A9B619E5A9555D9684BF3AE55B1AD8EDD6C94AE395B4D470C6E349B75735D5A2DB| |B51F3BB83624BCA4A40E915E9B437EDD6903B5EB36B9B1D5A18BAD9B2CB2692764B| |05ABDD91CEF6045512A13BAAD1DFFF5B889E211E53952B86F03C019F328D67E073E| |68B8593208FF8C962DF2FF037739E1668CA595BF0B8E260124C31CFA7C10CF32539| |EBCA5987F3309C87FF30C7681BBDCAD91BD25C71F42F0DC3C4695E74210FFE60266| |8998FEBE9797D6D4E3796052DCD0D9ED8026FB13EF590F98ACAEA4746D17F911D63| |54C600446D202B38028CD3C410D2E943DB641334C40CD2CEEC182E6761FF9AEC039| |ABBA33D6F008B6605A7993DF2B835CD8DEACC09D6E7AE3093143682606DE412C1D0| |45147C43CE414C1AC11D768A7E017799F37BE0272E73841A0BA96E43D8DF2089E34| |A1C8F7297291226559793E8727E851B88E7B8C0381A7A4BB54CC3C13BBD87C9AFCC| |857DF01B7880EE0E991AA50FAB330FDF66C7641E5C67A60BE01D900222EACC23282| |3FD806BCF607F33D8DFCC659ECFE150EED1744C70463DF69E4F2CF711FCC0264B1E| |AFCB77D45B42F59640A6C53E3EB1C5CF1823A3898C262AD1A9B794DADAD4383F821| |6ADCD42D4B3314422DD924ABF8B17931C4CE560E2C4F269219695B8FC088F9E21D4| |D5A31F5D62CD38799B7BEBA706F42A72D086A134123537E8D07F7ADD2297737C468| |C726D4767C414AFFCEE3FFDD9D9E74D3D77001E32FD47E031F31F8452BFAB| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|