Bob the Painter

Hit me with any feedback you might have on this build. I wanted to try out /Stone on Scraps. Rad/ seemed like it had synergy. It was a big end hog leveling, but with accolades, IOs, and incarnates its finally manageable. It feels very sturdy, but not particularly fast. Is the slow pace just the feel of the set? My thoughts with the pairing going in was Mud Pots would keep mobs slowed in all of the patches and pbaoes. That doesn't seem to work at all. I haven't noticed Mud Pots affecting mobs' movement in a meaningful way. Mobs flee like crazy. Its so annoying without a taunt. I grabbed Melee Hybrid to keep them on me at least some of the time. Not having Assault Hybrid hurts my soul though. Should I get Ball Lightning or another patron aoe? If I sacrifice Body, might need to switch around incarnates plus find the slots to fill out an attack. How is Irradiated Ground? Should I proc it more? Maybe add -res? Thanks in advance. I know Mids is a bit wonky still with the new content. I hope that what I have is a somewhat accurate representation of the build in game.

Below will probably be my final build. Don't foresee tinkering with it any more. Not that its perfect,. I am just comfortable with how its performing and am tired of /respecing. Some points: I was not even close to the recharge necessary for either of the attack chains above. Without agility, ageless, and some serious build squeeze, not sure where a person would find the recharge necessary. As such I've readded Titan Sweep for AoE. I am particularly careful to avoid its slow animation. I've also kept D. Sweep, but just as a LotG mule. Once the FF procs are soaked, I can reliably bounce a mob with the three AoE attacks I have. I considered going Mu for Ball Lightning. Would mean dropping Shadow Meld, but might be worth it. Moonbeam feels nice in the chain. I squeeze it in after Critical Strikes procs, and other times if I need a quick spacing attack so I can better time momentum. This does not exemp well at all. Content too low for Arc really hurts dps as it has the Crit Strikes proc. No crushing blow hurts the early levels as well. I also feel like /rad really needs its absorb shield. Without it, I feel extra squishy. Meltdown has good up time, its a great in between mobs button. My end drops a bit after the crash, but never bottoms out. I'm able to keep chugging despite it. I can't tell if I should stick with barrier for the def cap or switch to ageless. I feel like its always a tough choice, but especially this build. Do I really need to be at the cap with the generally high res, meltdown, absorb, regen, and beta decay debuffing enemy acc? Hopefully my journey can help inform others' builds. As always looking for feedback and any positive criticism.

Another iteration of the build. This one feels more tuned to late game, and may not play as well exemped. Need some more first hand experience to really judge it. Changes: Dropped titan sweep. While I think essential early, once you get the Arc and Whirl, titan sweep's value drops tremendously. Its slow animation is so slow and the pay off doesn't feel great relative to the other options. I wanted to keep S. Avalanche for the +def. I felt like defensive sweep was a good landing spot. Also allowed me to grab a 5th LotG recharge slot. Dont plan on actually using the power all that much. Because I took Defensive Sweep, I feel like I had to drop Crushing Blow. Taking both T1s feels like a waste. I like C. Blow because of its faster-slow animation. The three Scrapper's Strike from C. Blow were moved to Arc—again to keep the +def. I don't know if this is the right move. It adds a lot of recharge to the power which could drop its +crit proc chance. Not sure where else to stick the three piece. The slots I gained from dropping Titan Sweep were moved around to other powers. None of the slots new homes seem particularly vital, mostly QoL on some lesser powers and +recovery. Based on what I've read on other posts, the ideal chains are: AoE: Arc -> Whirl -> repeat? ST: Arc -> Rend -> Follow I hope I have the recharge to actually pull this off. I'll need to hit 50 on the new toon to actually test it. With the FF procs and Beta Decay, its hard for me to tell based on Mids. I'm sure those better versed in Mids-Fu could enlighten us. Still don't know how moonbeam fits in. Is it a dps gain in st? Is it just a utility power for runners in like a baf situation? Just an expensive mule? Let me know what yall think. I feel like the more I tweak this, the more questions I have. Excited to continue playing this toon and exploring the set combination.

Thinking about the build, I'd rather be at 40 def then use barrier to hit the soft cap rather than be in the strange place in between. It means I cant use ageless, but that seems like a fair trade. I wont have any ddr, but c'est la vie. The slots that were in kick were freed up to better round out other powers. Build with minor changes below. Let me know what you think. New Concerns: Crushing blow feels strange as it is. No idea how much I'll need to use it. If I do need it, is it strong enough as it currently stands? How much of an issue will end be? How does Moonbeam fit into the chain? Is it only in between momentums? Should I trade a FF proc or two for a dmg proc? If so, where? Hows Arc slotted? Feels weird, but think it checks out. The lack of end reduction might bite me.

Below is my first crack at the build. I played a TW brute a few years ago, enjoyed the experience but shelved it for newer, shinier toys. Decided to try out the set again since it was tweaked a little while ago. I have no idea how this will play at higher levels. I feel like it could be alright, but I am certain it has room for improvement. Did I mess up anything spectacularly? Any tweaks, small or big, I should make? Appreciate any positive critiques. What I'm most unsure of: Think I struggled in particular with def versus other needs with the build. Do I benefit from that many FF procs? Will I struggle with end until ageless? Thanks in advance.

Enjoying this combo more as I go on. Lv 40 now, and having a blast. I took a look at the Kin/Rad thread thats currently nearby on the forum. I was able to steal a few ideas, but couldn't really proc it out to the same degree. I don't think Thermal, or really any powerset, can leverage procs as well as Kin. I did sprinkle them in where I could. Moon, I get what you're saying about an over emphasis on survivability, especially on toons that are more support focused. I just dont want to melt any time I am slightly caught out, which has happened a few times. Below is a slightly modified version of the build. Still welcome to any positive criticism. Let me know what improvements you think can be made, major or minor.

I've played a number of damage focused characters, but this is my first Defender. Feel a bit lost on the slotting. I found a few other builds that I synthesized together to get what I have. Any help, especially power choices and slotting, would be appreciated. Why I chose Thermal/: I like that thermal is a generalist. The res shields seem like theyd be more beneficial than the def shields in other sets. Melt armor seems like the most important power in the set, but it comes late and has a long recharge. I really want to leverage as much -res in the build through procs and recharge, while hopefully staying alive. Why I chose /Rad: I'm not a fan of fire. It is mechanically strong, but it doesnt do anything for me. I have an Ice blaster thats fun, but I want to try something new. I've tried water on a corruptor, but didn't dig it. I felt like the two choices left to me were Dark and Rad. I like the -def packed into rad for procs. I also read that rad in general is a good set for procs. No idea if thermal is in a strong enough place to be able to make the sacrifices necessary for more procs. Hopefully you all can help in that department. Questions on power choices: I like the res shields, but do they need to be slotted as much as I have them? Do cauterize and warmth both have a place in lv 35+ gameplay? I'm not usually a fan of rune of protection, but is it the best fit for this combo? Right now I have S/L/E def caps, should I finagle the build to instead cap ranged? Whats the best way of doing that? Build below:

Since i27, my Sav/SD has been collecting dust. Kinda want to dust it off, but I think it needs a new build after the hemo nerf. I misplaced my previous build, but I threw this one together. Any improvements you think can be made? ST might be lacking without the old hemo, but AoE should still be gnarly.

I hit 50 a few days ago. Chipping away at incarnate content now. Been a lot of fun seeing big numbers pop on nearly every attack. I modified my build somewhat. Some changes that I made: Have the build up proc solo in a t1. If I remember correctly the proc will only fire on a map after you've used the power so I have to remember to throw a meaningless punch at someone once in awhile. Moved kinetic combat to Bone Smasher. Its in the rotation, I don't know if it should be. Its def the weakest attack in the chain. I want the +def from the IOs, and I need a filler in between ET's fast recharges. Feels like an imperfect solution, but the only one I can come up with. Trimmed my end IOs. Particle shielding fixes most of the issues. I still slowly trickle down, but like one blue every 3-4 minutes sustains me in protracted fights if the team lacks any kind of end boosts like ageless, Kin, elec, etc. The build feels pretty good, but I think it can get tighter. Just not sure how to do that at this moment. Some issues I still have: I really slotted for +def IOs to hit s/l def caps. I generally feel beefy, but every know and then I'm reminded of my shortcomings. Hard. Rad doesnt have any ddr, so it gets stripped away pretty easily. Dunno if that means I should peel back the focus on def. Or find DDR. Only way I can think of ddr is through Ageless. I'm split on the best destiny choice. My first inclination was barrier, but the ageless ddr would be nice. I'm not sure how much more the build would benefit from recharge. Not that it is ever bad to have more. Im thinking of the opportunity cost. This melts bosses and lts, but only one at a time. The aoe still feels lacking. Part of that is just being a stalker, but I think it can be improved from where its at. Ground Zero is on a long cooldown. I'm wondering if it would be better to go Mu for epics for Ball Lightning. I'd lose a LotG slot and the pre-alpha button of shadow meld. I'd probably cut ground zero for ball lightning in that case for slots. Having an every spawn aoe attack to go with power crash would be good. The other solution is to proc RT and GZ more than I currently have. I'd have to rework most of my attack slots to make that work as I'd lose a chunk of def. Do I have enough Procs? Feels like I do. Its always a fine balance, and one I'm unsure if I hit the target. Below is my chain for most fights. Its long, but I think that actually helps the hide proc. I get TF to crit nearly every time which helps me squeeze in two fast ETs. FLEX is usually bone smasher, but I also put BU if its ready or particle shielding if its been awhile. BU -> TF -> ET -> FLEX -> MB -> ET -> AS -> TF Let me know if you have any thoughts. I'm always looking to improve the build!

Hi all, Looking forward to starting another Stalker, this time an EM/Rad. I've seen a few in the wild recently. They all seemed to kick some butt. Below is my build. I've added some thoughts I had along the way. Have yet to start it, just in the planning phase now. With all the purples, this is an endgame build—something to work toward. I have been interested in EM since the patch dropped. Had to decide what AT to roll it on. It was between a stalker and scrapper for the crits. I just finished a scrapper, figured a tiny bit of variety would help. I mulled over the secondary for a little while. Thought EM might benefit from more AOE, which narrowed my secondary choices down to Shield, Bio, and Rad. Shield I've done several times. I like it, but I want something different. Bio I think is better on other ATs so I'd save it's freshness for another toon. Nin was also in the running, but it lacked the AOE of the other three. EA is good on everything, but for whatever reason having a matching primary and secondary is a no-no for me. Maybe it feels too obvious? For epic pools, Soul for shadow meld is almost too good to pass up on a res or mixed armor. Not sure what the second place choice would be. Maybe Body? The /rad I mostly copy and pasted from another stalker I began but never finished. I received help from this board on that end. For the EM/ half I was building it from scratch. I imagine my ST chain looking something like: Build Up -> Total Focus -> AS -> Energy Transfer -> Moonbeam -> ? Not sure where my recharge will leave the chain. Dunno when I can loop it back to the start. Barrage could be peppered in, but right now its just a mule. I hope for AOE a focused Power Crash, Radiation Therapy, Ground Zero, and Judgement will do me. Please, if you see an improvement, big or small, that could be made let me know. Thanks, everyone.

Thanks again for your input Croax. It's been awhile since I used Shadow Meld. For some reason I thought it had a duration of 30 secs and was therefore more foundational to a build. Now that I actually checked the power, you're right. My build wouldn't function at all lol. Thanks for sharing your build. I'll likely steal most of it. I'm excited to see how it performs!

Hey Paragon, I'm building yet another stalker. Can't seem to get enough of them. I really wanted to try something with /rad. Heard good things about it. Couldn't quite decide which primary. I'd already done Sav, Psi, and StJ. Eventually I settled on Elec. Liking it so far, but I'm a little wary that it leans too heavily in favor of AOE and doesn't have a reliable ST chain. Anyone with experience with Elec or Rad, please chime in! They both seem like oddball sets, so I'm not super confident I nailed the slotting on my first try. Thanks ahead of time, everyone. I'd appreciate any constructive criticism about general or specifics. What I'm specifically unsure of: Is this a good pairing? Do I have too many AoEs, especially for the rad abilities? I've read that Ground Zero and Radiation Therapy can be great PBAoEs. Did I proc them out correctly? Are they even necessary since I have an AoE heavy primary? Is Particle Shielding underslotted? What does my ST rotation look like? How are my res/def numbers? Should I move things around to increase them a bit? If so, how? Is my accuracy good enough? I was mulling over losing a travel power for tactics. Dunno if thats necessary.

Thanks, Croax. This was exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I hadn't really considered my attack chain before. I figured I could drop it easily enough. But maybe not. I hadn't considered the -res proc at all. While leveling, I am using Sweeping Cross. However, it feels a little slow and it does not land particularly hard--especially as a crit finisher. The exception to this is when I happen to nab more than one target. For me, That feels more like luck than good positioning. I see your point about the really smooth chain maxing Focus Stacks and having a follow up crit. I guess I tried to out-think the game trying to find a non obvious answer to "good" damage when an easier option was staring me in the face. Playing a little more with energize, end really hasnt been an issue in recent levels. Body probably isnt necessary, especially with accolades in play. Mu feels like the way to go. I was kinda avoiding it because thats what I have on another toon. But if it works, it works. So I slotted Zapp out. Will use it as a finisher in place of CU when possible. I think the added damage is worth the loss in crit chance for AS. Haven't crunched numbers at all. I could be completely wrong. I forsee Ball Lightning more as crowd control-with the Ragnarok proc-and as a build up reset. Below is the revised build. Still not to 50, but plan to test it out soonish. Likely won't be able to get all of the purple IOs right away, but they'll come. Let me know if you see any areas that can be improved. Thanks again!

Hi folks, I've made a few other stalkers, but this is my first soirée with either Street Justice or Energy Armor. These forums have been a good resource to point me in the right direction. I again put my faith in you. Below is the build I've put together. I've found a few other StJ/EA builds on here that I used as a framework. However, the builds that I found had defenses that seemed excessively high, like in the 60+ region. If there was a reason for that, please let me know why Energy should build for def way above the cap. If there isn't a reason other than a cascade buffer, I figured I'd try to reallocate resources to boost damage where I could. I'm only in the mid 30s on the toon currently, but marching to 50. I'm not married to anything in the build. One point I'm unsure of is which epic pool to choose for StJ. I feel like it might need an aoe to supplement it. I wondered if Fireball was worth investing in. Or perhaps another like Ball Lightning or Water Spout. Currently just have Body because it felt like a safe pick. Thanks in advance for your help! *Note* Energy drain is empty because I planned to slot it with Power Transfer. Is this a good spot for the PT proc? Should it go somewhere else like Physical Perfection?

Still inching closer to 50 at this point. I've had some time to tinker with the build. Have some points that I'm still unsure about. The list below is a combination of discussion points above and what I'm iffy on. Beneath that will be the build as it stands now. Constructive criticism appreciated as always! Thanks Doc and Mysh for helping me get to this point. I'm a little disappointed with Atomic, not that its bad, but it is not what I was expecting. I wouldn't call it a blapper set, more like a close range blaster? Negatron is good, but not great. The cast time on Atom Smasher makes me question life. Positronic for a T9 is underwhelming, and I would argue not worth taking. Atomic does have a few other tools like MA, which is fantastic for solving endurance issues early on plus has tasty recharge, and Positron Cell, which pairs well with the holds in Ice, that I really like. I want to like it more than I do. Maybe this is the standard for Blaster secondaries and my expectations were too high? I want to like Bitter Freeze Blast, but it is so... slow.... Half the time whatever I've attempted to use it on has been arrested and released on bond from jail already. Then when it happens to miss, I want to smash my head into the keyboard. I've left it off for this. Feel like an attack chain of Freeze, Bitter Ice blast, Negatron is good and reliable. I splash Positron Cell and Ice blast in occasionally depending on recharge. Ice Storm is fine as rains go, I've kept it and use it frequently, but I really can't tell how effective it is most of the time. For Negatron, Mids won't allow me to add Achilles Heel. Fairly sure in game I will be able to add it. If that is not the case for some reason, Hecatomb proc will take its place. Not confident where to stick Defiant Barrage. Blizzard didn't have a good alternative, but the Mez protection proc might find a better home in a faster power. I've hit softcap def for S/L/E, but not ranged. I couldn't figure out how to get there. Once I'm at 50, Radial Clarion and Radial Vorpal will help boost def temporarily if I'm crashing or getting beat up at ranged. At least, thats the plan. My Res is relatively low. Only 33 for S/L. Unsure if I need to push more for that or if I can forsake what I've pumped into it for an alternative, not sure what. I like procs. I'm unsure if I hit the sweet spot or if I sacrificed too much to cram them in. Overall, the build, mostly Ice, feels good. Love the control and damage, even if its mostly DoTs. Having fun and will keep playing through 50. Don't know if it'll ever be fully T4d, but its a fun toon nonetheless.