leeowensoas

In response to the original question of the thread this is really the best advice over any specific power set or combo. Especially doing the arcs in Atlas, Hollows, Faultline, Striga, Croatoa, RWZ, and Dark Astoria, which give 20 bonus merits for completing every arc in the zone. Add on 240 merits from running the Signature Story Arcs and 270 from exploration accolades, and you will have a great little nest egg of merits to get started. Like @Ignatz the Insane said a couple thousand merits is easily enough to get going at level 50. Even if you buy recipes directly with merits (which usually is less cost efficient than the conversion game), with 2500 merits you can easily buy both your ATO sets and pretty much all the “every single build” enhancements: the LotGs, Numina, Miracle, Kismet, Steadfast, PVPs, etc. Love the recommendation on WP as well! I personally picked SR because you essentially only *need* the two +def IOs to soft cap it, which even someone flat broke can get ahold of with minimal effort, but I’d say WP is probably a smoother leveling experience, and is the other set that requires the least build experience and investment to get to a good survivability baseline. Probably the two best “beginner” sets, though SR has a rougher go of it 1-35

I wasn’t trying to argue with anyone homie, so I’m not sure why I’m getting such a snarky tone back from you. I was just giving my personal 2 cents (which I gave as a disclaimer several times), and I certainly wasn’t trying to crap on Claws. Overall it’s probably the slightly stronger set, but the question was “why would I take Dual Blades”, so I offered my opinions on the things it does better/different from Claws; especially given that this is a thread where someone asked for advice, I tried to be thorough in laying out the distinctions. The length of my response was in no way meant to come across as combative or argumentative against your statement, and if it came across that way I apologize. I can get pretty enthusiastic about my two favorite sets lol

My pleasure! If you have any build questions or want me to mock something up for you for any price point just shoot me a message!

Haha brace yourself, here comes the sequel to my last novel: Thing 1: sooo many better weapon models/theme that isn’t just ripping off Wolverine. Obviously this has no bearing on numerical performance, but I can probably come up with 3 cool and original DB concepts to every 1 I can think of for Claws. Thing 2: flexibility - at low levels of recharge DB gets a better attack chain, this means for builds like WP or Stone that don’t benefit much from Global Recharge, you can essentially skip global recharge in your builds beyond tossing in 5 LotGs Thing 3: In terms of tangible benefits there are sometimes things that are hard to quantify with pure DPS numbers (though I’ll get to those in a moment). Biggest among this for me is that sustained DPS is only super relevant on giant hard targets. To me at least, DB attacks, especially loaded with procs which will always fire at a higher rate than they would in Claws powers, feel comparatively much more chunky, in terms of things like wiping out that last slice of health in 1 hit rather than 2, or quickly one-shotting a priority minion or Lt. Obviously in the long run that isn’t some tremendous advantage from a power gaming standpoint, but for standard gameplay at least, I find it makes your individual attacks feel far less anemic and more satisfying. Again this is more taste than anything but there are times it makes a fair amount of difference. From a more mathematical/power gaming standpoint: Claws demonstrably does better AoE damage, this is more or less beyond any sort of debate, Spin is king, especially with 2-3x Follow Up and the Critical Strikes proc in Follow Up. However, one thing that does help DB a bit is that Follow Up pretty much always demands fully slotted recharge, which means a much lower proc rate for the CS proc. By contrast, it’s not too difficult to slot minimal recharge in Blinding Feint (just the .2319 from the CS proc) and still get an optimal attack chain, which means a significantly higher proc rate and by extension, significantly more crits on your Sweeping Strikes and Typhoon’s Edge than you’ll get on Spin and Shockwave. While this certainly isn’t enough to catch up with Claws (which pound for pound is almost certainly the best AoE set available to scrappers, period), it does allow you to get DB to a pretty good place with AoE damage. However, and this is the BIGGEST one, I would consider these my two most played sets in the game, and at least in my experience, in all but the edgiest of edge cases, I have found DB to do better single target DPS than Claws. Due to Claws powers’ inherent low recharge and animation times, it doesn’t do great for proccing out (other than getting those lovely purple sets). Even though it may not seem that great of a difference at first, Ablating Strikes will always proc more -res procs than Slash, and Sweeping Strikes works in an additional -res. Blinding Feint will Proc more Critical Strikes than Follow Up. Beyond this, Claws demands such unreasonable amounts of recharge (which it fortunately makes easy to slot for with opportunities for every purple damage set) that you often either have to settle for an attack chain with gaps, a sub optimal chain, or sacrifice any other slotting options to the recharge gods. DB also has a crazy 213.5% global recharge chain like Claws, but the [Empower]->Sweeping Strikes chain requires wayyyy less recharge, allowing for better proc slotting and more flexible building, and thanks to the constant +100% damage bonus, can even outdamage the BF->AS->SS->AS chain when built right. At low levels of recharge, the BF->[Attack Vitals] chain has got to be one of the best DPS chain for any primary at <30% global recharge, while I find at such levels Claws’ single target damage really suffers, it is much more reliant on those double and triple stacked +dmg bonuses from Follow Up. Obviously there are other people who know more about these sets than I do (though for the DB/SR combo specifically I genuinely believe I may have thought about it more than any other person on planet earth lol, I spent a good 4 years just theorycrafting that combo on mids before the game came back), or are just better builders/number crunchers than I am, but I can definitely say in 90%+ of build situations, it will be easier to get higher single target DPS with Dual Blades, but Claws will always do better AoE. For instance, even paired with the legendary /Bio, I struggle to get Claws to comparable pylon times to my humble DB/SR.

Sorry for the long response but: My OG Homecoming character was chosen specifically because I felt it would be the cheapest scrapper to get up and running and I was in exactly your position. Dual Blades/Super Reflexes SR is definitely the easiest secondary to get to “good enough” survivability, requiring barely any defensive set bonuses or anything. In fact, grab CJ, weave and the two +def uniques and you’re pretty much soft capped with just level 50 IOs. Dual Blades is very easy to get an AV-soloing attack chain online without much in the way of expensive recharge set bonuses. The Blinding Feint->Attack Vitals chain is awesome, does decent passive AoE as a bonus, and only requires around 28% global recharge, which, bingo, Quickness takes care of the first 20%. Other than this, all you really need is the PBAoE (Typhoon’s Edge). Dual Blades does good single target and decent AoE damage without needing help from pools or epics, this chain is relatively endurance cheap, doesn’t require hasten, just a great reliable workhorse attack chain. the beauty of this combo is that so long as you have 45% M/R/A defenses and the BF->AV chain up and running, you don’t really “need” anything else (though I always take the PBAoE attack as well). This means you have a lot of room for flavor powers or more of your epic pool, and also means you can have a lot more fun messing with set bonuses one normally doesn’t get to build around, and there is a lot of growth potential to reward your investment. I’ve probably rebuilt this toon more than a hundred times haha! I’ve made all out damage builds focused on procs that took pylons down in 1:20-1:30, I’ve made builds that cranked all the resists to ~38 percent at FULL HEALTH and could pop Rune of Protection on top of that and were basically unkillable. I’ve make ridiculous theme builds that took and slotted powers or pools I’ve never even considered touching before! I’ve made SO builds that can do stuff SO scrapper builds shouldn’t be able to do. Whew! Sorry for unloading all that! This is something I’ve thought weirdly a ton about basically since the OG game got shut down, but it’s still my favorite build of all time and one that I hope I can inspire more folks to check out!

This is my current build. The empty slot is a force feedback | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1423;668;1336;HEX;| |78DA6593596F125114C7EFC020B20C8B1469A540A12D65A953A89A1897C4A5365A8| |B2121F1CD90B15CCA249342064CEC93EB27F0414DB46F5AF563F8EAFA35DCBAA84F| |46EB789873AE25E924E4C739F7FCCFFDDF73672A37E7FCCDE6FC192605CE1B5AB75| |BAF2D995AA7C34DF715AD77C3D40CD67FDCF08B8B957A851B9CAB15CDECE99A513F| |6BF6BAA9FF6B73BCC957BA5CADB5746E3444C8FCD576DB5017B9D6D15796153B98D| |7975B3D888262A9C1CD6E4BEF78EDB8D6E1BC11BED0D197D473EDC66ABDA2757BDC| |5C1D0623E3F07BD87724D9DE2C177BE364ACEC618EB7C47748F93DF10372DF47A45| |7191447255C0C20F77B8925A4F728B18CF4815822B143227180C42112FBA1C82976| |706EE0B6A16FC8039F889F91435F885F918FE16C2E21763D73D8C983CF89EBC8E11| |7C497C843AF681DC46E123337D953C08E47243D45662725A8F4896D7CB7B072E636| |F10EB27C97788F781FE904B122C44A0CFE25C0038D6C7496780499A411268FD1B4C| |04E50B26FC062C134DA79021DC3A263388BA749E690637962815844A65F03231E16| |848E11124B911D66DB295C86797A642643E7A8E81CDDC421A7B788DBC8F1EFC41FC| |49FC8308863421CF3E10126E89A2714A21F99A5D7201B443E05F188108F1C47CFD9| |13C8A993C453C4D3C8BC050F0BC189E2E2CAE2748F19E89710C74CD03DE6896BB09| |8C237D39253177106F94B348B056040668506164F731928B3306C93110E33BFD1C1| |F41FE20EF2F05FA24564389B1A609291C749B2B10E1D73C2782E4DAF3A248B54291| |5673139F30B1901E3AA68A3AEE18D0E41B22492253A7F4ADEFD70AD519989C7EAC7| |30B4C5BDA9AA2C149092ECD48677B70B556DEE4D6D0DA4247695BEEB05E094876D0| |F2C3AD8231C8BFF0132308693A8425159B8BD36186883C1F5C1E01FCE48D264| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Hard disagree. If anything I think it is incredibly underrated on Scrappers. My purpled out MA/SD does better ST and AoE damage than my purpled out WM/SD, and cheaper on End as well, and we all know how good War Mace is, so that’s sayin somethin. Dragon’s Tail, when used in combo with Eagle’s Claw and a Force feedback +rech is all the AoE you need, you can just constantly spam EC->DT->SK/CAK non stop, with Dragon’s Tail and the third attack getting GUARANTEED criticals whenever the CS proc fires (72% of the time as I have it slotted). Thanks to its blazing fast animation, DT does better AoE DPS and is therefore more spammable than almost any other scrapper AoE attack but Claws’ Spin, especially when it’s constantly critting thanks to Eagle’s Claw(+CS Proc). I legit sometimes forget to even use Shield Charge/Judgment because critical Dragon’s tail is so tasty and addictive to spam. I never even thought about taking fireball or cross punch or any other mediocre additional option, you’re better off just spamming more and more EC->DT. Hint: use Eagle’s Claw with the CS Proc and NO other slotted recharge in the power, and make sure to get a Force Feedback in Dragon’s Tail

That’s definitely not correct, since you could literally improve DPS just by reordering the attacks to BF->AS->VS->SS and get the AV combo. The mids calc definitely is a good starting point but doesn’t handle weird things like combo mechanics well. On a scrapper at least, Empower->SS is gonna do more damage, and BF->AS->SS->AS as well, though that one needs crazy high recharge. if you really want some good DPS, run Empower->SS, and get 191.5% global recharge, that way you can run Blinding Feint with the Critical Strikes proc and NO other slotted recharge, then the CS proc pops like 72% of the time so you get +100 dmg 60+%crit sweeping strikes (and nimble slash) Doing that and then loading Sweeping Strike and Blinding feint with purple procs (and minimal slotted recharge) and getting both -res procs going is about the best DPS dual blades can manage. I once got a 1:17 pylon time with my Dual Blades/SR scrapper using this approach the perk to using the BF->AV chain is it still does very good DPS while requiring essentially 0 Global recharge besides what you get from 5 LotGs, which means you can use your slotting for more Def/Res/Regen/Dmg/whatever. This is why Dual Blades is probably my favorite scrapper primary. It’s one of the most flexible primaries for sure in terms of build flexibility

Hey all! Just wanted to toss up my War Mace/Shield Defense/Body Mastery Scrapper build for the geniuses to tear apart! I feel like overall it's in a pretty good place, and likely just needs the finishing touches/minor optimization. Goal is to have an awesome all-around Scrapper: high ST and AoE damage, solid survivability, perma-hasten, and endurance stability. Any feedback that can be given is much appreciated! NOTES: 1. Incarnates are Musculature Core, Degenerative Core, Assault Core, Longbow Radial, Void Core, and Rebirth Radial 2. Single target chain=Clobber(CS Proc)->Jawbreaker->Shatter. By my math, if keeping the full 6 slotted Critical Strikes set, this does slightly better DPS than slotting the CS Proc in Jawbreaker. Slotting it in Clobber allows for a 61% proc rate, while in Jawbreaker it would only be around 44%. This also allows me to slot a Force Feedback proc in Jawbreaker, which is always a nice little boost for Build Up/Shield Charge/Hasten/double-stacked Active Defense 3. AoE chain=Clobber(CS Proc)->Crowd Control->Whirling Mace/Shatter (depending on positioning). This is the other advantage to slotting the CS Proc in Clobber. Getting 10x Crowd Control crits followed by 10x Whirling Mace crits is a sight to behold, and you can just do a constant loop of the 3 attacks, Clobber takes huge chunks out of Bosses while the other two attacks wipe out the minions/Lts. while CC is keeping everyone on their butts and getting consistent Force Feedback procs (as long as you're hitting 5+ targets with it. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1425;664;1328;HEX;| |78DA6593DB6E12511486F7C0506438F7C0A12DA5400BB4D0B178E7291AADBDA8AD6| |942A257A64E615348484B00137BE5F905BCF105B4EAAB787C0D6F7A50AF8C565CCC| |FAB7A57102F966AFBDD6AC7FFDB367EDC192AF565BBE2AB4C0F5A6D5E96C942B6DA| |BD5926DF72DAB7BBF6D3545FF72D33FAA7636D664534AF38E4577564526FFC59764| |4D6E77A459AE3764B3AA96C2B7BEB3D33457A5D56A6C6FF9EDC57263ABDEA59561A| |FCA2D29AB41955595ED4EBDD10ADF68352AE6B59DEA2E75E974657B374622327D21| |11A1AE1EFDE812869F161A875C628CEE4A1EE130C000534F1373C429E65092198BF| |46B352ED6B20E3BD9C8F7A90B638EE99BE7B8AFC00C3C677AA9B3139D1D4E740EA0| |63080A7C94E452F25C9011828C61C8189E1176F2E85727739F394EF2DC1AE4B9EFE| |9B69C88056E326315B0CA1C974C3F75F6A0B3F014B843845EA75705BDD0AC51D0AF| |34FA1F7270FC1173F231F88439F5147C8681A94D903DEC89608ADB4C92F030DE932| |BFC8BFD9AFACD7E4E1F837FC01E332578EA203D710472B4916342C223523779D349| |5AC7B0A98F4535DEFCC99B19F89B81BF99145E3B1545D580D1034E9E39048FC0EFC| |CEC37F0073341B3C4D52CF1F3AC357B8199BB085EE2197397997357B83844B34C28| |BF27E0779C9E9850A72EF10A157BC451E26B7EE2FC1BF02DEFCFBF838B549C54C54| |9585B84B545585A84A50BB0740147364C72D2CA88F47BA79D74F603F811FCC42C7D| |06BF30CB845935CB2C0ED41E3D31AF82F914B74B93DF05F5060BC85C0087A9C254D| |FB0798E2BC254B1A82A16E1532984A3A7FFF7D527F593AFBEB77A6ADFC3A3AEEB2A| |81829A5DB46F9C1409F2C6CE3B1C086AE236771C5AE1837370AA22CF15470341877| |8C9EDCEBC00A739699D924A4AE0DDC18535B8D81C5CFC05C509C3DC| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

You rock, Bill! Thank you! That’s good to know, especially for SR characters who do their best work at low HP

So the Preventive Medicine +Absorb is a must slot on pretty much all my characters. Supposing I have room for an APP Hold, is the Superior Entomb Chance for +Absorb worth slotting as well to add a second backup absorb shield? Or does only one or the other work? Same with the tanker proc (wrong thread for that but still would be good to know)? where my numbers/mechanics people at?

Thanks so much for the replies y’all! Has given me some good info!

Most of the guides I see still talk abt level 49 exemp farming which I know isn’t a thing anymore. I was trying to find something more current/up to date

Hey all! Just dinged 50 and purpled out my Claws/Bio and it is amaaaazing, Follow Up->Shockwave->Spin plus a damage aura is an absolute AoE blender. I mean taking on +4/*8 with NO incarnates levels of dope, given that it’s my first time building a bio, let’s just say I’m suitably impressed. I don’t have any dedicated farming toons, and I went broke finishing my guy’s build and need to make some money and get un-broke (and reimburse my other toon i mothballed to get this build complete). Of all my 50s (all /Shield or /SR scrappers or brutes), this guy seems like he has likely the best AoE damage. With no incarnates he can churn through the first mission of market crash no problem at +4/x8, which is a nice map for a more or less endless stretch of mobs to be dragged into the blender, they’re nice and close together and none are hidden in corners. He also slays Unai Kemen council earth maps at +4/8 no problem. He has at-or-near cap S/L Res, Shadow Meld caps all his defenses and only has a 10s downtime when necessary. However, as a new farmer, I have no idea what the best way to crank out money with this dude is. Just churning the first mission of the market crash TF and not finishing it doesn’t seem like it would be the most efficient (no merits, and fighting freakshow). My main source of money thus far is trying to churn each new 50 through every arc on Ouro for merits, though usually that’s not a great source for drops or anything, as I often speedrun them at 0/1. I’ve never tried architect farms, idk how they compare as a moneymaker or how this toon would fare on such things. I know how to make money converting yellow recipes, and always do that to generate some cash TL:DR my 50 Claws/Bio Scrapper does awesome AoE basically endlessly and can survive at +4/x8, what’s the best way to use this skill to make some damn money? P.S. anybody willing to show me how to do a key bind or macro to convert inspirations to damages. Again, first time trying out farming, but it seems like that would really be a huge jump in my effectiveness

Oh and I already have Speed/Fighting/Leaping