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madmalkav

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  1. Cool. I forgot the base teleport code. Maybe I’ll abuse that on my char that didn’t take a travel power and remember to prioritize travel powers on my other heroes. I didn’t take it since after playing red and gold a bit, I just wasn’t using it much. But I don’t mind just running around a bit with travel powers. I’ll be sure to do that on a hero to get that world feel.
  2. Most of my other chars were villains or praetorians in their teens, but I'm finding a whole lot of the missions I take as a hero in my teens and at least the start of my 20's involve running to different zones. Does it stay like this Hero side into the higher levels too? Villain zones seem great about sending you closeby or sending you off to kill something that is at least in the same zone. First Ward is a little more difficult than villain zones, but at least all the missions seem to be close to the mission givers and the mission givers seem pretty close to one another. Trying to play the hero content, it's been very hit or miss. Steel Canyon mostly kept me running around Steel Canyon, it felt like, but Skyway keeps sending me off to Steel Canyon and Boomtown for stuff, and in Talos Isle my first mission sent me to Founders Falls. I'm a newbie, so I always have to look up how to get to these other places too if I haven't seen them in the options on the tram. One Skyway mission was the worst, since it told me to go kill Outcasts, and I ran all over the zone looking for Outcasts before checking Paragon Wiki and finding out that I needed to look for them in other zones. It feels like it could've recommended a place in the mission text or put a star on my map. At least my villain quests normal tend to mention subsections of the zone I am in to go look for certain mobs. As far as good experiences hero side, Faultline and Striga were both pretty self-contained. Are there recommended zones for heroes that don't send you running all over the place maybe? I'm considering burning a respec to pick up a real travel power and prioritizing it on my other chars that want to stick hero side, but it is awfully nice having tough early, and I definitely wouldn't of felt this need on my villains (which all took travel powers from habit playing live and not having ninja run but would've been fine without).
  3. Yeah. My rough builds reflects the same. Just using el-cheapo builds, it looks like against S/L the Will would take a little over three times as many hits (except when popping a purple), and take those for 2.5 times the damage, so increase damage taken by around eight-fold but regenerate at 3x-4x the rate. The numbers against other damage types are a lot close though, and will would have a definite edge in regenning all the other stuff that hit, but then the invuln when building to a more expensive build becomes so ungodly tough that the lower regen is probably fine to shrug off the little bit of damage that gets through. Definitely Will is much better against psionic with both higher defenses and enhanced regen though, so there's always that. I'ld be interesting in seeing how the final numbers differ for a real build of SS-Willpower. I'll probably need one anyway to work from, since I'm leaning towards levelling both a Invuln-SS Tanker and a WIll-SS brute and seeing which one I enjoy playing more in practice. I still have an SS-Invuln brute parked at 22, so if I decide I prefer the brute AT but would like Invuln better, I could always level him up some more too. Anyone got a good SS-Will brute build, or can point me to one in the forums to get me started? I got my el cheapo build I tossed together that doesn't even manage to cap S/L resists, so I'm sure someone familiar with the powerset has better. I pretty much ported over a bunch of IO's from an invuln build where they would fit and stole a few tricks from willpower scrapper builds I had on hand, but it's definitely more a first draft that something polished to put a lot of time in. In a perfect world, I'ld have two SS-Will brute builds, one using relatively cheaper IO's to start with and one fully built out with purples to ultimately work towards, but beggars can't be choosers, so any build that gives me a good idea of where I'm going would be appreciated.
  4. Oh, is the brute number 0.75 instead of 0.65? I was just looking at Paragon Wiki, but I know it's old. Thanks for including enhancements. I knew I was forgetting something. I realized I left them off when I went I hit build up on a levelling scrapper and it only doubled the damage of attacks that were unslotted. I still only use 1.5 for fury, since that seems to be where the bar hovers in practice though. Maybe endgame or higher team size it is easier to cap out. I mean, it seems to stay really high on my farming brute, but still never maxed. But on my levelling brute it levels off around 1.5 when I'm running missions. So pre-rage: 0.75 + 0.75*2 + 0.75*0.8 = 3 (perfect world brute) 0.75 + 0.75*1.5 + 0.75*0.8 = 2.4 0.95 + 0.95*0.8 = 1.52 So the tanker does 50%-62.5% of brute damage pre-rage. Half damage is the floor I wanted to stay away from, but if it's only the early levels it isn't so bad. There's a hazy period in the middle, where the brute gets KO Blow and Rage first, but those levels go by pretty quick. Brute getting foot stomp early is game changing though, but I guess even six levels in your thirties is only a day or less of playing (talking from experience soloing story missions and what not, you could cheat through the rough period with some AE elite boss farming or team up through these rough levels too). And post-rage: 0.75 + 0.75 + 0.75*2 + 0.75*0.8 = 3.6 0.75 + 0.75 + 0.75*1.5 + 0.75*0.8 = 3.225 0.95 + 0.95 + 0.95*0.8 = 2.66 Then the tanker does 73.8%-82.5% of brute damage post-rage. It seems like a bad trade off pre-rage, but those levels go by pretty quick, and the numbers narrow after it. Even the pre-rage number of 60%-ish is something I could tolerate in practice, although I obviously prefer the rage enhanced numbers. I guess the numbers narrow a little more when you add like musculature or something, but I'm a long way from doing that on any character. I guess it only adds a third to 45% of base to both judging by the wiki. Overall, I think I'm going to level both a SS-Invuln tanker and an SS-Will brute and compare them in practice and then see which one I like to play more end game. I'm honestly not sure the massive damage drop is worth even the 20-25% hit in damage, but having a tanker might nudge me into taking some roles that I would normally avoid, and it looks like leveling wouldn't be as painful as it could be comparatively speaking.
  5. So I made two el cheapo builds (no purples or anything) using mostly the same IO's where I could to compare final numbers. The Invuln had well over 90% S/L resist and 52% S/L defense. The Willpower build only had 34.2% S/L Defense (a purple away from cap at least, but basically taking almost four times the hits) and only 74.7% S/L resist. Both had weaker defenses to other types (32%/40% Fire/Energy Invuln versus 26.6%/31.3% Fire/Energy Will) and Willpower did have three times the regen (and stacks more when surrounded) and better end recovery. The Will ended up with better psi numbers (16.5% def/8% Resist Invuln versus 22.5% def/46.6% Willpower), but still nothing stellar. I kinda suck at builds, so if anyone else wants to give it a shot, feel free. I don't know Willpower hardly at all, so probably missed some obvious picks I should've made for the powers. I just slotted things that were in my Invuln build where I could fit them in Will powers, and a little Doctored Wounds where they would fit (but not much, since I didn't slot all the way up to 50 or anything). I'ld share my builds to see if anyone wanted to improve them, but they aren't anything stellar. Just lots of Kinetic Combats and Reactive Armor with a little Luck of the Gambler where it would fit and a sprinkling of various unique IO's. And like I said, I didn't even fill them out until 50 (since I kinda don't know much about epic pools). Just wanted to see where I could get with around 40 levels of slots and some basic set IO's.
  6. I don’t have an example in front of me, but every time I see super strength attack chains talked about, it feels like they include an epic attack. That’s cool and all, but my super strength is more a Hercules or even an Incredible Hulk. I can’t see him throwing fireballs or shooting lasers out of his eyes. Am I really gimping myself if I cobble together an end game attack chain without an epic attack? Anyone tried this and have a good suggestion and maybe a recharge target? I’ld probably prefer to save Hurl for runners rather than use it all the time due to the animation time. I don’t mind using foot stomp for single target if there’s nothing better to do, especially since I’m toying around with the idea of a +recharge Proc in it if that doesn’t compromise my defenses. But I’m open to ideas. I’m leaning towards converse power and body mastery and just opting out of the laser eyes, but if there’s a pool I’m overlooking with a suitable attack that fits my theme better, I’m all ears.
  7. The defense seems like something I could get from IO’s, but I guess it would be more work. But Heightened Senses seems to give DDR, so in the end, it feels like I would be as defensive while having better Regen and recovery, which are possible in IO’s but not sure how final numbers compare. It seems like even blasters can defense cap these days. I’m sure invuln would have a big headstart trying to get defense up for incarnate though. I guess I’ld have to sacrifice some resists to get the defense too compared to Invuln, so Invuln would be tougher in the end. Would be interesting to play with builds and see how they compare, but I stuck at builds. Maybe I could troll the forums for some defense capped willpower builds and see how their defense compares to a Hyperstrike invuln. Neat to hear they fixed wills taunt aura. I was only playing it on scrappers since I thought that was still a problem.
  8. A lot of it comes down to numbers. I think my math is oversimplified, so I don’t trust it. If we’re only talking me doing a little under 2/3rd damage pre-rage and 80-85% brute damage with rage, and getting better survivability numbers while Ievel, plus being a bit cheaper to defense cap end game, then I’ld probably be happy leveling a tanker and learning to tank for what time I do have to team. If we’re talking doing more like half the damage or less, then I’m a bit more hesitant to commit. Maybe I should delve into the pylon thread and see if I can find some brute vs tanker dps numbers in practice rather than trying napkin math. Granted though, taking a brute, scrapper, or stalker (obviously non-SS if I didn’t stick with my brute) roll would probably be easier for my first 50 anyway, since they are all lower pressure roles, and I could always make a tanker later. I’ll probably end up taking my 30 stalker to 50 also anyway, when I’m in the mood for that type of stealthy boss killing play style. I just want to main something more I your face, either brute, tank, or scrapper; and since I’m leaning SS, either brute or tanker. I’ll learn a lot about the dps role if I team on my stalker though, well everything does except aoe since I chose ninja blade. Lol. But yeah, I spend most of my time soloing story arcs and what not, and only team when I occasionally have a chunk of time that I’m not distracted. So I’ll probably spend most of my time solo whatever I play. I’m probably a pretty bad MMO player, but it is easier to read mission text and clues when no one is waiting on you.. But I do like the idea of teaming some when time allows. Last time I teamed was on my controller in live though. Haven’t tried it on anything since coming back. But yeah, long story short, 75%-ish damage or so and less corpse runs due to being more durable is probably a trade off I’m willing to make, and learning to tank some would probably be fun. Half damage or less would probably make soloing too slow to be enjoyable though. I’m not exactly sure where tankers stand after the changes, I guess, and rage complicates things a little. So I’m not sure what I’ld be signing up for.
  9. So, I’ve heard Praetorian content is generally more difficult than old world. I honestly didn’t notice too bad a difference in the first 20 levels, and the story arcs are all pretty interesting. But I’ve ran two chars through part of First Ward now, and it seems more difficult than hero or villain in your 20’s. First, on my ninja blade stalker, I noticed that almost everything but ghouls prefers ranged attacks, so divine avalanche wasn’t helping much. Also, there’s a lot more psi damage. That doesn’t bother my ninja too much since his defenses are positional, but it’s definitely keeping me from heading this way on my Invuln brute. It’s also a pain on my primarily S/L resistant demons mastermind. I hear Night Ward is even more challenging than First Ward, but I haven’t tried it yet. Anyway, my point from the title... I’ve handled most of the First Ward bosses without too much issue. There’s a boss called Subjugator that often leads to the hospital for me. I’m not sure the best strategy for her. She summons some basic seers as support. I’ld normally just whale on the boss and clean up the minions later, but she consumes the minions to heal herself. So I think I should probably kill them first so she can’t eat them later. On my stalker, I just kept whaling on her until she was dead, but he was still running at base difficulty since I didn’t know to turn it up, and she was still a noticeable speed bump. First time (and only time so far) that I hit one on my mastermind who runs the Ward normally at +2, he went to the hospital two or three times. Psi damage isn’t my fort, and she does a lot. She does a hard hitting aoe psi attack, and she also has a mass confusion. If I’m not immobilized or held or confused myself (I should probably get some break frees for this chick), it seems to be helpful to run away for a min then come back to her. Anyone seen these before and have advice, so Ido t have to turn the diff back down, since I’m handling everything else without too much trouble?
  10. I know this question gets asked to death, but I’m pretty sure I want to commit to leveling a character that is SS with either Invuln or Willpower. Right now, I have a 22 SS-Invuln brute that I enjoy more than most of the other chars I’ve leveled to 22 (I wanted to see the different praetorian stories and try out some different AT’s and combos, but I know I haven’t tested any of them near enough... I mean, I don’t even have footstomp yet). He’s slow to warm up on the first pack in a mission, but maintaining rage isn’t too difficult these days, even with the difficulty set to low team size. I played a brute way back,, and it used to feel like a lot more work to keep their fury going. I normally float at around 150%. But I hear they just tweaked tanker damage and that they have a edge on AOE, and I love the idea of getting more out of foot stomp (although not getting it til 38 seems kinda rough). I don’t really understand how much damage I’ld be losing if I switched. Can someone more knowledgeable check my napkin math: Brute: 0.65 (base)+0.65 (rage)+1.5*0.65 (fury) = 1.95+0.325 = 2.275 Tanker: 0.95 (base)+0.95 (rage) = 1.9 And I guess since we are talking leveling, I have to consider that the tanker doesn’t get rage til 28. So before that; Brute: 0.65 (base)+1.5*0.65 (fury) = 1.3+0.325 = 1.625 Tanker: 0.95 So I guess there’s a pretty big difference the first 28 levels ad the. Then the gap gets a lot smaller after rage comes into play. They go pretty quick, but I’ld have to keep that in mind so I don’t get to disappointed the first 30 levels if I decided to switch ATs. I could throw in scrapper and stalker numbers for comparisons, but I know I like super strength so am not as worried about them. I have a 30 stalker that owns bosses, but he’s ninja blade so has no aoe and will never get one. I’ve got a 20 claws scrapper, so I know I like aoe’s. I think I can live with waiting til 32 or 38 for it. Spinning from level 6 on is pretty sweet though. I’m leaning super strength because I find it quite pleasing to knock stuff down. I might need to try street justice on a stalker later though, since it does some knockdown and also still gets aoe. But the claws and ninja blade animations are quick and they’re low end, and I really enjoy the defense of divine avalanche and the knock up of soaring dragon, but they don’t feel like they pack the same wallop as knocking things down with haymakers and knockout blows. That’s why I’m leaning into SS. I can always play those other chars more later though. It’s just about time that I settled on leveling something to 50. I enjoy my stalker, but it feels like I am cheating (and missing easy XP) by sneaking around. Technically, I could scrap it out with every group of minions I see, but I normally end up slipping by them. I kinda enjoy just wading into the fray on a scrapper or brute more, although I like having the option to choose to play my sneaky character and he’s my highest level guy right now. But I kinda prefer the idea of throwing a hunk of concrete at the nearest baddie and then punching them in the face. I like the numbers of Titan weapons and occasional knockdown with Titan sweep (knocking down a group of foes makes me happy), and all the 120 degree arcs (flashing steel being 30 degrees makes me sad), but every fourth attack or so being super slow kinda turns me off to the set. I’ve seen chains that show five attacks before getting back to the slow one, but it feels like every fourth one is slow mo for me. Anyway, SS seems to have nice animations and lots of knockdown, and a great aoe if I stay the course. So long story short, I’m going to main a super strength char of some type and keep a stalker on the side, and probably going to put off trying these other chars more until after I have at least one fifty. I’m off topic though. Anyway, back to the main question, for soloing, 2.275 vs 1.9 seems pretty close. Or am I oversimplifying and missing something? And the tanker would get better defense numbers while leveling and be a little easier to IO out to defense cap in the end, but the brute due to higher damage caps would be more able to do damage on teams (except for the tanker getting an edge in aoe, but arguably if I wanted to be an aoe god, I should really just roll a blaster probably. I don’t find blaster so far to be a very enjoyable leveling experience, but maybe once I know more about the game or something. Debt isn’t as bad as it used to be though, but classes with defense give me more room to be a noob). The brute I could almost opt out of rage and still do close to a raged up tanker in damage, if I understand it right, and then not have to work around the crash. And in general, a single damage inspiration would do a lot more for the tanker than the brute, but the brute could do sick things with a tray of damage inspirations. Also, if I made a tanker and teamed, I’m guessing people would actually expect me to tank stuff and that I should probably make room in my build for taunt. That might be fun. I don’t know. I haven’t teamed much since way back in live, and then tankers were pretty good for herding up mobs and did a lot of corner pulling and dumpster diving and what not. Is there a good resource for what a tanker needs to know somewhere, or do you just pick it up as you go along? I guess grabbing some mobs and getting them in melee range isn’t that much different with a team than on your own. Tanking just sounds like there are complications I am missing since I’m a noob. I always thought tanking in a game would be fun, but most people let tanks lead, and I’m still pretty much a noob at this game so not the best leader. I’ve never even ran any of the major trials, much less learned where their ambushes are and what not. But am I better off just sticking with my brute with slightly higher damage and slightly more limited aoe, but less responsibility and maybe trying the tanker some other time for comparison? Just looking at the numbers, the trade off for tanker seems a fine choice, but I’m not sure who invested I am in the idea of actually tanking stuff.
  11. I seem to see a lot more invuln builds and questions than willpower builds on the forums. They both seem durable. Is Invuln just that much better for endgame content or is there some other reason for its popularity? I know I want to play a super strength character and with all the knockdown to let you get some healing ticks and will has the extra end recovery built in, so it just seems like it would be a nicer experience leveling. I only speak from my limited experience of a 22 SS-Invuln brute that definitely needs to slot some end reducers and occasionally needs to pop a green versus a 22 TW-Will Scrapper that can mostly ignore both bars and do his thing. Maybe I’m just at a sweet spot for Will and/or need to slot some end reducers in my Invuln though. Is healing just too good while my difficulty is low but won’t scale if I bump up the slider? My invuln brute was able to turn on bosses first, but I think that was primarily due to super strength juggling things versus invuln being any tougher. At 16 with the Regen when surrounded toggle will really seems to firm up. Is the end bar going to be a pain until I have incarnates. I’m not even running Fighting toggles yet and have to keep an eye on it, but it isn’t too bad yet. I’ve mostly been just slotting some accs and dams in their primary attacks, three slotted stamina, and three slotted each s/l resist with resist dams. I haven’t sprung for any of the recovery procs on these guys. Anyway, it’s hard to know what to prioritize when leveling when everyone seems to post set wearing end game builds. It looks like lots of chars get by with no end recovery option, and those that have something that helps end don’t even three slot stamina or their end recovery option, since I guess it’s more than they need.
  12. Yeah, it looked heavy on the melee. Temporal Manipulation sounds cool though. Maybe I'll try that.
  13. So I was thinking about trying a blaster. I wanted to work from range. Maybe with hover. I was thinking Fire/Something. I played Fire/Energy Melee back in live, but that was more a blapper. I wanted to try staying more ranged this time around. I see a recent build posted for Fire/Atomic. Is that good? It seems to have an immobilize. That sounds useful. Not that knocking things across the room as energy melee didn't keep them off me. Anyone got a newbie friendly build they'ld recommend? It will be my first time levelling a blaster. My blaster in Live never made it to 50.
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