Spaghetti Betty

Hullo! A big red circle with a '1' in it came crashing through my window and hit me right in the temple! Now that I have pending house repairs and a concussion, I'm going to make it this thread's problem! Let's see, Elec/DM, Dark/Elec, or Shield/DM. Well, if you're looking for cruise control, Elec/DM would be your best bet! I don't think having two recovery powers is really necessary. Power Sink (+Energize) is enough on its own to keep your blue bar topped off, and you absolutely should be spamming it on cooldown, because it recharges fast and plummets mob endurance as well! Where this combo falls short is really just a major flaw of Dark Melee itself. It relies completely on Soul Drain to not hit like wet paper! This makes it a bit difficult to bust certain thresholds, and it especially suffers against a big body without some trash to leech off of. I'm sure a little bit of finagling could to turn it into something I'd be happy with, though! Shield/DM is definitely a classic, though I am a Shield disliker! It's very, um, what's the word I want to use.... dependent! It kind of demands a lot from the player from a building standpoint, and what you're rewarded with is an endurance hog with a few extra bells and whistles that its uncle SR wouldn't get, which is kind of whatever to me! It's also has a couple of technical problems that I will relegate to a spoiler so anyone that doesn't want to read my complaining can skip! Anyways, that's not to say it wouldn't run fine! I would ditch Dark Consumption and just run Ageless at 50! It'll fix a lot of the problems the combo has. Though ultimately, I think I would just personally stick to SR/DM! Lastly, I would argue strongly against Dark/Elec! A little bit of "control" is absolutely not worth how intense Dark Armor is on END! Personally, I feel like it could be fun for a handful of hours, but in my experience, Thunder Clap alone is enough soft control to deal with anything short of EBs. I'm also in the business of getting fights over quickly, so a lot of the extra gimmicky stuff this combo brings would be wasted in my hands. I would be busy trying to find a way to make Elec Melee do any kind of damage outside of Lighting Rod! I know this wasn't exactly a definitive "choose this one" answer, but I feel like explaining how I felt about each option tends to be a bit more helpful than trying to force someone's hand!

For most general content, this is true! However, using the RoP strategy is how DEF armors (and Regen) can push their RES numbers to extremely high levels for challenge content, and inspiration management can be focused on other things that aren't weak oranges! In this case though, it's not needed!

It would only really be needed in extreme cases! Running an SR Tank is enough on its own to make you nearly impervious to everything in a general sense, because of the scaling resistances baked into the auto powers. You'll be hardcapped to nearly all damage if your health dips below 30% as is. Rune of Protection would just get you to hardcaps sooner, which is fantastic if you plan on doing stuff like soloing Linea's 801 series or some seriously hard TFs! Otherwise, you'll be fine!

Hullo! I'm really flattered you would use my builds to try to make your own! I just like making fun stuff and hope some other people find it fun, too! That said, I did take a peek at your build, and I have some potential tweaks to offer! -As far as Shield Wall goes, yes, it is expensive! But it provides Max HP and E/N RES at once, both things you'll definitely want! F/C RES isn't bad, either, but E/N damage is much more common! If you need a tip to acquire them on the cheap, try bidding low on undesirables like Experienced Marksman or Gladiator's Strike, then convert using Converters you get by trading in Reward Merits from all of the TFs you run! At the very least, get the +5% RES unique! -Speaking of uniques, you forgot the +Absorb proc in Preventive Medicine! You can swap a piece out of Health for it, since we mostly slot that set there for the bonuses! The Regen gained is very, very little! -I would also recommend Dropping your ATO2 proc somewhere else! In the name of consistency, you ideally want this in a B'n'B that you'd be using on both an ST and AoE. I'd suggest Golden Dragonfly for this! Yes, the overall DPA will suffer, but you'd lose DPS overall by having to hit Flashing Steel if you want the Absorb proc! -Elude isn't going to be doing much for you! DEF is one of those breakpoint stats where if you aren't hitting specific margins, then it's pretty much going to waste! For the record, that would be 45, 59, or 165ish if you're doing 4* TFs (or 200 if you're doing Omega K'ong). Some of those later numbers aren't very feasible on your own, and definitely not worth trying to hit with a hefty endurance crash waiting! I would drop it for Hasten and use the extra slots somewhere else. -You will need 1 extra attack for an optimal Katana rotation, and Laser Beam Eyes will serve just fine for that (though normally Gloom is most optimal here), but Energy Torrent is a little overkill! The set bonuses from OF aren't really worth the slots, either! We can cannibalize that for something like Maneuvers, or a travel power! Don't underestimate the value of a travel power. Mobility is extremely key, and they are also one-slot wonders if you drop something like Winter's Gift: +Slow RES in it! -A bunch of other tiny optimizations that I will just demonstrate in a nice picture! Sameowri tweaked - Tanker (Super Reflexes - Katana).mbd Hope this helps!

With an optimized rotation, the ST damage is pretty great! If you are running something like Haymaker -> Cross Punch -> KO Blow/(Proc'd)Epic Hold, you will have very consistent DPS against a big body. Don't forget that Rad Therapy deals -Regen, which is effective DPS against an AV! That being said, the main allure of Rad/SS is it's ability to AoE like a Blaster while tanking like a Tanker, and since 97% of fights in the game are against trash mobs, this makes it really stand out!

That's a very nice way of saying it's a skill issue!

Thanks a lot!

The Sinful Shortstack, Fire Control/Psionic Assault Dominator

I'm absolutely going to start using 'fish' as shorthand for Marine!

Great write up! I'm glad to hear others trying to break out in playing Regen! It is a very strong set when played well. That being said, I took a look at your build! It's definitely a lot more defensive-leaning than my normal approach, and I do have some notes for you to mull over! -The big one, your Slow RES is extremely low! It won't be very noticeable if you team a lot (there are plenty of support sets that offer Slow RES to teammates), but for Regen I really like to emphasize "cap or bust". It's a good thing Rune and Melee are on fixed timers! -Keep in mind that the only cumulative aspect of the Force Feedback proc is the duration! It will only ever add +100% global recharge. It will still be a consistent buff since you're running Battle Axe! -Your accuracy across the board is a tad low! This is due to a couple of aspects: lack of +acc set bonuses and not much slotted in your attacks! Personally, I would switch out Obliteration (sans proc) and Armageddon (sans proc) in Pendulum and Cleave for some 53 acc/dams and run Vigor Core as your alpha. It should patch that up and also supercharge your healing! I don't feel like Resilient Core is adding much to your overall kit! -It kind of hurts not seeing Swoop in your build! It's your best DPA ST attack by far. I have a feeling you're using Cleave in your typical rotation, right? It has pretty poor DPA against a single target. If it were me, I would drop Physical Perfection for it. That isn't doing much for you overall except acting as a set mule, and I feel like you'd benefit from having another strong attack in your arsenal! -I can understand if you added the Decimation proc in Arcane Bolt as a "why not", just keep in mind it has a pitifully low chance of firing! This proc usually serves better in something like an Epic Hold (All Epic Holds were normalized to 24s, giving Decimation a high chance to fire), so maybe consider that as well! -Drop the two +DEF uniques! They are doing next to nothing for you and those 2 slots can go to much better use elsewhere! As a quick and easy example, you can put one in brawl and the other in boxing to mule a 2-piece Blistering Cold in each, giving you +30% Slow RES! Hope this helps!

Actually, Tankers are much better at farming than Brutes! Provided you're staying at your aggro cap and keeping your damage capped (with either reds or a friendly Kin), Tankers will pull ahead of Brutes by a large margin! I think one thing to note is EBs usually aren't worth the trouble it takes to kill them, seeing as how you can down 5 bosses in the time it takes to kill 1 EB, so try finding a farm that doesn't include them! As for a farming Fire/SS, the build I made here does just fine in farms! All you have to do is pop a few purples before diving in and you're good to go!

I do agree that the higher-end difficulty stuff is plagued by stat checks more than they are technical skill. That's why you get opinions like this one! I won't get into the nitty gritty concerning this, I will just agree that I'd rather tough fights be more complex instead of numbersing at encounters harder! I feel like Hard Mode ITF is a good floor for this, able to be completed by pretty much any rag-tag team with good coordination and a lot of time on their hands (lots of experience with that BTW), and Omega K'ong feels like a true raid encounter. It's just a bit bogged down with a borderline unreasonable stat requirement, enforced by the timer on the fight! Could this be translated to more general content? Absolutely! You can already see some extra things happening during fights as early as Atlas Park! Destroy the life machine to make Botte vulnerable! Back away from Protean before he drains your energy! It doesn't always have to be "Defeat 4 pylons". I think three fights (that I'm aware of) having that gimmick is plenty!

Found it! trash panda - Brute (Savage Melee - Regeneration).mbd I remember this not being terrible to play, just not my favorite! My favorite Regenner is still my SS/Regen.

I've tried Sav with Regen, and it was alright! Not my favorite, but serviceable. Vicious Slash and Savage Leap are the key powers in the set, and I was running Cross Punch and some sort of epic attack in my rotation as well. I'll have to dig up the build and take another look! Hemorrhage is pretty skippable and Shred is usually a hit or miss for me depending on what I'm pairing it with. I will also add that unless you're teaming a lot or have a ton of inf and know-how, playing Regen is going to feel like boogers!

This was pretty funny to build! Though, I think personally I'd run it as a Tanker. That way you wouldn't need Barrier to make up the last 5% DEF! Angry sentinel I guess - Brute (Battle Axe - Super Reflexes).mbd This is a great opportunity to bring up that Cleave has a range of 40ft for some reason!

I feel like you're giving me too much credit, but thanks! On topic, making a "Bio Armor Tank that can sit in offensive mode and withstand most content" is actually pretty easy! Nearly all Tankers already "withstand most content" out of the box, and Bio does so not through Resistance or Defense, but through aggressive Absorb, Healing, and force multiplication. Seriously, what other armor offers more to offense than Bio? Maybe Fire, but I don't think Rad Armor comes close, either! It's already been iterated a lot, but your main focus should be high Recharge and Max HP. As a Tanker, you're more than likely going to wind up with capped S/L RES just with typical slotting fundamentals, and getting your exotic DEF is pretty easy! Most of the time for me, it just takes slotting Environmental Modification a bit, adding the two uniques, combat jumping, Weave, and 3-slotting Eradication in some kind of AoE. This should give you plenty of room to maximize your global recharge and offensive potential, because dead mobs won't be able to hit you! Pro tip, melees that incorporate lots of Knockdown are super good at this part! Sets like Battle Axe, Super Strength, Katana, and Martial Arts are top contenders for this! They don't really have to play by the same rules since their BnB attacks can take Force Feedback procs and keep them refreshed at a pretty consistent rate! And another piece of advice I have is to take Burnout! What's better than 2 Absorb layers? 4 Absorb layers!

Here's my build! This is one of my favorite Tanks! just use this one - Tanker (Bio Armor - Katana).mbd

The Duchess of the Deep, Fire Control/Marine Affinity Controller

Speedcore, Fire Blast/Fire Manipulation Blaster

I love my Mind/Sonic Dom! It's extremely effective at both solo and team play. What I like the most about it is Shout and Earsplitter being a double whammy of massive ST damage. Having a ton of control options is great, and I am my own force multiplier!

I'm going to throw a massive +1 to sticking the MoT proc in Storm Kick! You absolutely will be clicking Storm Kick a lot even at a high level, as it has insanely good DPA. It's quite easy to get 2 or even 3 stacks of the proc by just using Storm Kick regularly! For what it's worth, I usually throw the Gauntleted Fist proc in Crane Kick, as I tend to skip Cobra Strike and CAK is begging to be proc bombed!

Definitely lean all in on procs, and consider damaging options outside of Super Strength itself. Rage is going to massively inflate the damage and accuracy of all of your attacks, so keep that in mind! Some popular options are Cross Punch and Epic attacks like Gloom or a Hold of some sort. Skippables in Super Strength are Jab, Hurl, and Hand Clap. You don't *need* Hand Clap, but it is nice if you have an extra pick and want some kind of soft mitigation. Load up on FF procs for sure!

You're going to be fighting for so long!

This is actually just living on Brainstorm at the moment, but I plan on organically leveling it up on Live soon!

As funny as both of these are, they would involve picking more primary/secondary picks than the absolute bare minimum!