SomeGuy

I just want to say that SM is a pretty chonky set and a lot of fun. I really don't think it gets enough love, but I am a little biased since I think the set is good fun. I did set the animations to be only punches and not mallets. I definitely had a hard time deciding between Rad Armor or Energy Aura and ended up landing on Rad Armor for theme. This is how I have the attacks slotted for SM/RA: I'm more ST focused, hence why I put the ATO2 in SS, but putting it in HM wanting to fish for the PPM for AOE follow up is good logic. I dig it. SM hits hard. It's definitely top-tier.

I wouldn't say Nin is better than SR. Off the top of my head, the personal pro/con list pretty much evens out. They are both really good sets. Really just boils down to preference. I will say SR is more "set and forget" then Nin. With Nin you do have a click heal. SR you basically need to be able to read the room and know when to pop an insp or GTFO. I suppose Nin is more user friendly now that I think about it. As for chain I went with: Eagle's Claws, Storm Kick, Crippling Axe Kick, Snipe (or another Storm Kick here if you choose to not take a snipe). My logic for this chain is I want the crit boost to effect SK and CAK as much as possible. And my testing has shown it to be pretty darned effective... I also put the ATO2 (or 50% crit chance proc) in Eagle's Claw. This is my MA/NIN/MU build. I never made MA/SR. I mainly play a MA/RAD/SOUL due to Nin not having a taunt aura. I mostly solo, so a taunt aura is an essential for someone like me. MA/NIN/SOUL

It's really REALLY hard for me to recommend anything without a taunt aura, so EA, Rad, Bio, and Invinc stand out for me. With that said, I have done MA/NIN and it was really good. And thematically for character concept worked REALLY well. People sleep on Ninjitsu it seems. Not sure why. Good set. Literally the only reason I still don't drive my MA/NIN any more is because of a lack of taunt aura. I went MA/RAD because of it. Ground Zero, EC with crit proc and higher crit chance, then AOE KD kick? Pretty darn good AOE TBH. Ele Armor is really good too, easy to cap a lot of resists on it for scrappers. Sadly, no taunt aura for scraps. Honestly, seems like a really fun combo on a Tanker. I've got a TW/ELE and it really highlights how OP tankers are. Capping most resists, DMG aura, and MA's AOE attack...seems productive. And MA also does good ST. Edit: Just took my MA/RAD/SOUL for a drive. Rad Therapy (procced out), build up, eagle's claws, dragon's tail, ground zero. Most of mob almost completely dead.

Slander would be false. It isn't slander.

Claws is super safe and super effective (two really good ranged soft CCs in the set). Amazing AOE and really good single target. Not a lot of front loaded damage. This set it fast. Really fast. Dual Blades is REALLY good single target, OK AOE, and has a mix of fast and KABOOM in the mix. Really fast set. Battle Axe got a revamp and is amazing AOE and really good single target. Honestly, it's a top-tier primary now. Martial Arts is a dark horse of a monster. It has really good single target and AOE damage. Energy Melee got a revamp. It's top-tier single target now. Low tier AOE (but still a lot better AOE then it was). Titan Weapons is REALLY good but is NOT friendly to inexperienced players. Energy Aura is pretty much king of the secondaries. Radiation Armor is pretty much the best resistance based secondary for scrappers. Bio Armor is a glass cannon. It is hands down the most damaging secondary. You play this set on the edge, You either get gobs of XP or gobs of debt. If a lack of a taunt aura is fine: Stone Armor. Hard to kill and really adds a lot to damage. Electric Armor. Same as stone. The other secondaries (not regen...don't) are good but those three really stand out. I can confirm BA/RAD is good and fun. I have one. I prefer the CLAWS/BIO but that's a preference thing. Forgot to mention, combos in Dual Blades are meaningless if you are trying to get the most DPS out of the set.

Yes. 1x acc/dmg HO and proc the rest. You can apply this to a few fast casting hold powers on other characters too, with really good results.

I'm gonna have to give this a HARD NO. I've solo-ed every TF and SF in the game (including the incarnate ones). I've solo-ed the Lambda and BAF trials. I've solo-ed every AV, Hero, and GM in the game with slight exceptions to the obvious (hamidon and prae-hami are the only two GMs I can think of actually). I've solo started the MSR and completed it. Regen does NOT have the gas, and DEFINITELY doesn't have the firepower, to do this.

This statement is true! As long as you don't enter combat. My first 50 was a claws/regen on SOs. *fist bump* to my fellow claws/regen brethren. More on point to what OP asked: I'm partial to Claws and DB so, keep that in mind. Claws actually embarrasses spines in the AOE department. Spin is that good. ST damage? No contest. Claws wins. DB isn't amazing at AOE but is better at ST DPS then claws. Claws doesn't really have any frontloaded damage. Be aware of that if you want to see huge numbers. DB on the other hand...tick tick BOOM. It pecks away at the HP bar and then BOOM. Sweeping Strikes hits hard and boy howdy if it crits. Claws is VERY light on end use. DB...can suck you dry. And not in a fun way, assuming you run the best ST chain with it. SR is a great secondary for both of those. My second foray into learning IOs was a DB/SR. That was...eye opening as all get out. Not getting hit as melee was an epiphany. Honestly? With those three secondaries I would personally lean X/SR. I have...opinions regen. And they aren't good. Ice Armor? It's ok. Never really impressed me. Didn't stand out negative or positive. SR is an oldy goldy. It has some really strong pros. Big con is lack of self heal, but that can be worked around. I'd personally use it more if it had a taunt aura, but that's opinion.

FFS do NOT do regen. All the best players in the game stay far away from regen for a reason. It adds nothing offensively and it is really bad at the staying alive thing. Any of the other secondaries are fine. I have my preferences for sure, but there is no "bad" secondary (unless it's melee regen). You are going to see people try to defend it with #s and etc. but I suspect they also have brand loyalty to things (like nintendo vs sega or ford vs chevy or something). There is also the nostalgia factor for when regen actually was good (really fricking overpowered). The game had "Issue" updates still in the single digits then. Look, if you are a masochist and enjoy being handicapped all the time and it's your idea of fun, sure, go regen. But if you want to play a set that is also good in combat stay away from it.

THIS Yeah. Good luck doing better then EA overall.

I'm partial to Claws/Bio. The soft CC combo of Focus and Shockwave really take the survivability of the combo really high. And it does REALLY good ST DPS and AOE.

*reads thread title* Yes.

@R jobbus I assume I am going to say stuff @Ratch_ already said and covered. TW DEFINITELY needed to be toned down. It did so much ST and AOE damage it made the other melee sets feel pointless to play. It was THAT OP. I was getting low 50s and high 40s times without pets and outside buffs with it. It was dumb. Just stupid. Also, if you think it's a nightmare to level now? Hooo boy was it rough then. But once you got a full chain of attacks and some sets in it...holy crap. I personally didn't like the mechanic changes at first since I spent darn near a decade with the previous mechanics/rotation, but it makes a LOT of sense now and it's very rewarding. You could faceroll TW before and do really good. If you didn't faceroll and came at it with a semblance of knowledge...holy crap it was death incarnate. I thought the nerf "killed my boy" but I definitely give credit to Ratch reigniting my love for it. It's still a top-tier performer if you come at it correct. And it isn't OP any more. It's actually pretty fun to me. Anyone on the fence about trying TW...if you enjoyed playing a Death Knight from that one MMO I suspect you will like TW. The optimal rotation for TW and DK seem similar for some reason to me. Momentum and Rune management felt pretty similar. Not sure why. I work more with time in my head.

EA, Rad, or Bio. Top three. Be smart, Use insp when necessary. Run the **** away when needed. Don't even contemplate rolling regen or willpower for this.

I've got pretty extensive time with the set...and I have to agree. It needs some serious love. I enjoy the mechanics, but it needs some real tweaking to get it up to par with things. You REALLY have to know and manipulate the set just for the performance of it to be mediocre. Other then animation time and raw number tweaking, I got nothing for a solution. So....that isn't useful.