SomeGuy

1. Yes. Not the ones in the wild. You can definitely get sub-2 minute, even sub-1 minute, times as a blaster. I've done it and Blasters aren't even my specialty. And I'm talking just straight build. No outside buffs for end, damage, or recharge. As for end? I almost always go the Ageless: Recovery route on my damage dealers. Also, the recovery serums are dirt cheap at the P2W vendor.

Ignore this. I have nothing to contribute to this thread.

I've solo-ed this TF more than a few times. Won't attempt to ever again. The Warwalkers doing some autohit BS enough to annoy me to much. I always fragged Neuron first, then Kitty. This is my way of saying HOLY CRAP

Re-read what I wrote. You're trying to argue with someone who has solo started the MSR with every melee primary in the game. I've solo-ed every TF in the game except the villain Reischman one. I've solo-ed BAF and duo-ed other i-trials. I've solo-ed both i-TFs in their current iteration (used to be you'd scale up to +3). I took a Spines/*REGEN* to 50 and realized the set just does not have enough firepower to do what I want out of a set. I can eek performance out of a lot. I can look at someone's build and tell if it's optimal or just slotting ADHD. I'm not saying your son isn't getting a lot out of the set. I am saying the set doesn't MEASURABLY perform as well as what you are trying to convey. Maybe you should take a look at my signature? There's a few reasons why Spines isn't on that spreadsheet a lot. Nor has it ever torn up the charts for MPL (minutes per level).

Not what I was trying to convey...but you have no idea how hilarious this is to me considering things. As for the "strongest sets" comment...this is incredibly LOL to me. One of my favorite sets to play is Dark Melee. One of the measurably worst sets to play. That set is a big reason I've leaned even HARDER in to "play whatever the eff you want, as long as you're having fun". *It's not a skill thing I was referring to. Your son may actually be a skilled player. I'm not debating that. I'm just stating the fact that Spines is measurably less then mid when compared to other sets. And yes, I have played Spines.

Opinions and this thread are two different things. Fun is subjective. If someone is having fun with measurably the worst performing set combo? Good, keep at it. Not like this game is hard. But if someone is asking for advice on something survivable? Anecdotes and feelings aren't solicited.

Toughness? Stone wins easily. Bio is a glass cannon if ran the way it's meant to be ran. Offense? No taunt aura so runners aren't a factor in this (and if something runs away from your PBAoE Aura you are doing zero DPS). They are actually both close to equal. Yeah. Stone Armour contributes as much to offense as much as Bio Armor (or close to). DPS *is* damage mitigation. Spines is horrible at DPS. ST and AOE. Is it better DPS then a Mind Controller? Yeah. Doesn't mean it does good DPS.

Ice Melee IS a good primary. It isn't known for it's crazy ST or AOE output, but both are solid as all get out and Ice Patch is really a fun ability. I personally don't rank it higher then something like Claws in terms of soft-CC (Claws has TWO ranged attacks that do soft CC, IM doesn't have any attacks that do soft-CC). IM/SD is a funny combo. Shield Charge? Knock down. Ice Patch? Knock down. Frozen Aura? Cold foot stomp. Ice patch melted but it's off cooldown. Lemme LOS this mob around this corner....IN TO ICE PATCH.

Good call. Stone doesn't have a Taunt aura, but Claws has two good ranged attacks that will also put a mob on it's butt. Have fun, runners! Stone adds really good ST and AOE DPS, along with it's survivablity. If not having a taunt aura isn't an issue, I'd highly consider Stone for a secondary.

*reads thread title* Yea. Me too. My first 50 was a Claws/Regen. Did Claws/X with every secondary after that. My name sake character is my Claws/Bio now. It's to fun a primary to me.

Normally, listing some of your 50s would be a flex. Not compared to my experience. I did read and comprehend what OP said about whittling down a mob. DM won't be able to do that if pushing the envelope. The murc DM/SD build you posted is very old and that has been completely outdone. Even within said combo. And anyone with a lot of experience knows, that list by Ston is a great starting point, but some of it is wildly inaccurate in-game. I am glad about the Ice Melee reminder. IM is legit AF and sounds like what the OP wants for sure. Ice Patch is fun and the set does solid ST and AOE.

I was afraid this combo was going to get brought up. No, nothing with Dark Melee as a primary will ever fit this bill. DM doesn't do enough damage. It just won't kill things before they are able to kill you. Full stop. And no, Touch of Fear is not enough either. *I have a DM/SD that is completely setted out. Fun combo, but definitely not as survivable as OP wants. Not sure what experience Lin has with Claws, but overall, Claws has a lot of soft-CC to help mitigate damage. Based on what OP said, Claws might just be the primary they are looking for. Claws exemps better then any other melee primary and has AMAZING ST and AOE DPS. Claws/ENA or Claws/Rad I am thinking? I personally have a set out Claws/Bio and frickin' LOVE IT. DPS *is* damage mitigation. If it's dead, it can't hit you. If something is susceptible to KB, between Focus and Shockwave, you can keep it on it's ass the entire time until it's dead. Big mob? Shockwave for group damage and everything on it's ass, spin for amazing AOE damage, repeat until entire mob dead. Listen to @Linea about this subject.

*reads title* Willpower is bad now? What? I personally prefer other sets, but WP definitely isn't bad.

Claws/Bio and TW/ENA are my two favorite scrappers. I get similar DPS performance with ST and AOE for both. Claws/Bio being MEASURABLY better AOE, not noticably. The TW/ENA is definitely more survivable, but that is because ENA is great in that regard, not a lot to do with the primary. TW got a much needed nerf a while back. It's still REALLY good (top tier).

OK. I was wondering if I was seeing what isn't there, so it's really really nice others have noticed this.