SomeGuy

Parry: I personally don't use it but it IS a good mule for a LOTG recharge. You could do that, give it a go and see if you like it in your rotation or not. Strength of Will: Same thing as above. Energy mastery: If you don't have Freespecs, it isn't like they aren't cheap to buy. End will be less an issue the more sets and uniques you get in your build. And if you take Ageless recovery (something I do with ALL my DPS oriented characters) it could solve all your end worries. We're talking Stamina literally one slotted solve them. Soft caps: You could go the Soul epic mastery route. Get a Snipe to boost ST DPS and get Shadow Meld9 and SM can take a LOTG recharge also). When SM is active (about 15s) you get a MASSIVE +DEF to all. Broadsword can do good DPS, ST or AOE. Don't let anyone steer you wrong on that I haven't made a WP build since Live. I had a DB/WP when both sets were released at the same time, and a WP/SS tanker. WP is VERY setNforget. pairing it with BS since it has a +DEF attack for smash/melee seems pretty smart TBH.

Definitely have to agree with @Stormwalker. Staff does look really cool and has great animations. To bad it's like hitting stuff with an cardboard tube that would be better used for making lightsaber noises. But SW talking about solo-ing those TFs with their SF/WP is proof enough you can make every primary viable. yeah, Staff is fricking horrible when you look at the #s and compare it to anything else, but...is it fun? Yeah. Hell, I love DM and it's in a really bad place numerically. I've personally solo-ed every TF/SF in the game (yes, even Apex and Tin Mage...and excluding the villain Reichsman SF for obvious reason) with my DM/BIO. I will NEVER do LGTF solo ever again.

I thought this was sarcasm. Spines isn't close to the best AOE. hahaha Claws dog walks spines in every category. DM isn't good ST DPS. Energy Melee isn't top dog ST DPS (it is good though, really good).

DB. You can change the weapon to...I think batons? I can't remember. I know I changed them to Sais and made a Raphael ninja turtle with my DB/ENA. Don't do Staff. It is easily the weakest of the scrapper primaries. Easily. And you already ran it on a Tanker. Don't dismiss EA as a secondary. My WM/SD is Captain America or a SPEHS MAREEN. I'd be lying if I said I don't want to see this. I really do.

Honestly, because tankers are so OP now, I don't see the point of Brutes. They only do a little more DPS then tankers with a VERY noticeable hit in the survivability. That's just my opinion. Like you said, what people value more. I prefer the noticeable damage difference of Scrappers. Some prefer not being able to die that goes with a Tanker. Brutes get neither.

I am REALLY biased with what I'm about to say then. TW/EnA on the scrapper side. Ele/TW on the tanker side. I love all three of those sets. TW, Ele, and ENA. Are they the best at fitting the bill of what you are asking about? Not sure. But they sure are great and TW/ENA does really good damage and doesn't want to die. And the ELE/TW tanker doesn't want to die. I'd imagine something X/RAD would be a lot of what you are asking about too? MA does have a crit boost after you use Eagle's Claw for the NEXT MA attacks you use in the time it's applied. I have done MA/NIN but ended up gutting it for, you guessed it, lack of a taunt aura. Re-rolled MA/RAD. Ice Melee on scraps is pretty darn good also. Ice Patch is a gimmick, but it's a really good gimmick and fun. Sadly, it doesn't work on most AVs that well. It's hard for me to consider Stone for scraps since it doesn't have a taunt aura. Also, if anyone thinks TW is mediocre on a single target, they are entitled to their opinion. Regardless how wrong it is. *and yes, I am talking about the current version.

I suppose to answer this question better it matters what you value more personally. Damage or survivability?

I actually play this combo. I personally think Shield looks awesome, but anyone else needs to keep in mind you don't have a weapon most of the time. I like the look. Just something to note. And Fire Melee is bonkers by itself.

Good. Really good. Top tier, really. Top 3-5 for sure.

Incarnate? Scrapper? Muscle. It's a LOT of damage. Not sure how your End is, but think about putting the Heal Proc in Stamina? Also, Ageless for Destiny is AMAZING. The recovery version. It's really good end/s and at it's WEAKEST you get another 10% recharge. You won't need two recharges in Active Defense. So you can save that slot and get it elsewhere. Combat Readiness is actually kind of awesome. You may want your Build Up power up as often as possible. I normally just go 2x Recharges in it. I'm a damage oriented person. Lin is the opposite of that and is frickin' AMAZING at it. I got to see them solo an ITF with a Time/DP defender once. I watched them just jump in a pile of Cims and wittle them down.

I actually do use this chain on some of my DB 50s. I just don't chase combos with the set. That combo just very conveniently becomes available while leveling up and its...well, free DMG. I'll take. I get REALLY good results with it actually. I do the BF SNIPE SS AS rotation with some, but the NS AS BF SS SNIPE is something I get really good results with too.

I haven't taken Vengeful Slice or 1k Cuts since the set was new. VS might have the best animation in the game (SHORYUKEN with a Sword?!) but it...holy cow does it take forever to cast, doesn't do great DPS, and Attack Vitals isn't as set defining as some people make it. And if you find yourself exemped down and not able to do the BF AS SS AS chain, then doing the EMPOWER combo with Nimble Slice is a fantastic alternative. In fact, I actually do run NS AS BF (this gives empower) SS as an attack chain on a few of my DB 50s. If you go this route you will NOT miss VS or attack vitals. Combos for DB are a wash. Not worth chasing, at all. Even lower level.

OK, I can't help it. I LOVE the Claws/Bio combo a LOT. Obviously I build differently, but you have a lot of similar choices to what I would do anyways. I build to emphasize single target DPS. I've played this game long enough to see things stall with high HP targets, not trash that needs AOE nukes to get wittled down. My chain is: FU - Snipe - Focus - Slash - FU - Focus - Slash - SHOCKWAVE (Shockwave has similar DPA to Strike, so no matter what I use this ST or AOE). I've got most of the really powerful procs in my Snipe, as opposed to Focus. I've only MEASURABLY NOTICED a difference in the procs going off between the two. If you do differently, you might or might not notice a difference. My reasoning for this? Procs have a higher chance to go off with things with a longer recharge. With that said, it's why I put the ATO1 set in Spin. I always use FU. I don't always use Spin. I also put the ATO2 in FU since if it goes off I get the crit chance right after it. You should ALWAYS be using FU in your chain if you can. Regardless if AOE or ST. It's DMG and +TOHIT. Strike is a REALLY good chain filler when exemped down and you don't have access to Shockwave. If you peep my build, you'll notice I didn't build for crazy high recharge with it. I have enough for the chain I want to use, and it...works well. Very well. Also, normally with a Bio melee build, I proc out DNA Siphon since it can be a REALLY good early level AOE. Claws has really good AOE so I didn't see the need to with this one, and I get to have the set bonuses instead. *Oh, what @Without_Pause said, take Slash. It's pretty much mandatory as Claws. This is my current build (and the one in the spreadsheet below):

I don't consider a chance at a thing a part of the build. Each their own. I build some pretty high recharge builds and not a single time have I gotten it that high without something outside the build being used (like Ageless, Geas, etc.). I'm not sure which one you are using as an example. but out of curiosity I opened the build provided and WITH Hasten it is showing 250% ( I turned off the procs first).

I love WM and I love EA. Surprised I didn't do them together. Here's my quick take. See get any ideas.

Turn off the FF Recharge procs.

Hasten seems mandatory. Granted, I also thought Stamina was mandatory before it became inherent and people screamed at me tooth and nail about that opinion too.

TBH, seems pretty solid. Confront is a....choice. I've been playing since the game was released many moons ago (yes, back in 2004) and have never once seen the need to take Confront on a scrapper. A claws/regen was my first 50, so claws/bio is near and dear to my heart.

According to my notes from a while back: Scrapper BA/BIO 1:10 (Degen/Melt Armor/Enflame//RoF/Procs) This is an average without outside buffs, no lore, and hybrid off. How I record all my runs. I do know the LOL run I talked about had Geas of the Kind ones and hyrbid double hit going. ATO2 in FT. I think it got as low as 26s? Did similar with DB/BIO and got down to 30s but I do know that build doesn't benefit from recharge near as much as TW/BIO. *for funs I did a pylon only build and cranked out 24s with BA/BIO.

BTW @Ratch_, you motivated me. I did a pure Pylon build with my tw/bio and got some crazy #s. You can definitely get sub 30s times with melee. Consistently.

You can also slot the pvp -Res in it. This is a huge reason and bigger deal then the +rchg. I was getting average run times in the mid 2 minutes with my Rad/SS tanker using Cross Punch with FotG -RES slotted.

I thought the changes were going to be doom and gloom but they aren't that noticeable. I personally haven't changed the way I build. I still shoot for SL softcap and the rest still gets really high along the way. DPS still trumps all. Making things dead is still, and always has been, the best way to mitigate something's damage.

This. I forgot it has a cone. That's how much you want to avoid it.

I can not for the life of me remember what I did leveling up, but I can definitely say Ice/Shield scrapper is super safe and fun. EVERYTHING when you are low level is pretty hard. Especially the Circle of Thorns ghosts that wreck you with -tohit. I do remember Defense oriented sets barely creeping along at low levels and then BAM they become gods/goddesses. The combo is really safe once you get shield charge and frozen aura to mix in with your ice patch. You won't be getting hit much. You WILL want to take everything in Shield, with the exception of the T9 (One with the Shield...this is a player's choice sort of thing). It's a good combo. Just be patient like with any low level character. This combo power creeps better than a lot of other combos. Not necessarily in damage, but Ice Melee still does really good ST and AOE.

I definitely remember on the live forums it was. I distinctly remember that (I was pretty active in it). When the thread was recreated elsewhere it was put in a more appropriate section. Part of my confusion. I've seen those threads. I like them a lot.