SomeGuy

I'm one of those that does those sorts of performance builds and I will always say pre-nerf TW was way to much. It didn't even make you want to play other melee sets cause of how absurd it was. Honestly, because of how nuts it was motivated me start doing straight x/bio comparisons with all the melee sets. Honestly, I don't even really think it was a nerf. It was a balancing. I will readily admit I thought it was to much at first, but @Ratch_ figured out how to optimize the chain. Bio isn't overpowered. It's a glass cannon. It's the best at what it does best, but it's still squishy as hell when played to it's strengths.

None of the melee sets are overpowered. Battle Axe got a really great makeover but it is definitely not overpowered.

Some ideas I hope:

I can't get over the irony of these words in a REGEN thread.

TW is fine. Really good, not stupidly OP like it was anymore. I think leveling with it is easier now. "Best" is subjective. Need more of a clarified question for that one. But in terms overall DPS? It's in melee DPS top-tier still.

Yeah my plant/fire dom was doing crazy fast times I didn't expect. Plant doms ❤️

This is why I catalyze all my sets that should be catalyzed. My goal on a dom is for her... Wait. Never mind.

What is this with Assault off? It still has to be low 60s, if not in the 50s. This is awesome.

I recently (last two days) took a DM/SD and DM/INV for a ride on brainstorm. I can say the DM/INV did "better"? I didn't measure it, but I was confidently getting through +4/x8 Arachnos missions. Whereas I had to be super selective with the DM/SD. And...I went to the hosp more than I'd like with it.

Claws is easily one of the best AOE scrappers in the game. Like, maybe Rad Melee is better? Maybe. Claws is stupidly diverse. It has a ST ranged soft-cc and a AOE ranged soft-cc. It also does really REALLY good ST damage. Claws get's Slash, Spin, Follow-Up, and Focus all by 18. You get Shockwave at 32. To say Claws exemps stupidly well is an understatement.. Claws is good. It's top-tier.

....bio armor is really squishy and rad armor is seriously one of the toughest melee sets in the game.

You aren't wrong at all. I'm laughing that someone inexperienced with the set noticed this. I've measured it. Thankfully, DM is really fun for me to play, cause I know where it stands. But the set is a lot of fun to me.

Thanks for the clarification. I really appreciate it. I'm a weird duck, I like AV hunting, so the MJ arc is fun to me.

This is legit AF. For Freak Tanks (at 50) I just do the first mission of the Market Crash trial until I have the badge. For Clockwork Gears (also at 50) I go to Echo Faultline. For Dimensional Warder that's a pretty straightforward one (and fun to get, IMO). But for Anti-Matter with that badge I just join a Keye's (if I don't get lucky and do that 40-44 mission with someone). Wait, did @Meknomancer say you can get an AM defeat on the old Hero's Hero arc somehow or am I understanding that wrong? Cause the Portal Jockey accolade is awesome, and that one defeat stops me from getting it on my characters.

Inv

Yeah, that's why at the end of my post it doesn't make sense to me take Gash once you're 50 with sets. Leveling? It probably makes sense since you need a filler. BA is a good set. Fun and good performance. And weapons just look cool IMO.

I have the scrapper ATO2 in Cleave. Works...well to say the least. I just slapped the ATO1 set and proc in Whirling Axe (or whatever it is called now). This is my entire build: I don't see the logic in taking Gash, but hey, you do you. But yea, you aren't gonna want to bother with Gash in a ST (or AOE) rotaion. ST rotation is dumb simple. Cleave - Swoop - Chop. Or Cleave - Snipe - Swoop - Chop whatever if you take a Snipe. I can't comment and Gash's ability for filing a gap leveling. That seems like a smart move. But at 50 once you have some sets? You won't need it.

I was just curious if this was missed. It happens.

I get a CRAZY amount of runners on my EnA scrappers compared to my rad armor/bio scrappers. CoD shows Entropic Aura and Beta Decay, Evolving Armor. Against all Odds, and Invincibility as the same Mag 3 Taunt, but the duration is significantly different. EA shows a 2.25s Taunt duration whereas BD, EA, AoO, and Invinc have a 13.6s duration. Entropic Aura Taunt Mag 3 2.25s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.energy_aura.entropy_shield&at=scrapper Beta Decay Taunt Mag 3 13.6s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.radiation_armor.beta_decay&at=scrapper Evolving Armor is identical in taunt to Beta Decay. Taunt Mag 3 13.6s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.bio_organic_armor.adaptation&at=scrapper Invincible in Invulnerability is also identical to BD/EA. Taunt Mag 3 13.6s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.invulnerability.invincibility&at=scrapper Against all Odds in Shield Defense Taunt Mag 3 13.6s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.shield_defense.against_all_odds&at=scrapper I did notice Willpower's RttC Taunt is Mag 3 but is only a 1.25s duration. Taunt Mag 3 1.25s Duration https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=scrapper_defense.willpower.rise_to_the_challenge&at=scrapper The sets with a 13.6s duration I am not noticing anything crazy. When taken down to the 2.25s duration of Entropic Aura they just bolt. I have no recent experience with Willpower but if the duration is the cause of this, then the 1.25s duration in RttC is concerning.

Holy crap. DON'T do this. Do NOT skip Abalative Carapace. Pretty much. And ToF has a fast recharge.

It's essential now. I have mine procced out with DNA Siphon on my DM/BIO. ToF (procced), DNA Siphon (procced), Soul Drain, Dark Consumption (slotted for damage), and Ball Lightning make AOE a pretty good thing for the character actually.

Dual Blades, with enough recharge to run the optimal chain, WILL have end issues. Sweeping Strike cost a lot of end and if you're throwing a snipe in there...woo boy. But dead god. I have a DB/ENA and it just chews through stuff. EM/RAD. Zero ZERO end issues (and good AOE with the targeted heal procced out, ground zero, and whirling hands). You can have an HP problem though if you use Energy Trasfer a lot. Luckily, Rad armor has a click heal. DM is really really easy on End. Shield is not. So, seems like a good pairing. I personally like DM a lot, but definitely not for it's performance. It's at the end for ST performance and you have to be pretty crafty to get good AOE out of it. Shield is a good AOE boost out of the box without the need to be crafty in your build. Don't dismiss Stone. It's chonky as all get out and does decent ST and AOE. Claws is king of AOE (rad melee might be a runner for this) and it's third in ST performance (Fire and DB in that order), and you get the attack chain you need by *18*. And Claws is very end friendly. At...shockwave is at 32?...you get another form of soft CC that can actually be used in your attack chain depending on how you build. You don't take Eviscerate as claws unless you like the animation. Claws does NOT have good frontloaded damage though. How chonky Stone feels? Claws is the opposite of that.

As long as you promise to have fun.

Just be aware the secondaries you are contemplating do NOT have a taunt aura. And with Stone and ESPECIALLY Fiery Aura you will have a crazy amount of runners. Stone Armor is hard to kill though. It isn't squishy like Fiery Aura is. Out of those primaries, to me, Battle Axe has the most flavor. It's a darn good all around set IMO. Performs well in all aspects and plays differently enough to stand out. It has really good and fun AOE to boot. Stone Melee is chonky as all get out. If you like chonk, you'll like Stone. Fire Melee easily out performs every scrapper melee set in it's current state, so if you like it's playstyle (it's really straight forward and similar to Ice Melee) then you'll like it. Ice Melee trails behind all three of those in performance. It's performance is pretty mediocre. WITH THAT SAID I personally enjoy the Ice Melee gimmick of Ice Patch. I've literally played and tested every scrapper primary. Same for secondaries, sans the tested part. There are no bad scrapper primaries or secondaries. Well, except for Regen. Regen is bad. Don't pick it unless you would rather collect debt. Or fight not dying as opposed to what is fighting you.

Yeah, our characters can be exponentially more powerful now than pre-ED. ED was just implemented poorly. Very poorly. Until sets were a thing, ED really pooped on the game for anyone that got to experience 6 slotting HOs (which were *50%). That and they were telling everyone in the CoV Beta to be quiet about this MASSIVE nerf to the entire game that was gonna go live when CoV went live. Your post reminded me that the Fitness pool was an "optional" choice that was mandatory to take, I was definitely one of the folks that argued it should be inherent and was screamed at by folks for saying such a bold statement. And here we are...