SomeGuy

Shadow Maul is cold dishwater garbage. Just remember that. It's beyond skippable when you have a chain.

Energy Aura and Rad Armor (I read what you wrote, just here as a comparison) are two of the best armor sets in the game. Bio Armor is the best offensive armor set in the game and meshes with DM's weak offense (ST and AOE) very VERY well. Fire Armor is VERY squishy but is adds an extremely strong layer of AOE damage output while also helping with ST damage quite a lot. Shield looks cool to some and not to others. It is NOT the AOE powerhouse some say it is. One attack is not that good (unless it is Burn). DM is viable with everything and you can absolutely make DM AOE viable with smart slotting. I'll put 1B(illion) inf on the line I can out-AOE most melee characters (that aren't fire armor) with my DB/BIO/Soul scrapper. I personally don't think AOE is important to build for, I never do build for it actually. Everything dies so fast anyways. Some do though. You will get mixed opinions on that one. I don't consider it effective. Some just want to delete entire mobs in less then a second.

Everything low level is going to be rough going. With that said, I can attest that TW/FIRE scrapper is bonkers damage (I've done TW/FIRE scrapper and Brute extensively). Fire is really really weak for survival on a Scrap/Brute, regardless of how low/high level you are. What it makes up for is Offensive output. TW? Oof. It really needs it's attacks to not feel slow. Once you do, woo boy. The set becomes a monster. Now this is normally how ALL sets are (except Claws...it gets everything it needs attack wise by the time it gets Focus). Claws has really poor frontloaded damage though. It's DPS is top-tier though. Anyways, maybe this will give you some ideas:

Oh, you should for sure. I've been able to replicate that time on more than one occasion with my DB/ENA/FIRE. Had more then a few that were less with the DB/BIO/FIRE. RNG is a thing.

lol this reminded me this is a thing. Easy to test this out now. Just keep forgetting to turn on Hybrid since I almost never do 😄

The pylons for testing (if you are facing the base entrance) on the right side of the base are super nice. They respawn just a few seconds after they are defeated and they also don't attack back OR activate the dropship. Just LFG queue to Apex and you are right there. It's really nice. I was getting 1:20-1:25 with my TW/ENA/ICE. The pet will probably just instantly die in actual gameplay though. Still, neat. I salute you, Spicy Frosty.

I do have a BA/RAD also (Axedents Happen). I made those characters BEFORE the recent pass to BA. BA was in a pretty bad spot before. These are my pylon times comparing the two: Basically, they are so close that RNG can sway them one way or another for me. With that said, it comes down to which looks cooler to me and is more fun. They both play similarly to me, and both feel darn chonky with their hits. They both do similar AOE. Both are problematic on end if you want to keep a continuous chain. In terms of performance, they are very similar. Also, I keep forgetting BS DOES have a +DEF attack for smash/melee if that matters for you. Not gonna lie, BA in it's current state sounds like a really cool pairing with SD. I did do BA/SD on a brute before cause of the look, but that was back ob live and I couldn't get past the abysmal performance.

As a child of the 90s I just want to say this is a fickin' great idea. ENA is an obvious choice because LOL CAN'T HIT ME but one issue...you can't always see your awesome costume.

Bio is actually better AOE (noticeably actually) but SD isn't anywhere near as squishy. Also, SD looks awesome with a weapon. This matters. I've got a WM/SD, BS/SD, WM/BIO, and BS/BIO. Thematically the SD ones work better for *me*. And they definitely aren't as squishy. And they both do really good damage ST and AOE. The Bio versions definitely dog walk the SD versions in terms of damage, but they are a LOT squishier and I haven't figured out a way to make them look as cool to me. Granted, I'm bias to the sword'n'board look.

Listen to this person. They changed the way I do TW in it's current state entirely.

You do, actually. But going past certain %s with certain sets can be pretty counter productive for the ATs role. Bio Armor is definitely one of those sets. You want "enough" mitigation for your playstyle. Being able to kill things is also a form of mitigation and CC. If it's dead it can't hit you. Getting something to 0HP is the best mitigation/CC in the game. And when you are teaming, do not be surprised to be buffed with all the various +DEF buffs going around.

Trying to get S/L Def softcap passively with TW/BIO seems against what the combo is really about, but what do I know? I've only been playing the combo since 2011 (yes, I'm aware of what that means)/

Yes.

This should get stickied that this is NOT the best place to put ATO2 in EM. Anyways, here's my take on the build.

I really like you're outlook on this conversation. My austistic a** got hung up on data collection, so I sadly do know what is numerically the "best" at ST DPS in a vacuum, but I absolutely feel this way. Ice Melee, for example, is pretty middle of the pack in terms of ST DPS...but it is super safe to level very early on due to Ice Patch, and the soft-CC AOE it provides is really funny. It's just fun. Same for DM, which is at the end of the pack in terms of ST DPS but, hoo boy is it fun to play to me. TW is still really good ST DPS if done right, but I will definitely admit I haven't leveled TW since the changes. EM levels pretty safely to me. It might not be able to handle extremely large packs like IM/Claws can (post shockwave for claws) but it can really do some nasty frontloaded damage early on. High HP targets become something I crave when on the set. LT and lower become trash even more to me. The only two melee sets I don't have multiple drives to 50 experience with are Savage and Psi Melee. I never got in to Savage Melee and only done Psi Melee once.

An EM/Fire Brute really can crank out really good ST and AOE DPS. Something to keep in mind though, EM/Rad WILL do better ST DPS and be hardier. *I totally forgot I have a EM/FA Brute until I read @Sovera's post.

Something else to think about is the OTHER Ageless that has Debuff protection.

Maybe you'll get some ideas. With this much recharge you will NOT need both SP and Smite. DM and SR are both pretty End friendly. This WILL do some AOE. Take note how Dark Consumption and Soul Drain are slotted. You can get even more AOE if you take the Mu Mastery Epic Pool. I very much disagree with Siphon Life being slotted for heals, but hey, you do you. No clue which Destiny you plan on taking, but if you do Ageless: Recovery you won't have End issues 45+ ever again. Obviously, take Muscle Alpha. ToF has a Accuracy modifier of 1.0. It needs ACC in it to hit. Don't get it twisted. Regen is priority last in terms of survivability. Def>Res>HP>-----Regen If you have 110HP with 1hp/s and get hit for 101 you live. If you have 100HP with 10hp/s and get hit for 101 you're dead. You regen nothing when dead.

Shadow Maul is bad. Touch of Fear is good. You can proc bomb ToF and have a high recharge AOE that also does some CC. Siphon Life is for damage. Slot it that way. Practiced Brawler will be refreshed before it expires even with zero slotting. I'm curious what your global ACC is with FA OFF. FA eats a LOT of EPS. Curious if it's really worth it.

This is actually a good question. I am pretty sure there is collected data, not in one place, concerning your question.

MIND/EMP controller.

Right there with ya. And @Thraxen. It's....a LOT of damage people leave on the table choosing something else.

As someone who has solo-ed all the TFs/SFs in the game (except Barracuda and the new ITF) I can confidently say I will never do LGTF solo again because of the Hamidon fight. My hat off to you. I know that TF isn't easy when solo as a scrapper.

@ScarySai shared a hilarious idea of putting the Avalanche KD proc in Rad Therapy. Yes, it is indeed hilarious.

You're going to have a hard time finding a better combo that you want outside of Claws/EA for a scrapper. Stone is stupidly good damage (it's just as good as Bio) and survivability (wayyyyy better then Bio). If you team a lot with members that can lock mobs down, or they have a good taunt aura, you will be hard pressed not to love this armor. Visually, you can't get rid of ALL the Stone stuff. This matters, a lot to some folks (me). Also, Stone doesn't have a taunt aura. Yes, this is a deal breaker for some, but not all. Basically, you can't go wrong with any pairing since Claws is just...amazing. Do note, the set does NOT have a lot of front-loaded damage. I've done Claws with Regen (eww, gross), Bio, Electric, Stone, Rad, and EA. The only one of those I abandoned was the */regen. And that was my first 50. Trying to comprehend better what you are saying...it seems like Rad or Bio would be up your alley. EA, when set up REALLY well, can be pretty hands off. Bio and Rad can both be clicky enough to remind you that the secondary is there. 😛 Rad is definitely the more survivable of the two, and it also does give a boost to damage via Meltdown.