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Dark Dove

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Everything posted by Dark Dove

  1. The build you linked appears to have Blessing of the Zephyr: KB Reduction in Fly as the source of KB protection. 4 points, which is what that provides, will not prevent very strong knockback, and you need 10-12 for better protection. 4 points is enough for most general content though.
  2. It's an interesting idea, I've not yet found a good use for Hibernate on any character ever, Tanker or not (it's available in some epic pools). It's a difficult power to further incentivize without damaging the balance, and there are people who put it to good use in the state of the power currently (allegedly-I've never seen it in game be used to good effect by someone else either, but someone always chimes in and says they like it). Might be more appropriate for the Suggestions and Feedback forum section, although it's a minefield of bad-faith and unwelcoming users, the developers or staff read all of the suggestions (allegedly) and your ideas might be considered.
  3. You should definitely do what works for you and your fun. Remember that even though mudpots ticks slow, that damage over the duration of all the time you play your Brute will add up to a LOT in the end. The damage from Taunt will still be zero (barring the random slotting of a proc I guess), while mudpots will keep on ticking. It is a massive amount of damage you'll be leaving on the table if you skip it. Mudpots has other components too, like taunt and slow and immobilize. It's not insignificant. It is an end hog though, another drawback of stone armor (what a mess this set is). There are good ways to help with endurance issues before incarnate powers, like Recovery Serum from the P2W vendor and getting the +end accolades and using all of the +end/recovery global set IO's, and some sets even provide global endredux or +max end. Remember that your recovery is based on your maximum end, and having a higher max end (accolades and IO sets etc) will help a lot. If you have Physical Perfection then you might have superior conditioning which helps too. If you are so concerned with aggro control you may be playing the wrong AT for your goals. A tanker will control aggro better (again you should take mudpots if you switch to tanker though, this is a major component of aggro control) and there will be less pressure to take attacks in place of Taunt or Mudpots on that AT. I'm not saying you can't play the Tanker as a Brute, I'm just saying the Tanker plays the Tanker better (and coincidentally Tanker Savage Melee's AoE sizes are JARRINGLY big. So much fun). Alternately you should skip something else and have both Taunt and Mudpots on your Brute if aggro control is important to you. I know you said you don't want to skip anything else, but there's always some sacrifice that can be made when it is worth it for your needs. Anyhow, good luck, hope you find the right decision for your playstyle, with or without!
  4. Without question Darkness Control. Tohit debuffs are a natural companion for buff/heal sets that don't bring other meaningful res/def, and it has access to a confuse for set bonuses (and just for confuse being great), and even some damage capacity with procs and pets. Far, far second place would probably be Gravity (for single target damage) or Fire (for AoE damage). They aren't even close though, I'd still prefer Darkness so much more on my team. Mind Control would probably be OK for single target damage too.
  5. Taunt can always be jettisoned from a Brute build if necessary, barring your interest in very specific content that requires taunt in the endgame, and even in those instances there's almost always at least one other or more tanker or brute to do that part of the job. There are tanker players that swear by not taking taunt, so you should feel fine ditching it on a non-tanker. Damage auras, even mudpots, are Brute bread and butter, you need to take that no matter what, and only worry about taunt if you find other space in the build. Only slot the aura for taunt if you need to for set bonuses or build specific set purposes, there's little to no reason to slot it for taunt otherwise, when you could be slotting other stuff there that you need.
  6. It's just a mistake because of a buggy unfinished hero builder, not a big deal.
  7. Force Feedback +Recharge is a display/stacking bug in the hero builder, it does not stack, only one stack of 100% recharge can be active at any one time, and lasts for a few seconds. If another proc activates during that time, it adds to the current timer, rather than adding another 100% recharge on top, it just gives you a few more seconds. The most you can ever get from force feedback +recharge is 100%, and only for a few seconds.
  8. DEFINING playing the game for me is pretty anything-friendly. I choose to look at playing the game the same way I look at playing a tabletop RPG. All activities great and small are part of the experience. Creating the character is playing the game, picking the abilities is playing the game, interacting with other players playing the game is playing the game. Advancement of any kind doesn't need to happen to be playing the game, only interaction, although advancement is also playing the game. Talking about the game and ways to play it more, better, different is also playing the game. Roleplaying is also playing the game, even if you only do it in your head by yourself while you play the game in other ways, or when you write a story about the character you play. MMO's have a special "hobbyist" feeling to them at some levels compared to other video gaming outlets, because of the time and care that can be invested in many aspects that aren't always a part of other games, from building a character, building a base, building a mission, building a team, building a story, building a community, building a legacy. There is a persistence in community, and MMO's that thrive on community tend to foster that hobbyist feeling. I think interacting with the hobby is playing the game. HOW I play the game is a different thing. I may not do all of the things I define as playing the game. I'll level characters to 50, make costumes for them until they are just right, make a nice backstory for them, put the RP tag in the bio, plan out an intricate and careful build to maximize their potential (I like to make the most out of even the least popular powersets), get the four passive accolades solo and the badges necessary for content (midnighter etc) and then play the content I enjoy exclusively with teams, never or rarely solo. I hunt on the forums for posts about powersets that interest me, and chime in about powersets that I have experience with when people ask for help regarding them. I don't engage in RP very often, or if I do it is at a trivial level. I don't build bases or communities, I only run teams in the wee hours of the morning when nobody else is running them, I'm not deeply invested in any of the competition based aspects of the game or the organization of raid-sized content, I keep my interactions on the forum or in game only as I don't follow twitch or discord stuff. I don't solo lots of story arcs or try to read all of the lore for the game. All of that which I don't do is playing the game, and some of it I'd like to do and some of it I wouldn't like to do, but it's still playing the game, it just isn't how I play.
  9. They still won't be able to open the build without an error, the version you're running is just incompatible with the current version people tend to run. I've kept an earlier version so I can open it with some effort though. You should post your builds with full export so that people can see your slotting if they are incapable of getting your build to open with a link, though. As to dropping Tremor, that's a mistake, it's one of the best early AoE options for Doms, takes a force feedback recharge, and can be procced for heavy damage all while being a big 15 radius. Please reconsider and seek out another option that doesn't include dropping tremor. To be honest, Tremor is a big reason for taking Earth Assault at all, having your big AoE at level 4 is a big deal. You're even better off with Tremor over Roots, although ideally you'd find space for both to be your 1-2 AoE potential that's even available before LEVEL 10 which is really nice for exemplar work. Even if you just drop Vines (you're using Seeds for AoE control and Vines like all of the long recharge AoE holds just isn't that good but is nice for emergencies at best) and use those slots for five piece Armageddon in Tremor it's an overall gain and you end up with the same set bonuses. Your slotting looks very different now, but I want to point out that you're leaving 10% ranged defense for a 2 slot investment on the table. One slot in Seeds and one slot in Strangler for 10% ranged, if I were building/rebuilding it with your slotting strategies I would want to find the space for that. I know the build I showed you slotted this way, but that build is capped on S/L defense, while the slotting strategy you've been taking is more oriented toward diverse defenses and resist S/L (which is absolutely more survivable). My build relies on the paper-thin margin for S/L softcap to deal with most issues, but if you aren't going to hit that S/L softcap you should take the advantages for slotting that you can find for the defenses you can get to softcap, and again it looks like Ranged is the one you can get there, or get close. Mudpots, I like that you went for more Avalanche, but you should drop one for the sweet spot of five, that will net you a slot. The AoE defense is far less important and you're farther from capping it than you are ranged or melee/SL. If you're set on Psi Mastery, link minds should probably get two more slots (LOTG Def/Rech, Adjusted Targeting Recharge+5) but I can already tell you're starved for both slots and power picks, so that may not be possible. Maneuvers is an end hog without extra slots in it. You probably don't need the Kismet Accuracy slot in CJ if you need that slot to harvest for something else. It's nice to have but not a must since you have some acc built into your sets already. That can get you another slot though for other purposes (ranged def or something). If you end up still having trouble finding slots, you can get away with losing a force feedback in each attack chain. By this I mean you can just run 1 force feedback recharge in one single target attack, and 1 force feedback in an AoE attack, and rely on those two; more procs is better, but they don't stack, they just add to the duration it lasts, so more procs doesn't always mean double/triple effectiveness, it just means it'll have a longer uptime sometimes. If I were going to pick the two attacks to keep the force feedbacks in, it would be Tremor which I fire off every time it's up, and Heavy Mallet or Hurl Boulder depending on your preferences (I like Hurl because you don't have to be next to the target but both are viable options, if you're a mallet type go for mallet). So you could get one more slot back if you pull a Force Feedback proc out, say from Fissure or something. If I were trying to rebuild what you posted, it would look more like this (below) for my purposes, again take this with a grain of salt, my build style is just one way to do things, you need to be on the lookout for your own needs. This gets ranged def up close to cap, everything else important around 40% def, some more endurance management, sacrifices a few procs.
  10. All just opinions below on building, so consider them a build style thing if you don't like the advice, I just finished out my Plant/Earth and have experienced it recently. Also look into getting the newer version of the hero builder software here on the forum! Fissure, Tremor, Stone Mallet, and Heavy Mallet don't need KB to KD IO's unless you're planning on fighting exclusively clockwork. They do knockdown except on knockback weak enemy types or -1 enemies, etc. Switch those into Force Feedback +Recharge procs, you can be rocking and rolling nonstop with that, or slot something else if you don't like that. Use your Overwhelming Force KB in Hurl Boulder instead. If you're terrified of knockback on rare occasions, take Roots, it's one of the best AoE immob's anyway and it will lock that down. You're skipping the Dam/End in a lot of sets. Earth Assault is very heavy, I'd suggest ditching the Dam/Rech option instead and relying on force feedback to make up the difference. If you're relying on cardiac I guess it's fine, but you could probably go musculature if you worked on the end consumption via attacks a bit and end up better for it. Just throw a slot for resist in Mind over Body (Hami or even just a Glad: Res +5) and you'll be close enough to the S/L res goal 75% without cardiac. You're overcap on 4% recovery boosts, so you can tone down one of the four-slot for 4%'s you've got going on if you want (I also somehow keep getting too many 4% recovery, so this clearly isn't a big deal but you've got some slotting that I feel might be better used elsewhere). You skipped the last slot of preventative which seems like a mistake if you're going to go to the trouble to slot five of that set. Find a slot for 8.75% recharge, it's begging for it. Or dump the slots and use them somewhere else, or slot Panacea 5 piece, etc, finish it or change it up for best results. It seems off to not five-slot Avalanche especially when you're pushing decent defense numbers. Seems like you could find a slot for that too. Stone Mallet is okay, I tend to skip it and slot Spears instead, but you've criminally underslotted Seismic Smash, which is maybe one of the beefiest single targets out there. Two procs at least go there, three if you've got room to spare, or if you're uncomfortable using procs there, at least slot it for damage. This is your best attack, so treat it that way, the hold portion of the attack is just fluff, this is for smashy smash. You should finish out the six slot in Mako's or find another route to 3.75% to clean up your ranged defense softcap, it's probably the most important one overall even if you're always in melee. In Weave you can change out LOTG: Def/End to Shield Wall: Def/End and +5 it for a tiny boost in defense and endurance cost. PVP IO's don't need attuning so take advantage of that when you can. My dumb build below: This isn't like your build at all (It's S/L softcap and offense focused instead of rounded defenses) and has the pet, although it could just as easily not have the pet, I mostly used it as a set mule. This will be of marginal value, but can provide some insight on some proc slotting capacities for Earth and Plant which can increase your output considerably. Good luck, I hope you find a slotting strategy that works well for you!
  11. /Energy Melee covers a lot, with all of the attacks disorienting in harmony with Oppressive Gloom, the tanker AoE radius for Whirling Hands makes it a good AoE instead of a marginal one, and the addition of power crash really gives you some AoE to work with all around, while still being very high single target damage with Total Focus and fast Energy Transfer. Works out well conceptually a lot too because of the positive/negative energy vibes. This was the build I chose for my main. /Savage has some great AoE and the mechanic makes Dark Armor's endurance issues a lot easier. If you're looking for an endurance fix I'd probably pick this over /Staff just because it seems to play a lot smoother and the damage feels good enough comparatively. /Spines and /Rad gives you a second damage aura which is a lot of fun, but you do have to build conservatively for endurance. /Electric and /Super Strength both have AoE Knockback/Disorients in Hand Clap and Lightning Clap, when slotted for KB to KD and Force Feedback make for amazing fun and crowd control goodness (again stacks with OG). /Martial Arts has the Storm Kick thing going for it, that +10% defense is no joke, and Dark Armor already has extra defense in Cloak of Darkness, so this synergy works out well for building extra-sturdy. /Staff has the endurance mechanic. I don't like the set very much though, even though the dancing is fun to watch. Those are the synergies I tend to look at with Dark Armor. Anything will work great though, but if I were going to pick, it'd probably be one of those.
  12. Stalker's Guile proc should go into Assassin's Strike, this is the only reasonable place for it. It's up to you if you want to put there rest of the set there, depends on your set bonus needs or if you want to add more procs to your AS. Assassin's Mark you can get away with putting just about anywhere, I tend to pick an attack that doesn't have a more optimal slotting opportunity (for example if you used the purple set for another same type attack and don't have something else comparable to put there but need the recharge for the build).
  13. Proc slotting is better (specific power and powerset dependent but I'm speaking generally), it's not even close most of the time, but you do what's fun for you. Extensive testing has been done, nobody is relying on mids to report the performance as these tests were done in game, so feel free to peruse the proc monster threads for more information. Dual Pistols is not very good without some procs being used, but top five when a lot of procs are used. If you don't want to use procs much but do want a high performance blast set, I'd suggest something like Fire, which is already overtuned without procs. Fighting pool is a build choice, not a requirement, I was just demonstrating an efficient build, there's a thousand ways to build without Fighting. The game can be 99% solo completed with SO enhancements though, so you do what's fun for you, that's what matters.
  14. Swap Ammo does a couple things, it changes a portion of the damage your attacks do to the ammo type instead of the standard 100% lethal damage, and an additional effect INSTEAD of the standard ammo knockbacks on top of that. so: Incendiary: Attacks will do 70% lethal and 30% FIRE damage. Each attack also adds a Fire Damage over Time instead of knockback. Cryo: Attacks will do 70% lethal and 30% COLD damage. Each attack also has a Slow effect instead of knockback. Chemical: Attacks will do 70% lethal and 30% TOXIC damage. Each attack also has a -Damage Debuff instead of knockback. All ammo types besides the standard ammo will change Suppressive Fire's Disorient/Stun into a HOLD instead. You can pretty much swap anytime, the ammo types are just no-cooldown toggles with zero end costs basically. Want Chem? Click it, you're good until you turn it off or switch to another. Edit: Here's a build I put together in a rush, think it covers everything and shows some of the crazy slotting you can do with Dual Pistols to get a lot out of the set.
  15. To address your interest in Dual Pistols: Pistols: This is the power you have to take, so tend to take it instead of dual wield. It's a great gap-filling attack, and a good place to put a 3 to 5 piece set bonus because procs won't do much for it at the recharge rate. Dual Wield: It's fine, but not worth the power pick. Probably better on blasters. Just use Pistols more often. Empty Clips: It's an average short ranged cone. It has a lot of proc opportunities because it's a cone, and can also take a force feedback proc. If you like using cones, it's worth taking as an additional AoE, and gets better if you find ways to fit +range into your build. It's marginally skippable if you don't like cones. I still tend to keep it in builds but if you're a PBAoE player it might not work out for you if you aren't into hopping around the battlefield, or if you really need the power pick for something else badly. Swap Ammo: This is your buff power instead of Aim, it's always on and gives all of your DP attacks an added bonus, either damage or debuffs. Incendiary ammo is the one you'll use the most for the damage, it's good. The other two have uses on teams, and have high defender values compared to other DP AT's, so for specialized circumstances you might want to use them. For me, it's almost always just Incendiary. Bullet Rain: It's your fireball power, but has the benefit of taking a bunch of procs and force feedback. A lot of creative ways to slot this one, take it, use it all the time. Good animation time and decent damage. Can also take a bunch of other procs. Suppressive Fire: Slotted with procs and with an ammo type selected, this is a powerhouse single target attack with good control in a hold, too. Failing that, it's an average control power, so if you aren't going to fill it with damage procs and use an ammo type, you can probably skip it. Executioner's shot: This is your big single target attack. Takes a force feedback recharge proc too, if you like (I like). No brainer as a must-have. Piercing Rounds: This has a good debuff, very narrow cone and a wonky animation time. I usually skip this one, but if you like to focus on debuffs, you could take it on a defender because of the higher debuff value. It's 'fine' as an attack. I prefer procced suppressive fire. Hail of Bullets: The nuke, it gives you positional defenses which actually do make a difference even though it's a very short duration, people poo-poo this defense buff but I love it. Good recharge high damage, can take a force feedback recharge proc to keep it charged more often too. Great power.
  16. Tough and Weave and Maneuvers and Tactics should be used to fill gaps in your build, there isn't really a one size fits all answer. Some builds use all of these powers. Tough enhanced will give you enough S/L resist to survive an extra hit or two, as well as the ability to slot very important global IO's (Gladiators +Def/Teleport and Steadfast Protection: Res/Def, less important the +max HP global from UG) and Weave's base defense is stronger than Maneuvers. The buy in is forcing an additional power pick in Boxing or Kick to unlock the powers. Tough's ability to slot resistance sets and weave's higher defense makes fighting a more valuable pool for some builds than leadership. Getting 6% defense from global IO's in tough and 5% defense from Weave is a good start on getting to a softcap. Maneuvers is the weakest of the four powers. Lower defense than Weave, similar endurance cost. Tactics is very good for a blaster using a Snipe power and for blasters that don't get one of the Aim or Build Up powers (like Dual Pistols, which can benefit from having tactics because of this). It can also get your accuracy into acceptable levels for +4 content if your set bonuses don't do that already. Importantly, Maneuvers and Tactics gives you an inroad to Vengeance, which gives you two places to put Luck of the Gambler Increased Global Recharge IO's, and is often the motivation for picking these powers when they seem less optimal; 7.5% global recharge x2 is a big incentive, tacked on to +tohit and +def. The other power pool options for getting LOTG spots are often less incentivized (stealth powers) when you can take powers that actively help you blast and survive during fights better. Yes, stealth can do that too, and it's an option. Without a specific build, you can't really claim best utility for a solo blaster. Every powerset combination has different needs, and even within those powerset combinations there are different builds that again have different needs. They really are all so different that no one answer will do.
  17. War Mace or Dark Melee for primary, and Shield Defense for secondary. High end build will solo anything basically, but that's true for most scrapper builds. Shield Defense is a little heavy on endurance so slot end management procs and pick up some P2W buffs & serums until your build is slotted well.
  18. I think scrappers are really strong as they are. Stalkers were brought up a lot, yes, but scrappers started out up here. There are a lot of incentives to playing a Scrapper over a stalker, like access to powersets with taunt auras and less powers lost to Stalker AT-based powers (hide, placate, AS), higher HP, no combo mechanic baked in outside of the ATO, they're very straightforward and do their job well. I think the only thing that feels off about Scrappers are the armor sets that don't have taunt auras, which over-incentivizes the sets that do have them.
  19. Rad armor is a lot smoother in play, and that's from the start too. Elec takes some time to get matured and working smoothly. I think Rad might be both more durable and more devastatingly damaging in the end with layered mitigation (heal/regen/absorb/res/-tohit), proc nukes and a t9 that both adds damage and doesn't have a massive crash, compared to straight res/heal that Elec provides and a bad t9. You can also jump with Rad armor without suddenly getting KB'd or immobilized. That's nice. I'd say giving up all of the benefits of Rad armor for a damage aura isn't worth it, if you only get to pick one or the other. Play both though, I did and they both work great, just one is more fine-tuned than the other.
  20. Side note, what are your preferences for destiny slot on this kind of build? Rebirth HP, Barrier, or just Ageless to top up the recharge?
  21. Totally great option too. For this character I prioritized proc slotting for the AoE's to maximize the damage, but it's definitely worth considering for maximizing the efficiency of the ATO procs!
  22. I agree, a great way to slot it! That's where I went with it too originally, but as I was playing I found myself casting VS less and less than expected so I moved the ATO somewhere that I knew I would use it (weak as the ATO procs are, I'm still drawn to making myself use them). I might try it again with a macro, I was also going to do that originally but I forgot the syntax for the ground target macros since my last shield character a couple months ago, boo! I think the main thing I'm missing is a spot for Assault, The extra 10% damage would make a difference in the long haul, at least in the late game. I'm just not willing to sacrifice any more recharge and I'm still trying to use VS, so there's just nothing I feel like I can sacrifice for it right now. Sentinel builds for me just feel incredibly tight, like there's just no room for all the powers I want in any situation.
  23. Here's my latest attempt at a sentinel. This one is holding my attention a lot better than the others, I think because of bio but Elec is really solid. This is my first try at bio armor ever, it doesn't play much like other sets I'm used to because of how heavily I'm tending to rely on the clicks, but it's working out well. It's not a blaster but it does some fun damage, has good AoE, mez protection and great mitigation, so I'm definitely playing this some more. Build: I kinda wanted more fly speed enhancement in hover, but I just run both hover and fly without any end problems so it worked out fine. Voltaic Sentinel feels kinda awful. It's okay when soloing, gets completely lost/forgotten in teams, but I'm starting to think just taking terrible lightning bolt to fill up the early level attack chain might be a better go, and an opportunity to fit in a decimation set with the build up proc might be really nice. For now I'm keeping Voltaic Sentinel but the next respec I may try LB just for exemplar purposes. I'd recommend this combo though, it's pretty fun. Take this build and try it out or make a better one (and then share it!)
  24. I also do not believe I've ever played with you, although I can assure you my opinion comes from a similar place as yours, a City Of player. I happen to favor playing Tankers specifically, but I have no more authority than the next player, all I can offer are my insights from experiences which may or may not be the same as the next player's experiences. That's fair to say, and I appreciate how the game might not be suiting your needs the way you want. For me, I've not had any issues with the aggro cap being too small, I've been able to play tankers aggressively and what I feel is skillfully, and I've never felt the need for a higher aggro cap or been frustrated by the current aggro cap. With the current aggro cap I still feel highly motivated to play my myriad tankers often. None of the content available has me yearning for more aggro cap room, including the many different ways I've experienced the available content (from easymode to extremely difficult mode). Would it be nice in a few situations? Yes. This, too, I haven't experienced in game, and from a top level viewpoint it seems like higher aggro caps could be more fun for tankers and could be less fun for every other AT that isn't an aggro control AT. There are many reasons for this, none of which I'm qualified to give a treatise on, but just from a distant view it seems like a one-sided ask. Certainly unlimited aggro caps are a mess, I experienced that fully on both sides of the issue long ago, but approaching higher aggro caps will (from my player's point of view) always cause other issues to arise that, while not at critical mass like unlimited aggro caps, will incentivize playing a tanker more than other AT's and create new highly-incentivized sequestered forms of play centered around the tanker and not other AT's. This is hyperbolic to illustrate the slide that happens. I'm just showing that I've seen aggro caps make a mess out of the game for everyone but tankers before. Homecoming is a different game, I could be very wrong about what a change to the aggro cap could cause to happen for the better or worse. I don't have anything else particularly useful to add. Summary is I simply have a different experience in game than the one you have had, and I don't find aggro caps to be frustratingly low and I am not sold on the idea that higher aggro caps would be more fun for "the whole team". I hope that the development team makes whatever changes they feel necessary to address the voices you speak for from your voice chats, and that a way is found for everyone to have more fun. I don't think aggro caps are the way for that, but I'm open to it if it happens to be in the dev's plans.
  25. Looks good, I hope it turns out well for you in game!
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