loyalreader

Nerf regen. (I apologize for the late reply)

This thread is so timely. I just ran my (first) stalker Goldside and followed the Loyalist/power arc the whole way (also a first) I couldn't believe the mobs I had to fight at level 12. At one point I'm sure I was surrounded by 30+ enemies. At. Level. 12. Insane! I died a few times but... it was still fun 😉

I have a fully incarnated Stone/Regen and he's a blast to play. Heavy hitter and doesn't get winded. I would argue with @Ratch_ that a ridiculous amount of recharge is exactly what you need for this build. I have perma-hasten by chasing recharge and choosing Spiritual as my Alpha slot (it's secondaries of improvement to Heal and Stun make it a perfect match). I went Energy Mastery for the extra stamina (can also slot absorb and heal procs in there). Agree with @Ratch_ that Fault is clutch for this build. I went with a purple set there. Instead of chasing defense/resistance on top of recharge, which can be fool's errand, I just keep enemies on their butts. Not saying there isn't a layer of defense/resistance, but I focused on recharge first as it benefits all of the clicks in Regen. I have a regular rotation of Smash and the two Mallets, although I'm usually throwing the AOE and/or Fault in the mix.

Thanks all. Great info. I rerolled this one as a Psi/Atomic because I wanted him to be a flying, ranged blaster (he's a human/fly hybrid for crying out loud...). I'll revisit mental with a primary set up more for blapping.

As someone who leveled an AR/Devices blaster to 50 back on Live, I love all of the changes to blasters since I stopped playing. The sustain powers in particular make the AT much more enjoyable to play. Am I missing something with Drain Psyche though? I'm only level 24 and have this power set up with 1 acc, 2 rechrdx. I feel like it's... useless. I have to get into melee to use it, and unless I'm right on top of my targets it doesn't hit. With Psychic/Mental I'm constantly sucking wind. Also, the secondary power (end/regen drain) doesn't seem to help me in combat unlike, say, the slow in Martial/Time/Ice or the to-hit bonus in Devices. Am I slotting it wrong? Using the wrong strategy? Does it get better?

I'm running one of these now doing duos with my brother. Like you, theme drove it for me (cool toon, cool name, etc.). I'm enjoying it so far but it's certainly not the hardest-hitting set. What about it turned you off? At 28 now and hoping Boost Range and Power Boost make Dark Blast shine (heal, hold, to-hit debuff). Am I in for a world of disappointment?

Sorry (not sorry) for threadjacking but... I have no idea how to buy hero and winter packs, and I've been playing since live. Can someone enlighten me?

I 6-slotted Preventative Medicine in one of the heals as it's proc is an absorb, not a heal. Useful. Also 6-slotting gives you an 8.75 recharge, which is the biggest you can get w/out using a purple set I believe. I think any of the other procs are a waste. FYI 5-slotting Doctored Wounds, which is a cheap set, gives you a 5% recharge bonus and a 4% buff to heals. It's gold!

I ran a /regen scrapper to 50 on live and am almost done filling out my incarnates on a /regen brute on Homecoming. Not a min-maxer but do have some experience. As @Coyote said mitigation is important, and slotting for regen isn't a good idea. I slotted my stone/regen brute for recharge and health, then defense (taking whatever resistance I fell into), and it's working. Now we are talking endgame where I can juggle between MoG and whatever the incarnate power I have that makes me bubble boy, but this is working for me. I think you can chase defense down a rabbit hole and gimp your character. Having MoG and/or Dull Pain up regularly to take care of the alpha makes you much more survivable. Instant Healing helps with big mobs. Stone melee hits hard and has a great mitigation tool in Fault, which keeps enemies on their butt. If I was playing ss/regen I'd consider taking Handclap, which most people ignore. My point is, your primary can help with mitigation and should be considered when you are fleshing out your character. If I had a primary that had defense like you mentioned, I may be more likely to try to chase defense. For me, recharge was the better choice. You have to play differently with regen. The nice thing is endurance really shouldn't be an issue - especially with so many health sets that give bonuses there - so you can take hard hitting primaries and not worry about running out of steam.

I've teamed with you (think it was a Citadel TF... I remember lots of Council) and laughed my @$$ off the whole time. Keep spinning, Princess.

I have to agree with both TW (killed a brute at lvl 34 because it was just so excruciating to play) and MMs (have a bots/traps at 32 that I planned to solo AVs with but... just can't get into it). My Archery/TA blaster is probably the most fun I've had playing CoH. At 42 the lethal damage thing hasn't really been an issue because of other damage types in the set, and the T9 absolutely shreds. Regularly. Of course to each their own!

Stupid question - how/where does one buy the packs? I've bought individual enhancements both at AH and with merits, but I don't think I've ever seen packs?

@DR_Mechanoyesssssssssssss...

@biostem my archery/tactical arrow blaster just hit 37 and it's probably the most fun I've had on any character. It doesn't feeel like a 'gimme' - I have to use strategy or I faceplant - but it's a blast to play.

Hey @Sailboatjust rolled up the same based on concept. Curious to know why Axe is 'mechanically sub-optimal' (not challenging, real question)? I've played War Mace before and it's a great set. Battle Axe looks to be the basically the same but lethal instead of smashing. Is that the issue? On paper it looks good but you can't really tell until you start playing....

Besides the -to hit it effectively takes a lt/minion out of play for a decent amount of the fight. This strategy works extremely well in mobs - especially as dark melee is more single target focused. YMMV but this is a decent power.

I agree with everything else you said, but have to put in a plug for Rise of the Phoenix. I'm lazy and careless enough to run out of endurance - even with Ageless tier 3 - once in a blue moon. If that happens and I'm not paying attention (see 'lazy and careless') RotP is a great power. Looks great, does some extra damage, and in a slot-hungry build only requires one RechRdx. I personally love this power. Necessary? Maybe not. But super cool and actually useful.

Thanks all. That gave me what I needed.

I'm building a scrapper who will have no ranged attacks. I'm trying to decide between Air Superiority and Confront to mitigate flying enemies. My question is... would Confront work to pull fliers into melee range or would they still attack from outside of melee range. If the latter then I think I'd be better off getting Air Superiority. What say you?

Ha - like I said, I'm no pro at this. I'm a loooong time player, but never a min/maxer. But... I am working on a build that should see fruition in a week or 2. As you know, numbers don't always match up with playability. Once I have some time to wring it out, I'll post the build if it feels good. Not ignoring defense or resists, just trying to cram a bunch of regen and xtra health. I should throw out the caveat that my main on live was a /regen scrapper so... I tend to bias that way. Realize that regen is a way more active defensive set than wp but there you go.

I'm no expert but I had a few thoughts. I wouldn't double-slot Superior Conditioning. I *would* double-slot Physical Perfection. You're better off using that one as a proc mule than Health/Stamina as it's worth half of what the latter give you. So slot Health with a heal and one of your health procs, Stamina with an end mod and a PerfShift proc. Then slot Superior Conditioning with an end mod or PerfShift proc. Put another PerfShift proc in Physical Perfection and add the rest of your health procs. While you're at it, just put 1 end mod or PerfShift in Quick Recovery and you get 2 slots back. If end is an issue after all of that, you are doing something seriously wrong... Why the KB protection in Fly? I'm not challenging it... just curious. Here's where I go off the rails a bit. Not sure why you are so focused on S/L def? It may be better off building to WP strength and focus on regen, while building in some broader def/res. For instance you can buy the (relatively) inexpensive Touch of Death sets, 6 slot 4 of your melees, and you'd have 15% melee def as well as 15% s/l resistance. WP already gives you mediocre res and def. If you can beef it up a little (and you've already got procs giving you overall def and res) that's all I'd think you'd need to deal with the alpha strike. Eat a purple or orange if you're facing off with a boss. Along those lines with so many def powers I'm not sure why you wouldn't 3-slot 5 of them with LoTG and get the 50% boost to regen, over 5% boost to your health and 37.5% boost to recharge. With a couple purple sets I would think you'd have more than enough recharge to do away with Hasten, especially for a set that doesn't rely on a bunch of clicks? And we haven't talked about Incarnate abilities yet. Boxing can be used as stun mule. I'd throw your stuns in there and slot Cross Punch for damage. I'm assuming you took both Kick and Boxing for the extra juice to Cross Punch? That would at least make Boxing viable for you (think of it as a stun and not damage power).

At the risk of sounding dumb... how do you customize the patron pools? I have a couple of Mu powers and was unable to see them at the tailor. At least they weren't on the same screen as my primary/secondary. What am I missing?

I have to disagree with you on Elec/ secondary effects. Thunderous Blast plus Short Circuit (slotted w/one end mod) means enemies, including EBs, can't hit you because they don't have the juice. Talk about the best defense being a good offense... I'm loving my Elec/Elec sentinel. At lvl 35 with no real set bonuses he's already a lot of fun to play.

There are many ways to play CoX. Some people like to farm. Some like to pl. Some like to solo. Some team. Some choose red, some blue, etc. I'd guess most of the folks reading and commenting in this section of the forums see the market as a way to play the game. But I'd also guess there are *way* more people who couldn't care less. The truth is you don't need to min/max (another way to play the game) to be successful in CoX. So influence is, largely, irrelevant. If you just like arresting bad guys and going through the general content of the game, teaming to do TFs or radio missions, you'll get plenty of influence and recipes. More than enough to make your character viable. No need to remove enhancement converters. They are helpful to people - like me - who use them to improve the recipes they get through drops. If it 'breaks the market', I can assure you that won't break the game for most. In the meantime, you can enjoy making millions because that's how you like playing the game. If you don't, you can stop and figure out another way to enjoy playing the game. Like creating really cool characters and entering costume contests (yep, another way to play the game). People have made millions that way too.

Hopefully simple question. Does Gymnastics make Acrobatics redundant, or does the extra KB protection make it awesome? Also, is Gymnastics a toggle? Guess that was 2 questions...