ZemX

I always have to work out the proc chances. FF:+rech is a safe bet because it only has to proc on at least one of the targets you hit as it does not stack. As for everything else, what is working against you is that Shield Charge is a pseudopet. Thus it uses 10 seconds as the Activate Period rather than the lengthy base recharge time of the power. Also, it has a relatively large area, so that cuts down the proc chance as well. I haven't worked it out but I wouldn't be surprised if even a purple proc only hits a third or fewer of the targets. If I put a proc in Shield Charge it is either FF:+rech or it belongs to a set and I'm putting it there for the sixth-slot bonus more than the effect of the proc. Otherwise I can usually find a better place for that enhancement slot and I leave it at 5 slots in SC. Thing to keep in mind with FF:+rech, assuming I am remembering this correctly... the recharge is very impressive at 100% but it's only for five seconds. Averaged out over time, it's worth about what a LotG:+rech is worth in terms of global recharge. In other words, the more global recharge you already have in a build, the less noticeable adding something like another 7.5% will be.

I'm also trying to deal with those debuffs. Here's my latest attempt: Notes: Most procs are turned off here except for Tanker ATOs which in Mid's seems to just add one stack of +6% res. This includes all stat-enhancing accolades but no Incarnates Melee defense includes one stack of Guarded Spin (+17.39% defense melee/lethal) Might of the Tanker is also in Guarded Spin and it's easy to get at least two stacks of the 6% res. Staff's Form of Body also gives me 15s of +13% res whenever I hit with Sky Splitter and 3 stacks of FoB. Sky Splitter has 5s-7s recharge depending on Hasten. Hasten is not perma but has a 26s down time. Regen/Recovery numbers shown above are not accurate due to a Mid's bug with Gamma Boost. This is showing regen when it's highest (0% health). Endurance recovery is higher at full health than shown here. With Particle Shielding + Gamma Boost, I have 5 end/sec recovery at full health. I probably have too much recovery, tbh, and should move some slots. My experience so far is decent. Much better against CoT and ghosts thanks to Tactics, Focused Acc, and added defense since my last build attempt. Need to try putting it up against a Cimeroran Phalanx solo to see how it does there. With no DDR to speak of, the defense is still susceptible to being fully stripped away into the negatives, but outside of enemies-buffed +4x8 ITFs, I have not had an issue with this as I'm still left with considerable resist and regen, not to mention that beautiful 1110hp absorb shield that is refreshed every 35-40s if I need it. I've put it on manual control and treat it like a second heal now. Sometimes I forget to even use it. Finally, except for a pair of Winter IOs to get a bit of that slow resistance, I haven't slotted any other purples/winters. So there is room for more improvement here. Welcome any suggestions.

Vigilante works. The pools unlock right away. Only the mission holder needs to be Rogue/Villain. That said, things can go a bit more smoothly on a team if there's no cross-faction membership. For running mission arcs redside, vigilantes need to be aware of the common pitfalls. Going to Ouro or an SG base can sometimes auto-kick you from the team. And if the team decides to do a "Board Transit" mission using Ouro, that can be a problem too. Sometimes the team lead can't select the mission if anybody is in Ouro on a mixed-team. These problems don't occur on a TF/SF that I've ever seen, but you might not want to chance it.

Similar. The only time I have used a second build to date is for a particular challenge: In this case it was SOs-only. I've recently been occasionally running ITFs with challenge settings and that has me thinking of a second build as well because I might do stuff for that which is geared specifically to that TF and challenge vs. the general case of teaming with normal settings, which is a lot less demanding. But I haven't yet seen the point of going from attuned IOs to all boosted level 50s for "endgame" content. It just seems a bit past the point of diminishing returns to me. Also, I am not yet so rich that "cost is no object". I'd rather make more characters than invest in multiple builds and that is still an either-or for me.

And that very little is activating Mighty Radial Final Judgement in a crowd of very low level Scrapyarders. I think I put them in orbit.

Pretty sure @Bill Z Bubba is soloing this on a Brute or Scrapper at max. notoriety and TF challenge settings. And while "kill most" ITF teams are usually at max. notoriety, almost nobody runs with enemies buffed + players debuffed, no insps, and no temps settings. You are typically running the ITF with a team of mostly level 50 incarnates. It doesn't surprise me that even this change isn't enough to put a dent in that. There's just that much overkill involved.

Since that earlier post I have paid more attention to my staff fighters and I'm convinced now the redraw is not a performance issue. It does not add time to your attack chain. It instead causes the attack you activated that caused the redraw to have its animation interrupted by the attack following it. i.e. If you, without the staff drawn, do something like Guarded Spin -> Precise Strike -> Eye of the Storm, you will find that Precise Strike begins at the same moment as if you'd started that same chain with the staff already drawn. It's because Guarded Spin, in the redraw case, has its animation interrupted such that the time from redraw to where it is interrupted is equal to the normal animation time of Guarded Spin. Sorry if that earlier post caused confusion. Redraw certainly makes things FEEL slower but it is a perception only provided you always queue your next attack while the redraw animation is playing.

This is the next respec I am looking at. Not purpled/wintered completely yet. But it looks decent to me. Incarnates not included. This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.6.0 https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Annie Proton: Level 50 Technology Tanker Primary Power Set: Radiation Armor Secondary Power Set: Staff Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Concealment Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Alpha Barrier -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(3), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(3), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(5), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(5), UnbGrd-Max HP%(7) Level 1: Mercurial Blow -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mk'Bit-Dam%(11) Level 2: Proton Armor -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(15), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Ags-Psi/Status(17) Level 4: Guarded Spin -- SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(21), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(23) Level 6: Fallout Shelter -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(23), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(25), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), ImpArm-ResDam(27), ImpArm-ResPsi(27) Level 8: Gamma Boost -- Heal-I(A) Level 10: Combat Jumping -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A), Ksm-ToHit+(29), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(29), Rct-ResDam%(31) Level 12: Beta Decay -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A) Level 14: Radiation Therapy -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(31), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Prv-Heal/Rchg(33), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(33), Prv-Absorb%(33) Level 16: Eye of the Storm -- SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(A), SprGntFis-Dmg/Rchg(34), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(36) Level 18: Particle Shielding -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(36), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(37), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(37), Pnc-Heal(37), RechRdx-I(39) Level 20: Staff Mastery Level 22: Taunt -- PrfZng-Taunt/Rchg(A) Level 24: Super Jump -- WntGif-ResSlow(A) Level 26: Kick -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A) Level 28: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(39), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(39), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(40), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40), GldArm-3defTpProc(50) Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40) Level 32: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(42) Level 35: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 38: Sky Splitter -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx(42), CrsImp-Dmg/Rchg(42), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43) Level 41: Innocuous Strikes -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(43), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(45), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(46), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 47: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(48) Level 49: Infiltration -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(13), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(50) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PwrTrns-+Heal(50) Level 1: Combo Level 1 Level 1: Combo Level 2 Level 1: Combo Level 3 Level 24: Double Jump Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Portal Jockey Level 50: Task Force Commander Level 50: The Atlas Medallion Level 20: Form of the Body Level 20: Form of the Mind Level 20: Form of the Soul ------------

First Ward / Night Ward on a team, even exemplared, can be a horror show. I went there with my usually very sturdy Staff/Nin Stalker and joined a team that insisted on running a Living Spells mission at +4x8. If looking for Rad's kryptonite, I say yeah... look for enemies that debuff you into next week. Look at Praetoria at high levels and at +4x8 settings. Defense based Tankers, at least the ones that can get very good DDR, will get through that more easily I think.

The extreme rules +4x8, no incarnates team I've done a few times certainly cuts up my Rad/Staffer for fish bait. Slowed and defense floored, then dead. And that's with several tanks on the team. I need to run on a "normal" +4x8 to see how much different that is.

It's more in the middle. Some of the bad rep comes from a really outdated DPS spreadsheet that has Staff third from last in DPS for Scrappers. But it makes no allowance for stacking Form of Body whereas it does count Street Justice combo level. It was just never completed, I think. Pure ST DPS is also not always relevant. Also consider that spreadsheet has Claws dead last. A more recent analysis goes by experimental rather than theory-crafted results in this thread: And if you skim through it, you see Staff is more middle of the road. But also notice that the clear times for the bulk of sets except those at the very top and bottom are actually pretty close to one another. In practical terms, Staff performs roughly the same as most other sets except for the outliers that are broken good/bad. P.S. It has enormous AoEs on a Tanker. uuuuuge! 🤪

I used to think this as well, but it turns out it isn't true. The redraw animation does play first, but it doesn't actually add any time to the attack chain. What happens instead is that the animation time of the attack you activated begins with the redraw and ends before the animation of the attack is finished playing. You can see this most easily by activating Eye of the Storm without the staff drawn. Activate the attack and then hold down the forward button. Normally, the rooting time of EotS covers the whole spinning animation. But in the case where you begin with redraw, you will notice you're breakdancing while sliding across the floor towards the end. That's because the animation (and root time) has expired but the EotS animation is still playing. Perform this staff party trick while waiting with a team at a mission door! If you had instead of holding down forward, queued another attack, that attack would have begun before the end of the EotS animation, interrupting it. It's even weirder if you start redraw with a short attack like Mercurial. You have to quickly queue a second attack but if you do it right, the Mercurial animation almost doesn't play at all because it would have animated in the same time it takes to draw the weapon. The redraw animation makes it LOOK slower, but it reality is is not actually slowing you down or hurting DPS. I believe the same is true of all weapon sets with redraw. Choosing the "no redraw" option is cosmetic only. It does not improve the actual performance of the set.

Is any tanker really vulnerable if you throw IO sets and Incarnates into the mix though? I would say a big issue I've had with Rad Armor is debuffs. Everything hits you. Unless you invest heavily in defense set bonuses to the point where you're hurting something else probably. I skipped Energy Mastery to get more AoEs from Mu. Didn't think I needed the endurance tools. But it looks like I need Focused Accuracy if I don't want to keep being just a taunt bot in the middle of a pack of ordinary CoT, storm-using enemies, Carnie fluffy pets, etc. All that hits me because I have no significant defense. Sure... throw up a barrier incarnate. But that's still a hole in the set that you needed to plug just like other sets deal with psi or endurance.

Can't check Mid's right now. I'm (hardly) working. But usually this sort of difference has something to do with powers being active/inactive or procs being marked on/off in Mid's. Check all the yellow and green dots on powers. Make sure all Incarnates are selected in the Incarnate window and appropriately turned on/off as desired in the main window once they appear there. That sort of thing.

I wasn't going to say anything but since you have, yeah... Base quartermasters have them if your character is low enough. I can see them on a level 21 but not on my 50s. I assume they disappear at 24 then? And since combining now works to add to the level rather than ++, I assume you can create TOs for any level.

The text descriptions of Shout of Command don't list KB protection but City of Data has it as +Mez protection (All) whatever that means. I've also noticed them stop falling down on Ice Patch so it's gotta be this power. It's a huge 30ft radius so it's hitting pretty much every Cim in the room with -10 protection for 15 seconds and it comes from any of the boss or lieutenant types, I think, once they are damaged enough.

Well I am a newbie tanker myself but I just recently got my first to 50 and it is a Rad/Staff. Rad Armor is pretty easy and comes with great endurance recovery for no blue bar worries. Staff has three great AoEs expanded by the Tanker AoE buffs. Guarded Spin is a 9ft, 135 degree cone available at level 4. Eye of the Storm is a 15ft PBAoE you get at level 16. Innocuous Strikes, which you may find redundant, is another 9ft, 135degree cone available at 35. But in any case, loads of AoE for x8 teams. And it's dead easy to punch voke entire spawns, even if a bit spread out, from level 16 onward just with EotS. No Build Up, but the stances come with various bonuses. Form of Body has a whopping 13.3% +res(All) bonus when Sky Splitter is used with 3 stacks of Body. I put the Might of the Tanker ATO +res proc in Guarded Spin and it procs easily as well, bringing any res I don't have capped already to the cap. It definitely wants Focused Accuracy to help with toHit debuffs or certain enemies will turn you into an auto-taunt aura and little else. The lack of Build Up is occasionally annoying for that same reason but it's made up for with many other benefits. Anyway, I played this with PuG leveling all the way and it was easy and fun. I'm looking at something good for a defense-based tanker next to see how the other half lives.

Yeah, buffed +4x8, debuffed team, no incarnates, no temps, no insps, no amps. Previously done by having a level 44 team lead that would force-exemp everyone to just below incarnate level but still leave all powers accessible. They've just started running at 50 by getting everyone to just unslot all Incarnates. I haven't tried that yet but it sounds more convenient than the level 44 route. I'll think on it. The SD/DM is one attempt if I can keep him going. Nice to have the self-heal. But I level the slow way so it will be a little while before he's ready to run. Same with anyone else. So having one that's fun to play in normal content while leveling is key too. That's where I'm struggling with DM. MA sounds like it might be a bit more fun.

Alas, I've fallen in with an unsavory crowd on Excelsior that likes to run the ITF with Incarnates disabled. So I'd probably tweak the build with that in mind. What looks good to me is the decent S/L/N resist and over-soft-capped defense with Storm Kick. Those buffed Cimerorans do otherwise like to re-enact Julius Caesar on me if they can strip defenses. My Ice/SD stalker and Rad/Staff tanker, so far... are not really up to it. They get by. But it's ugly.

Not for Staff Fighting. And not that it's a real performance issue. If you draw the staff and execute an attack, the attack animation just gets interrupted by the next attack. Overall DPS isn't affected. It's just a minor annoying aesthetic issue I found putting Staff and Combat Teleport together. It would be nicer on almost any other melee attack set.

Yeah, I am having a similar issue having played mostly defense-based Stalkers. I came to tankers and tried starting a SD/Rad. But Rad Melee is just so uninspiring to me. I rolled a Rad/Staff and shot to 50 in no time. Hilarious fun with bountiful big Tanker-buffed AoEs on short timers. But the getting hit all the time part is a drag when it comes to debuffs (particularly toHit) and confuse/fear. Maybe I'll try a SD/Ice or SR/Staff next instead. I've got a SD/DM going but DM is about as boring as Rad Melee so far. Or I'll give Werner's SD/MA a whirl. Sounds fun. Boots to the head and all. That +def Storm Kick is pretty nice looking, even if it's sort of lacking AoE.

The one time I tried it, I could see how handy it might be... but yeah. Wouldn't have given up CJ for it. I actually gave up Teleport Target and Super Jump that respec just to try it (and Fold Space)... but I kept CJ. Big problem I had with it was I was on a Staff Stalker and CT causes redraw. Boooo!

With a 30min cooldown? Not exactly. Most pick up TFs I join seem to have a couple people capable of stealthing a mission and then summoning the team and often that's enough. But on my Stalkers with Teleport Target there's no worry. If I've used ATT already, I just port in someone who hasn't and they use it. Guy whose travel power is Ninja Run? Port to the door. Someone face-planted next to an AV dishing out constant AoE? Yoink! It's not essential. But it's handy. It's for people who want some team utility and are willing to sacrifice some other more optimal build choice to get it.

Limitless Radial Freeeem! I don't think ever leaving that one mission is too much to ask for such unbelievable power, is it? But okay seriously... my real fav that I take on nearly every character? Super Jump. I can just jump around on rooftops all day really. Second runner up: Mighty Radial Final Judgement. How many other powers have "causes massive knockup" in their description? Plus it's just fun to watch a whole group of enemies all get tossed up in the air at the same time.

I'd never want to be without CJ on my melee toons just for the combat mobility... but a Dom? You might have some melee attacks in your secondary, but your bread and butter is mostly ranged. Practice with CT and a decent click-bind and you should be good getting around a battle. Don't bother with the jump pack though. Crap vertical speed and maneuverability compared to a jet pack plus a recharge time between uses. Just bind a temp jet pack to a key and use it to "jump" over any obstacle that's too much for SS/Hurdle. 5K/30min flight time on the cheapest jet pack may as well be permanent because keeping it topped up is pocket change. Oh, CJ is also a place to put a LotG:+Rech IO. You didn't list that as a disadvantage so does that mean you have five other powers to slot this IO in or just that you already have perma-dom without needing the limit of LotGs?