Kaeladin

DB is quite strong on scrapper; it has a bit weaker ST damage than the stalker variant (although still quite strong compared to other scrapper sets), and stronger AOE than the stalker variant. BF - Attack Vitals chain is your go-to at lower levels of recharge for both ST and AOE. At higher levels of recharge (probably about 170%+ or greater added global recharge), you can switch to BF - Ablating - SS - Ablating - repeat for ST and keep the Attack Vitals chain for AOE.

Wow, this thread has really taken off since I last checked. I've been MIA due to the new FFXIV expansion (top notch, FYI). But I'll be back once I hit a content lull. I've seen a number of requests/mentions about my War Mace/Bio scrapper build. Here's the latest iteration that I made (also one of my Live characters) before I stopped playing for a bit. To be honest, the fire/cold softcapping (via the 6th slot of superior blistering cold) was more for funsies. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: War Mace Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Pulverize -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(5), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(7) Level 1: Hardened Carapace -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(7), UnbGrd-ResDam(9), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(11) Level 2: Inexhaustible -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(11), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(17) Level 4: Environmental Modification -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(15), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(17) Level 6: Boxing -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(19), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(21), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21) Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 10: Adaptation Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23) Level 14: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), RctArm-ResDam(23), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(25), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RctArm-EndRdx(27) Level 16: Ablative Carapace -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(27) Level 18: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def(29), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(29), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(31) Level 20: Evolving Armor -- RctArm-ResDam(A), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctArm-ResDam/Rchg(31), RctArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33) Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(33), Rct-Def(33) Level 24: Jawbreaker -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Hct-Acc/Rchg(34), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Hct-Dam%(36), TchofDth-Dam%(36) Level 26: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 28: DNA Siphon -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(36) Level 30: Clobber -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(39) Level 32: Crowd Control -- SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(40), Erd-Dmg(40), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Erd-%Dam(42) Level 35: Genetic Contamination -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42) Level 38: Shatter -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Arm-Dam%(45), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(45) Level 41: Parasitic Aura -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(45) Level 44: Moonbeam -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(46), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Apc-Acc/Rchg(46), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(48) Level 47: Soul Storm -- UnbCns-Hold(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(48), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(48), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(50), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(50) Level 49: Shadow Meld -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(13), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(15), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(19) Level 10: Defensive Adaptation Level 10: Efficient Adaptation Level 10: Offensive Adaptation Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany ------------ I switched to Barrier (from Ageless) after further testing revealed that A) I didn't need the recharge or endurance of Ageless to sustain my WM/Bio chain to any reasonable degree and B) it would allow me to softcap a host of defenses with less slotting and cap my s/l resistance in-game.

First, regarding the Claws question (about my spreadsheet), please read the Special Cases (highlighted in blue) section. I did model follow-up in that (along with Blinding Feint for dual blades), and it does reasonable mid-level ST damage but has excellent AOE. War Mace is one of my all-around favorites; it has excellent ST and AOE damage, and it's quite strong. It's one of the most underrated sets of this time, IMO. Also, what buffs/debuffs are you referring to that the sheet didn't model? The self-damage buffs from the sets (outside of build up) were modeled, in the Special Cases section. As for debuffs, -resistance wasn't calculated either from procs or from StJ/TW's -res attack (but it's easy to just calculate yourself depending on the level of the mob you're fighting). Assume that any sets that have -res built into its set will do a bit more damage on any sustained target than the numbers assume, but there aren't many situations where you're hammering a target for more than 20+ seconds. Finally, Psi Melee is just not in good shape. Both numerically, but especially from a "real gameplay" mechanics standpoint, insight is awful in its current implementation and the set ends up playing more from its "mediocore DPA powerset" than its "great (during insight) powerset" due to that factor of insight uptime.

In a sustained ST DPS situation? Yes. In real gameplay? They're close enough. Martial Arts has the higher base DPA chain, but katana is up there. MA has a slightly better damage typing IMO (smashing), while katana already has two decent AOE options (a cone and a PBAOE) to MA's one (PBAOE). However, MA is a good candidate to take Cross Punch (fighting pool) as an additional cone. They're close enough, though MA is a bit more end heavy.

Yep. Savage melee is extremely strong on stalker.

Looks like a soul mastery power. Oops, yeah this was an old entry from when I was testing out fast snipe (the current version, not the test one) to see if it'd be worth the investment for a set like radiation melee.

Please read the Special Cases section for Claws (and Dual Blades, Dark Melee, etc.). I specifically stated this in the FAQ and the actual recharge condition sheets themselves. Claws is only low in this sheet because of low base DPS values on the moves of its chain, but that section has the numbers with follow-up stack(s) calculated.

I did explicitly state that Arcanatime is calculated. The info in each of the sets reflects the tooltip info for their times, but if you look at the actual rotations modeled you'll notice that they're using Arcanatime values for their moves in the actual attack chain modeling section.

Beta Server (Justin) Martial Arts/Bio Armor Scrapper (Part 2) T4 Musculature Core Paragon T4 Reactive Radial Flawless Interface T4 Ageless Core Epiphany T4 Assault Radial Embodiment (I did not use the clicky/toggle on any tests; just the passive damage bonus) Offensive Adaptation No outside buffs, no recovery serum, no inspirations. Strictly just what my character has. I only had a measly 3 attempts when I did Martial Arts last time. This time, to compensate, I wanted to provide a few more samples to the previous attempts + test a new condition (with a number of repetitions). So first off, let's continue from the last series of attempts I did. How I started every attempt: Hasten + Ageless (prepull stage) - Begin timer as soon as I hit Build-Up. Attempts with following rotation: Storm Kick - Crippling Axe Kick - Storm Kick - Cobra Strike - repeat. (Old) 2:35 = 380.19 (Old) 2:26 = 395.44 (Old) 2:49 = 359.7 Attempt 4: 2:31 = 386.74 Attempt 5: 2:20 = 406.70 Attempt 6: 2:24 = 399.09 Attempt 7: 2:14 = 418.96 Attempt 8: 2:31 = 386.74 Attempt 9: 2:09 = 430.05 Attempt 10: 2:23 = 400.95 Much better! While times still tended to range a bit lower than the fiery melee times I posted, this was still a pretty respectable showing for another set that relied solely on raw DPA to prove its might. Now, I mentioned a second condition earlier. Are you ready for this? ...Eagle's Claw. Ok, stop. Put the pitchforks do...yes, you too! Drop it! Here's the rationale: Eagle's Claw is a long animating, mediocore (by MA standards) DPA move. However, there's one component of it that was pointed out to me in another thread (link here): https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,5692.0.html (towards the bottom of page 1) Essentially, the idea is that Eagle's Claw provides a VERY short duration 33% increased crit chance buff to what is essentially your next move. For ST, this would ideally be storm kick. For AOE, this would be dragon's tail. Another way to think of this is that, statistically, Eagle's Claw provides (over many samples) a "33% damage increase" to Storm Kick. Unfortunately it's not quite the same consistency as, say, just multiplying the move by 1.33x, but over time the math should pan out over enough repetitions of the same condition. In addition, Eagle's Claw has the highest PPM of your Superior Critical Strikes proc, and is therefore an ideal candidate to take the full set in theory. But how would this actually do in practice with a small sample? Attempts with following rotation: Eagle's Claw - Storm Kick - Crippling Axe Kick - Storm Kick - repeat Attempt 1: 2:19 (139) = 408.67 Attempt 2: 2:18 (138) = 410.67 Attempt 3: 2:26 (146) = 395.44 Attempt 4: 2:20 (140) = 406.70 Attempt 5: 2:23 (143) = 400.95 Attempt 6: 2:31 (151) = 386.74 Attempt 7: 1:59 (Didn't miss a single main attack!) (119) = 455.03 Attempt 8: 2:36 (I missed 6 SK, 1 CAX, and 3 EC) (156) = 378.61 Attempt 9: 2:25 (I missed 1 SK, 2 CAX, 2 EC) (145) = 397.25 Attempt 10: 2:18 (I missed 3 SK, 1 CAX, 1 EC) (138) = 410.67 Towards the latter attempts, I had the bright idea to start logging my parses to see how many attacks I missed in a given attempt in order to better explain time variance. And sure enough, the very first one I did was the one where I didn't miss a single one! What are the chances... In any case, it's a pretty interesting comparison; at the very least, I think it shows that Martial Arts is capable of a bit more damage (especially given it's purely raw, no -res proc shenanigans) than I might have initially let on. Gooo...Eagle's Claw? /Ducks

Savage is definitely far from low; it's actually reasonably high (for scrappers), great on brutes, and superb on stalkers. As for psi, pylons have 20% resistance to all damage types (including psi); that means no damage type is advantaged/disadvantaged on pylons. Psi can do "fine", but if psi can "murder" then a lot of other sets can do murder more efficiently.

Hey all: After weeks worth of iterating and work, I'm very pleased to present to all of you my Scrapper version of Kezeal's DPS spreadsheet, but modeled under two (realistic) recharge conditions and containing a BOATLOAD of notes/observations based on both statistics and playtesting. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1av2vWL9UVgGw183BbjFNweJze7N5P3Tn8tYSppdFQgE/edit?usp=sharing Also has some applicablity for brutes and tankers, though there are some notable differences in their versions of the kits. Not applicable to stalkers. Enjoy!

Beta Server (Justin) Battle Axe/Bio Armor Scrapper T4 Musculature Core Paragon T4 Reactive Radial Flawless Interface T4 Ageless Core Epiphany T4 Assault Radial Embodiment (I did not use the clicky/toggle on any tests; just the passive damage bonus) Offensive Adaptation No outside buffs, no recovery serum, no inspirations. Strictly just what my character has. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Abraham Lincoln After finishing my late night snack of plain toast and a glass of milk, I decided to continue onward with another classic; time to grind the axe! The first word that comes to mind, from both a numerical and aesthetic perspective of battle axe, is "Average." In every sense of the word, it is neither greatly lacking in, or excelling in, any of the areas of melee damage and efficiency. To me, battle axe (for scrapper) defines the midpoint of all sets in terms of its characteristics. However, average is not bad! And in the right hands, an "average" weapon can still do a "great" job in City of Heroes given that this game does not require "meta" picks at all to do well. So how does my definition of "average" do? How I started every attempt: Hasten + Ageless (prepull stage) - Begin timer as soon as I hit Build Up Attempts with following rotation: Gash - Swoop - Chop - Gash - Swoop - Cleave - repeat Attempt 1: 2:15 = 416.84 Attempt 2: 2:09 = 430.05 Attempt 3: 2:41 = 370.97 Attempt 4: 1:59 = 455.03 Attempt 5: 2:25 = 397.25 Attempt 6: 2:16 = 414.75 Attempt 7: 2:20 = 406.70 Not too shabby! One nice feature of battle axe is that A) you can put a -res proc into Cleave (which definitely helped for this testing) and B) it has access to Pendulum, which is quite similar to War Mace's Crowd Control (a great 180 degree arc attack). It actually does more DPA than CC but at the cost of slightly less range (8 vs. 7). After testing these two weapons, I'm going to go back at some point to retest Martial Arts as I think it was the one with the smallest sample and I "think" it could have done more damage than what I saw. I'll look at my slotting for its attacks to see what I can improve, if anything. Chop, chop!

Beta Server (Justin) Broad Sword/Bio Armor Scrapper T4 Musculature Core Paragon T4 Reactive Radial Flawless Interface T4 Ageless Core Epiphany T4 Assault Radial Embodiment (I did not use the clicky/toggle on any tests; just the passive damage bonus) Offensive Adaptation No outside buffs, no recovery serum, no inspirations. Strictly just what my character has. "Broadsword, what is best in life? To crush the pylon, see it blow up before you, and hear the lamentation of the Rikti." Credit: the_timepants After indulging in the hedonism of youthful, experimental (and perhaps unpolished) sets of some days prior, I decided to go back to the roots of 2004 and hit up an original; it's broad sword time! I'll be frank; I didn't expect much from broad sword. From a DPA perspective + examining its rotation on my spreadsheet, I saw it an inferior version of katana. It required more recharge than katana to pull off what was essentially an identical rotation (due to Hack being the primary "filler" move, while also being the set's highest DPA move, but also having a much higher base recharge). Its AOE kit was worse in DPA than katana's; in short, I came in expecting suboptimal performance from broad sword. So how did it do? How I started every attempt: Hasten + Ageless (prepull stage) - Begin timer as soon as I hit Build Up Attempts with following rotation: Hack - Head Splitter - Hack - Disembowel - repeat Attempt 1: 2:27 = 393.65 Attempt 2: 2:49 = 359.70 Attempt 3: 1:59 = 455.03 Attempt 4: 2:09 = 430.05 Attempt 5: 2:24 = 399.09 Attempt 6: 2:12 = 423.30 Attempt 7: 2:05 = 439.56 Attempt 8: 2:25 = 397.25 Better than I expected! I will say, this massive variance aside, that there's a few notes about this particular set that favored this type of testing condition: 1) Similar to katana, broad sword can fit in two -res procs which helps is greatly in this sustained ST DPS fight (in fact its slotting was almost identical to katana) 2) Unlike katana (which requires a much more moderate level of recharge and doesn't benefit at all from ageless), Hack requires a LARGE amount of recharge in order to achieve "gapless"; for a normal bio armor character, you won't normally achieve this. But any recharge beyond what I have within my typical global loadout helps; ageless provides this and therefore provides a "boost" to broad sword's damage in this situation 3) I still do believe katana is a strictly superior version of broad sword in all the important categories (both in ST and AOE), but broad sword's ST damage is nothing to sneeze at. In any case, if you like a big (but not titanic) sword to go with your bowl of plain cheerios, broad sword just might be your thing! Gooo...Hack?

Tossing a power analyzer on a pylon reveals 20% resistance to all (including psi and toxic). Not sure if this was an update at some point, but it might at least save a little face to what psi melee has.

An excellent point, and this is also one of the reasons why the high DPS sets even without -res procs (e.g. Martial Arts, Fiery Melee, Ice Melee) are still pretty strong because of what actual damage they can output in a real gameplay setting. Pylons are fun to beat up, but they should be taken with some measure of caution (and for fun observations, particularly about how the sets actually operate e.g. psi melee). A combination of sustained ST DPS, "feeling the sets out" in a general gameplay setting, and spreadsheet data (which I'm still working on finishing mine) can be used in combination to draw some reasonable conclusions about how the sets are doing. And at the end of the day, concept + a good build supercedes raw potential numbers, from my perspective. Much as I will continue to emphasize, and discuss, the numerical aspects of the game, we each define what is our version of "fun" and actualize it to the best of our abilities. This data can simply help us make more informed decisions and comparisons, when called for.