Story Archer

I've become a huge fan of the Claws primary while playing Scrappers, but I've been trying to give Brutes a fair shake. I understand why Scrapper Claws deal more damage, but I'm mystified as to why they recharge so much more quickly on TOP of dealing substantially more damage... According to Mids: Brute Strike recharge 4.8s vs Scrapper Strike in 3.2s Brute Spin recharge 14s vs Scrapper Spin in 9.2s Brute Focus recharge 8s vs Scrapper Focus in 6.4s Brute Eviscerate recharge 12s vs Scrapper Eviscerate in 8.9s Brute Shockwave recharge 14.4s vs Scrapper Shockwave in 12.1s Unless I've got my wires crossed somewhere, that's a pretty substantial difference. Does anyone know or can anyone guess what the reasoning is for that and what, if anything, Brutes get in compensation for the significant nerf to the power set? Is this standard for Brutes to have slower across the board recharge times for similar power sets?

They appear to do both. There was no difference between dropping one of them in and a L50 generic IO.

Thanks, that actually helps a lot. And you were right, I had the combat boxes checked in Mids, which was what was fouling up Infiltration. User error per usual. I think I'm settling on three-slotting Infiltration with the Celerity +Stealth, the Launch +Jump and the Thrust +Run. Combat Jumping will get a standard Jump IO and that should be enough to give me what I'm looking for (Run speed 65mph, Jump Height 65ft).

I want to preface this by saying that I'm using Mids and that that's probably the source of much of the confusion, but I'm sure some of the experts on here can help me out (I'm looking at you @Maelwys )... Alright, so I'm building a Claws/SR Scrapper. I've chosen TP as my primary travel power but I've got some slots to work with and I want to make her of moving around well enough with out it. I've got the following at the moment: Sprint slotted with Run 50 IO [Swift] slotted with Run 50 IO] [Hurdle] slotted with Jump 50 IO] [Quickness] slotted with Run 50 IO] To that I've added: Athletic Run Combat Jumping Infiltration I'd like to get my Run speed, Jump speed and Jump Height all as high as reasonably possible. I'd also like to get my Stealth up as high as I can when I'm running Infiltration. Ideally I won't have to put a Stealth IO in Sprint and I won't have to use Athletic Run at all, though neither of those are deal breakers. No Ninja Run though, I hate how it looks. So my question is really about which IO's to slot where. I'm looking at the Launch Increased Jump Height IO, the Thrust Increased Running Speed IO and the Celerity Stealth IO among others, but depending on where I put them, they don't seem to have much effect, if any at all. At the moment, this is the highest I've been able to get my movement rates: Run Speed: 50.96 mph Jump Speed 39.9 mph Jump Height 24.68 ft Those can't be the max, can they? Also, Infiltration doesn't seem to move the needle at all in Mids when it comes to Stealth despite it supposedly having some sort of a Stealth component and it doesn't seem to increase any of my movement rates either despite supposedly improving those. What does Infiltration actually do? TIA for any insight you can offer, I'm really going around in circles on this and it should be pretty simple in theory.

I'm actually fine with RT being re-centered to be a more effective healing tool, I had stopped using it primarily for damage a while back anyway. I like that its more effective in solo fights which is often a concern for me with healing powers dependent on hitting multiple foes to be effective. Thanks for the info!

Ground Zero wasn't affected by the changes, or any other AoE/proc interactions?

Claws, man. I can't break my addiction to Claws. Two incredibly strong and quickly recharging AoE's, two excellent ranged attacks, smooth fast activating attack chains... all the knockback provides a shocking amount of mitigation when played well and you need a minimum number of powers, freeing you up to really delve into additional pool options. I call my Claws/Bio Scrapper a 'Scrapster' because she actually has a potent ranged attack chain which comes in handy way more times than you'd expect. Once you find your rhythm, it'll be hard to pick anything else.

I've got a RAD/SS Tanker who I've farmed with forever but haven't played much of late. I've been thinking about what kind of Brute I want to run - I came up with a cool concept for Savage Melee/Rad Armor, but I'm wondering how much of a step down it will be now. I'm also considering Bio and Dark Armor...

Hey! Just jumping in a little bit late. I hear you on the runner's thing - that's what got me addicted to Claws with all its range and Knock-Down. The good news is that multiple ranged attacks are available to you through patron pools which can help with those runners. In that vein, if it fits your theme, you might want to look into the Sorcery power pool - it gives you some good travel options, a nice ranged attack without too long of an activation and Rune of Protection which is a very nice compliment to all of your Defense.

Oh, I tend to default to 'Mids is wrong' as the answer to most conflicts. Just seems like a weird thing to miss, but it explains why I haven't noticed it operating as a cone in the first place...

That's odd. On Mids I've built a Brute and it's showing as a cone. I'll have to play closer attention when I use it.

Here's one for you - does +Recharge (via global or local enhancements) work on Consume Psyche, and if so, how? Damn, I JUST noticed that it's a 90 degree cone, I've been playing like a noob, thinking that it was PBAoE.

The first four you have slotted is the direction I'm probably planning to go with. Either that or two HO's instead of the non-proc Entomb, depending on how other set bonuses shake out.

That's really good information, thanks! I'm going to have to put you on speed dial for when I have questions about the numbers.

Hm. So maybe if I wanted to lean into the confusion effect, it might be better to slot for Coercive Persuasion and the Cupid's Crush proc? That should allow things to start stacking fairly reliably, no? I was hesitant at first, since I'm actually running this on a Brute and I know that being attacked ramps up Fury, but that really shouldn't be an issue, should it?

Thanks for that. I think I'm going to go with an Endoplasm Exposure (Acc/Mez) Hami-O, a Coercive Confusion proc plus the ACC/Hold and Absorb proc from Superior Entomb, grab that little F/C Res bump while I'm at it. We'll see how it goes. Anyone know if Coercive Confusion synergizes well with this power, or is the Confusion aspect of it too random?

It seems to be begging for more damage procs than it can hold, but with the way procs have been changed, is that really the way to go? Slot for the various mez durations? A straight set of something like Unbreakable Constraint or Coercive Persuasion for the bonuses? I'd be really interested in hearing what people's impressions are of the power now that they've used it for a bit. Consume Psyche too, for that matter.

I play Scrappers and Tankers almost exclusively and my builds never feel like they're hurting for survivability. The only difference between the two is that I occasionally look at my Scrapper's health bar. Of course, that's mostly 40-50 play once they've been IO'ed out, but still. I don't love chasing the Fury bar, but in this particular case with this specific power combo, the Brute might be the best of both worlds. But yes, generally speaking, Scrappers deal a good bit more damage, while Brutes are a bit more survivable, at least when talking about Resistance-based sets. Honestly, I've been looking for some Brute-ish inspiration, to find a build I like and give it a fair chance, and this might be it... the only problem is I've gotten so addicted to Claws, I might not be able to go back to Katana or Dual Blades (my previous weapons of choice).

Ninjitsu has a great toolbox/toybox to play with and being a defense-based set, it's better suited for Scrappers (Resistance-based armors tend to favor Tanks and Brutes to their higher Res cap). Dual Blades/Ninjitsu was my main and badger for a long, long time. If you need any build help, just say the word. EDIT: I have one of my previous builds for this set at the link below. It's not the most updated version, but it's a very good place to start.

Just one thing that I want to toss out there - I much prefer Scrappers to Brutes personally, but the Brute does have a higher Resistance cap (90% vs. 75%) and Storm Kick from the Martial Arts set gives it a 10% defensive bonus when it's used. Scrappers don't get that benefit. In this specific case you might want to consider a Brute as an option.

Oh, I'm not trying to force a round peg in a square hole, but I want to play ALL of the AT's, and find something I enjoy in each of them... trying to keep an open mind to the recent changes. At the moment, I'm thinking that SS/Bio might make a fun combo that's not available as a Scrapper.

FWIW, I've gotten turned around big time on Bio, but I still haven't managed to stir up any enthusiasm for Brutes. Did the recent patch narrow the gap a bit?

I imagine different people/playstyles get different mileage from different builds. And I have to acknowledge that I'm speaking from the more specific experience of the two sets working in concert rather than a distillation of either. But let's not forget the mitigation you gain from simply killing quicker, and no armor let's you kill quicker than Bio. Part of the issue with evaluating the defensive prowess of this build is that it has a lot of 'invisible' mitigation that don't show up in in raw Def/Res numbers. You've got all of the KB which dramatically reduces the rate of incoming attacks, you've got two substantial absorb shields, you've got the significant damage debuff from Genetic Contamination, etc... and, of course, all the death. As for Shadow Meld, it's activation time can be annoying, yes, but fortunately the animation doesn't root you, so I simply click it whenever I'm moving on to a new mob. The 2-3 seconds or so it takes to go from one to the other is 'dead time' anyway, and the power recharges so fast that its pretty much up every mob. As for inspirations, I've already got her limited to only accepting Accuracy and Damage, so they're definitely not what's keeping me alive. FWIW, I love proc'ed out AoE's and damage procs in general - nobody makes uses of them like my Rad/SS Tanker - but I find that the set bonuses help address some of that survivability you may have found lacking. I've no doubt that Ball Lightning works wonderfully as you describe it (especially considering how hard proc'ed out Psionic Tornado rocks on my Tanker) but I just don't need it, as my attack chain works pretty much seamlessly with Follow-Up and the two AoE's I already have. I hear what you're saying about the benefits of a dedicated farmer vs. a character build that can do both, but remember that Scrappers have a more limited AoE target cap than Tankers, so there's a set rate at which you'll be able to farm regardless. Trying to squeeze out that last 1% Tanker-style often times means that you're simply taking more incoming fire, not necessarily killing things quicker. I admit that I'm not not one of those people who have multiple accounts and a bunch of heal or AoE bots following me around on auto-fire. I like to play and from time to time I like to farm. If I'm farming +4/x8 quickly and efficiently with a build meant for general content, I'd say that's a strength, not a weakness.

I'm sorry that I don't have time to put together a potential build right now (and I have zero experience with Savage Melee) but I do want to throw out the random caution that you should make sure you are fine with the visuals created by Rad Armor. For some people it doesn't matter in the slightest, but for others it can ruin their visual concept of the character (since there are no 'min fx' options with Rad) to the point that it's unplayable. Might not be an issue, but just something to be aware of before you invest the time.

Just jumping in to relate the actual played experience of the build... I routinely solo farm +4/x8 with this character, usually asteroids or city blocks depending on how much time I want to invest, and she plays anything but squishy. Now, proper building helps. No, I don't have the Patron Pool AoE's, but given how fast my two AoE's recharge and how hard they hit I don't really need them. How I use my tools depends on what I'm facing, but between Shadow Meld and the Barrier Core and Melee Core incarnates I have WAY more survivability than I need. Truth is, I often end up not even bothering with them because of the effective mitigation that Shockwave gives me. Shockwave (under 3 second recharge) and Spin (3.5 second recharge) combined with the damage aura are actually so effective that I usually end up only slamming Pyronic when I accidentally pull more mobs than I wanted to. There's a lot of nuance in Bio-Armor that people tend to overlook - like the Damage DeBuff from Genetic Contamination that lets you run over the top of Resistance caps or just how far multiple Absorb Shields can carry you even without the Incarnates helping out. More to the point, Offensive Adaptation gives you a better damage bump and thus more defeat mitigation than just about anything else out there. FWIW, the newest version of the build actually drops leadership and instead invests in the stealth pool, as you mention. It gave me an additional mule for a fifth LotG IO and freed up an additional IO slot to put Superior Avalanche's KD proc into Genetic Contamination - my foes spend more time on their backs than they do attacking me. Funny thing is I didn't even do it for farming purposes, it's just a nice side benefit.