Story Archer

That, of course, is assuming that you have all five buffs already stacked and running, yes? If a fight lasts, say, 30 seconds, I would assume that you're unlikely to see anywhere near the full benefit of of Core because of its ramp up time. Figure one attack every 2 seconds (for simplicity's sake) and a 65% chance of the proc going off (is that right), then you would need an average of 7 or 8 successful attacks or about 15 seconds to get to that 5 stack plateau and the full benefit of the ability as opposed to Radial which is as good as it's going to get the first time you use it, every time. Or does that only apply if you're using single-target attacks, with AoE's potentially dramatically scaling up the speed at which you reach 5 stacks? If I'm wrong about any of this please let me know, it's pretty involved.

Jumping in to put my two cents in, I'd LOVE a minimal FX option for Rad armor - I literally have to bend concepts and certainly costumes around its overbearing visuals and still end up turning them off all the time when I'm not actually in a fight. An 'invisible' color option for armors in general would also be a wonderful thing to have, especially as some auras within a set might be appealing, but all of them together are usually just a crowded mess... A silent option for various powers would probably be very popular too, but would likely be a lot more involved to implement. Much appreciation for all that our volunteer devs already do!

Generally speaking, is it better to increase your Hit Point and Endurance maximums than it is to increase your Regen and Recovery rate? Obviously extremes of either disrupt the comparison, but increasing your maximums also increase the rate of replenishing them by default, yes? If I have 600 Health and 100% Regen, then I would get back 600 Health in a minute, or 10 HP/second (just using round numbers here, don't actually know). If I increase my Regen by 10%, then I would get back 11 HP/second. If I increase my HP total by 1.5% to 609, then I would get back 10.15 HP/second? Is that formula correct, and does it function differently for Health vs. Endurance?

Honestly, I'm a lot more concerned with how little 'trollers and other 'support' AT's seem to be able to bring to a team in high level play, especially once Incarnates are factored in. It's kind of the reverse of the Wizard problem in fantasy RPG's... at higher levels, melee types have their defenses all sorted out and damage dealers tend to wipe the board while support types are still trying to get their buffs or controls in place. That observation is based on my own limited experience playing the respective AT's, of course. I wonder if increasing the penalties for deaths, so that they actually matter, might be a tangential boost to the support class?

There are a lot of mechanics at play, and the research I've done is a little confusing. First off, when talking about the bonus damage from a double strike (Radial), is the damage from the second hit calculated based off of: The attack's base damage (no AT modifier) The attack's base damage (with AT modifier) Either of the above plus the attack's boosted damage from permanent modifiers (enhancements). Any of the above plus the attack's boosted damage from temporary modifiers (like Build Up or Rage) Does additional damage, such as those from critical strikes or damage procs play a role in the benefits that you gain from either option? For instance, do your Critical Strikes benefit from the damage boost provided by Core? Can damage procs potentially double strike? Let's say that I have a Scrapper who crits frequently and a Tanker who relies heavily on procs and AoE attacks for the majority of her damage. Which Hybrid option would best serve either? TIA to any who reply.

I'm going to jump in with a quick proc question since the subject is on the table. When the Incarnate Hybrid power Assault Radial Embodiment chance for double strike goes off, is the 'large portion' of the attack that hits a second time determined based on the attack's original base damage, enhanced damage, total damage (such as when temporarily modified by Build Up or a Critical Strike) and/or bonus damage, such as you might get from procs? In short, if I have a Tanker who heavily relies on procs for damage, is something like Assault Radial Embodiment worth my time, or is Core the better way to go?

To be fair, most of the time you get mixed damage types, and -Def applies to everything... so if your method of dealing with -Def S/L attacks is with S/L Resistance, you're letting your defenses to everything else get floored in the process.

For pure survivability, for me it's got to be Dark/MA. Now we're talking about the difference between 99.9 and 99.95 here, but still. As an experiment, I built a Dark/MA that meets the following requirements: All positional defenses over the soft-cap (no inherent DDR though). Most Resistances within a single SMotT proc from being hard-capped (Energy & Toxic lag a little behind), so basically hard-capped Resistances. Arguably the best Heal in the game, basically full heal every 15 seconds or so. A non-suppressing Stealth toggle. Two different Mez auras (Disorient & Fear), one of which also inflicts -ToHit . Two different damage auras. Substantial DeBuff resistance to pretty much everything. To be honest, I think a lot of that is overkill, but there are ways to make it even MORE survivable by playing around with the Epic Pools and of course the Incarnates, especially if you're not worried about how quickly you kill things... but if survivability is the only thing you care about, this where I would start. EDIT: Couldn't find the original build so I cobbled this together for you real quick. I'm sure others could fine tune it better. Again - optimized for survivability, not damage, as per your specifications. (final) Tanker (MA - Dark).mbd So everything within melee range of you (remember that you have Fold Space) is being Disoriented, Feared, Knocked Down from Dragon's Tail, having their ToHit DeBuffed and taking damage from Dragon's Tail and two damage auras all while trying to overcome 53.5% Melee defense AND 90% damage resistance. On top of ALL that, you can also Heal all the way up every 15 seconds or so. That's about as unkillable as you can get in this game.

This may be a stupid question, but does the damage come off the Absorb shield before or after your damage resistance is applied?

Late to the convo but I'm going to jump in here and comment on this. Yes, this is a Tanker who plays more like a Blapper and isn't/shouldn't be the first choice for a player who wants to heard massive mobs and just sit there and take whatever they dish out while their team handles the heavy hitting. It just ain't that thing. Having said that, I've managed to build her for 31% Melee Def, 16.5% Ranged/AoE (before Rage drops it) which admittedly isn't a lot, BUT when I stack that with any buffs I may get and, more specifically, with the ToHit DeBuffs from Beta Decay and Darkest Night (and Gloom) from the Soul Mastery Pool, it REALLY slows down all of those incoming effects, at least for a while. There's also always the Melee Radial Embodiment from Incarnates which go a long, LONG way in shoring up that hole...

Quick question - I also run a Rad/SS that I absolutely love, also heavily proc'ed and built for recharge. I've avoided Ageless as an Incarnate because it's my understanding that it negatively affects how often procs fire, unlike other global buffs like Hasten or FF. Is that your understanding as well?

Let's say that I'm running a Rad Tanker who gets an Absorb shield from Particle Shielding and potentially gets another, smaller one from Superior Gauntleted Fist. My recharge on PS is such that it reactivates well before its duration expires. Does PS stack with itself or just replenish whatever you may have lost up to that point? Does the regen/recovery buff aspect of the power stack while it overlaps? If SGF procs and grants its benefit, does it stack with PS or just replenish an amount, and how long does it last (and does it get lost 'first')? I'd also be curious about how they interact with absorb shields from outside sources, or temporary boosts in HP, like from Frostwork. Does a boost to health and/or a boost to healing affect the amount of an absorb shield?

Are there any obvious optimization choices that I'm missing? This isn't a farming build - figure I'll be solo'ing and teaming 50/50 with a lean towards teaming if anything. (final) Tanker (SR - Dark).mbd

I appreciate you taking the time to respond, and with such specific advice. Looking through what you've written, it seems like most of the advice would absolutely rip my many set bonuses apart. Eliminating Tough and Weave, changing the Fearsome Stare to focus on -ToHit and swapping 2-3 slots in each of Shadowfall, Fade and Soul Absorption the way you suggest takes away the following combined benefits from set bonuses alone: 10% Endurance discount to all +35% Recharge reduction to all +24% Accuracy to all +3.13% Melee defense +3.13% AoE defense +5.0% Ranged defense +3% Res to S/L/E/N +6% Res to F/C/Psi -20% status reduction to all +8% Duration to all control powers +4% Damage +1.13% Hit Points +10% Regen That seems like a lot to give up, in addition to the powers themselves... I think the accuracy slotting in Dark Grasp is a good thought - I haven't started Exemp'ing down much yet, but I will be, especially for flashback missions. I'd also like to add a second attack. I chose Mu Mastery because Charged Armor is just such a good compliment to my other defenses, but I do find myself keenly aware of that gap in my solo efforts. I'll consider some other Epic Pool options for that reason. Thanks again for responding! Any suggestions for Incarnates?

I generally run Blasters, Scrappers and Tankers, taking the Hammer -> Nail approach to most situations, but I do have a couple of Controllers that I really enjoy the concept and playstyle of, most notably my Dark/Dark 'Mistress of Chains'. She just reached 50 and I'm looking to finalize my build. With my other characters I usually run solo about 75% of the time, but with this 'troller those numbers are reversed. I have some concerns about what I actually bring to the table in terms of post-50 play - almost everyone has their defenses more or less figured out, and controlling foes seems unnecessary when they're all melting so quickly beneath the onslaught of maxed out damage and Incarnate abilities. One of the things I'm interested in figuring out is 1) how to make the build more solo-friendly and 2) how I can make myself as indispensable as possible when I team. I'm particularly interested in how to best slot my pets and what Incarnates might compliment the build best. [Mistress of Chains].mbd Some thoughts on the build: A proc'ed out Dark Grasp serves as my primary attack ability along with my pets. Possess has a turn around of under 5 seconds and a duration of almost 80 seconds, so I use it as my primary single-target control. For AoE control I use a combination of Fearsome Stare (11sec Rech/57sec Dur) and Heart of Darkness (25sec Rech/39sec Dur). I deliberately didn't go the proc bomb route with Heart of Darkness or Howling Twilight. With Perma-Fade and everything else, my Melee defense is right at 49% with Ranged and AoE at 54%, and I've capped my resistances to S/L/E. I know many that swear by Howling Twilight, but I haven't slotted it and usually only use it to back-up/stack with Heart of Darkness, Resurrect allies or reduce Regen against hard targets. It's not part of my standard arsenal.

That wouldn't be the route that I would take, but it is certainly one way to go.

Now that I've gone Ninjitsu, I don't see myself going with anything else for Scrappers. Defense-based set, which is preferable, and a fantastic toolbox/toybox of things to play with. My main is a Dual Blades/Ninjitsu, but most sets work well with it. Dark Melee probably synergizes the best (MORE toys). I'm a big fan of Claws as well, even though I usually only take 4-5 powers from the set.

Solid theory crafting... Personally, I just can't get into a defensive power set that requires so much management. Different strokes, though.

Despite my frustration with the middle ground/no man's land where the Brute seems to reside, this is one of my absolute favorite characters. I've leveled him to 50, gotten his IO's and Incarnates more or less taken care of, and now I'm looking to tinker a bit, to hone him to be the very best he can be. I know that's a relative consideration, but there has never been a time when I have posted on this forum and not come away with new insight and an improved perspective, so here goes: [Smudge II].mbd I like the luxury of having solid defenses, even if the Res and Absorb Shield are my primary means to avoid damage - it stacks nicely with Darkest Night when I have those REALLY tough fights. Figure I'll be soloing 70% of the time, teaming 20%, farming 10% (at the most)... probably eventually try to get through all the Ouro content in addition to all the late-game stuff, but I'm only really worried about maxing out my potential at L50.

This is good to know - for instance, an END/RECH that's been boosted would probably give me much better use out of that single slot in Kyoyo than just a boosted Endurance would. I think this principle will be even better applied to some of my other builds that rely on single slotting a number of useful powers.

I really have two questions: 1) Can anyone point me to where I can get a comprehensive education/explanation/understanding of how Enhancement Boosters work? I've managed to find a hodge-podge of posts, most from 5+ years ago, and they tend to be confusing, contradictory or both. 2) I have always defaulted to attuned set IO's with a handful of generic IO's for all my characters. I've pretty much topped out my main as best as I know how to, but I've never used Enhancement Boosters and I've got merits to spare. Where in this build should I be looking at taking advantage of this option? Just wherever I have generic IO's? I'm currently trying to run all of the content for all levels Blue/Gold/Red side via Ouroboros, if that matters. [Veil of Blades] Current 2.mbd

FWIW, I've been playing a DB/Ninjitsu Scrapper forever as my main. The only additional KB protection she has comes from one Blessing of the Zephyr bump (+4), so 9.19 KB protection and 173% KB Resistance. The only time I can ever remember being knocked down is when fighting Eochai (Pumpkin Patch effect?). Every now and then I'll get knocked back when I destroy a piece of equipment, but even then I'm not knocked down, just pushed away, so I'm not even sure if that's the same thing.

Alright, so I've exhaustively researched more threads than I care to admit on the various Incarnate topics, but so much of it is from different time periods and many have conflicting information. I'm going to link the build at the bottom of this post, but I'm trying to nail down how I'm going to use these final couple hundred Empyrean Merits and I'm hoping this discussion will help to solidify my (and hopefully others) understanding of the actual benefits of various Incarnates, particularly for Scrappers. The build is Dual Blades/Ninjitsu, but the discussion will probably apply to most primaries and at least the defense-based secondaries. I tend to play her 80-90% solo, but she's my badger and, as I begin to really top out, I think I'm going to end up engaging in more and more group play, if only to mentor others a bit. Won't ever be more than 50/50 though. These are the base defensive stats after IO's but before any Incarnates or temporary buffs: Alpha: I can't imagine why I'd go with anything other than Musculature Core Paragon for the +45% damage buff. If anyone has a case why I should consider something else I'd love to hear it. Judgement: I know that the Ion Core is very popular and I have that on most of my other 50's, but I went Void here because the Negative Energy better fits the character concept and the PBAoE better fits the playstyle. I went Void Core Final Judgement because I'm pretty happy with where my defenses are going to be at. Again, I'm open to any alternate thoughts if someone has them to offer. Interface: Okay, easy stuff over with. The way I'm looking at this Incarnate is pretty much that it only really matters when I'm going up against hard targets like EB's, AV's, GM's, etc. With that in mind I boiled down to either the -HP de-buff from Degenerative, the -Regen de-buff from Diamagnetic or the -Res de-buff from Reactive. I'm still not 100% how strong the actual effect of the various debuffs are (a lot of confusing or contradictory stuff has been posted on them) but as far as I know, the big guys frequently resist -Regen and -Res debuffs, but I don't know that they resist -HP, so I have settled on Degenerative Core Flawless Interface. I would LOVE to hear any opinions on why this wasn't the right call, though. Lore: I don't taunt and I don't have any support abilities, so I can't do anything to keep my Lore pets alive apart from other Incarnate abilities, and I don't want that to play a role in deciding which Incarnates I take. I also don't think I need any particular buffs though I'm certainly open to them. Similar to Interface, I really only pop these guys before fights against hard targets, though I could see calling them if I'm expecting an excessively large numbers of foes as well (which, again, tends to draw more peripheral aggro on them than they can handle). What I think I'm looking for are either pets that all deal ranged damage, hopefully keeping them out of the line of fire or a pair that features an unkillable buffer who grants a buff that might really make a difference. I've played around with Knives/Talons of Vengeance solely due to character concept, but I'm open to any suggestions that might meet the criteria listed above. Destiny: With high defenses and resistances (which look to only get higher), it seemed to make sense to round her out with healing & regeneration by going the rebirth route, specifically the Rebirth Radial Epiphany. I don't fully understand the differences in effectiveness between +HP vs. +healing/regen (are the additional HP ablative, or do you drop HP when the power reduces?). This is another one which, considering the other choices made here, I'm very open to considering other options. I know Barrier is the most popular, and I understand why, but I just don't think I'll get as much out of that as others might. Hybrid: Saved the best/hardest choice for last. I originally defaulted to Assault Radial Embodiment because it seemed like the simplest, most straightforward option, but I've seen a lot of debate over whether Core or Radial is the better choice for Scrappers. I was going back and forth on it for a while before I decided to look into Melee as another option. While I might not be completely optimized for damage, I'm pretty happy with the damage I put out and I love my attack chain so maybe I should round out my defenses instead, really make solo'ing at the highest level viable? With that in mind, I'm currently leaning most strongly towards Melee Core Embodiment to bump most of my resistances up to the hard cap (complimenting my defenses already past the soft cap) and kicking my regeneration up a notch as well. I don't really know how much you get at base or per additional foe, but it collectively seems like more than enough to get me where I want to be, especially when rotating with Rebirth Radial Epiphany from Destiny and Rune of Protection. If someone sees any flaw with that logic please let me know. Anyway, those are my thoughts. While I suffer from horrible bouts of altitis, this chica is definitely what I'd consider my main and I'd really like to get her as well off as she can possibly be. ANY advice, recommendations or additional explanation of the way various abilities work will be very much appreciated. Questions about the build itself are also welcome. Build: [Veil of Blades] Current.mbd

Having said all that above, I decided to redesign my current build and I've been really pleased with the results. It gets away from the combos entirely, but I feel as if the offensive output has actually increased. Not sure if using a snipe is considered cheating or not, but the soul mastery powers suit the character concept perfectly (raised among the witches in Croatoa, recruited into the Knives of Artemis). [Veil of Blades] Current.mbd

Just for an alternative take, this is the Kat/Will who became my first L50. Regen/HP is a bit lower but the damage curve is up a fair bit, especially when it comes to AoE damage. Remember, the best defense is a bunch of dead enemies. Scrapper (Katana - Willpower) L50.mbd FWIW, I definitely rec the Barrier Core Incarnate over still more healing.