Story Archer

I'm not 100% sure how ToHit works vs. accuracy & defense, I remember reading a breakdown on it a while back but it was nuanced enough that I don't remember it very clearly. The basic question is this: If I have capped defenses, as I understand it, I don't get any additional benefit from MORE defense, apart from mitigating a degree of -Def debuffs... the people who were going to hit me 5% of the time still hit me 5% of the time whether my defense is 45% or 75%. But if I layer -ToHit on top of that, say with something like Darkest Night, then how often I get hit WILL be reduced, even if I'm capped on defense. Is that correct? I'm asking because I'm weighing taking Darkest Night for a Super Reflexes tanker, but the question applies across the board for any toon looking at how to layer their defenses.

One of Willpower's greatest 'strengths' is the relatively smooth leveling process and it's ease of play compared to some other sets. It's what I'd recommend to a starting Tanker for sure and it's a solid set all throughout the lifetime of the build. It offers the most layered protection and gives you the greatest chance to benefit from any buffs an ally might grant. The lack of -End, -Rec and -Def are its biggest weaknesses and you don't generally even feel the effects of that until you get into late-game content. I've run a Will/DM, a Will/SS and a Will/Katana and enjoyed them all.

This is what I wasn't getting, that the two are the same effect, just of different magnitude but it makes perfect sense.

Yeah, what you're describing isn't problematic at all. I'm talking about AoE effects that deal marginal damage but send the entire group of guys flying . That's a bit of a pain, especially when it happens just as my Footstomp or other AoE's are cued up and about to fire.

Very helpful, thank-you.

1) How necessary is KB to KD for play at the higher levels? As a Tank I've been driven mad at lower levels with my carefully gathered mobs getting blown all over the map, but looking at slotting I've things I'd much rather use that Foot Stomp slot for than KB/KD. It seems to me that higher level foes automatically convert KB to KD but I'm not sure how that works - is it some sort of scaling reduction based on their resistance to KB? If anybody can explain to me how that works (or point me in the direction of an explanation) I'd much appreciate it, but my main question is, if you're consistently battling +2 content or higher, can you expect most KB to be converted to KD regardless? 2) What's better for a medium Health Tank, +1.5% Resist all or 25% regen? TIA!

I've had a similar experience - I pretty much gave up Redside play after a while and I suspect that many have done the same for the same reasons... meaning that if everyone who had switched to Blue because Red was dead had chosen to stay, Red side might not be nearly as quiet. Perhaps we should make some sort of community effort to lead a Redside renaissance? Additionally, the game has a lot fewer new members than it had in the day - I only recently rediscovered that it had come back myself - and with vets making up such a high percentage of players, there seems to be a lot more 50+ / Farming / Incarnate activity than anything else, with most characters just power-leveled up to where the vets don't feel constrained by the more traditional grind. That can make people trying to play through actual content feel pretty lonely at times too, especially those stricken with sever alt-itis like myself, so I feel you. At the end of the day if we want there to be change, we can't wait around for it, we have to make it ourselves, so you'll probably be happier if you get outside of your comfort zone a little bit and try to invite other players, as suggested above. The one thing that hasn't changed is the incredible (and in my opinion unique) spirit of helpfulness and community that the players in this game share.

From what I can tell, increasing your Jump Height doesn't necessarily increase the speed at which you travel, correct? Combat Jumping seems to work that way, increasing height but not speed. Since I already have Super Jump and Combat Jumping, I think I'm going to use that extra power slot to pick up Infiltration instead. I overlooked it initially because this is on a tank who rarely has need for Stealth, but it would be nice to have that option without having to slot Sprint for it, the IO slot makes for a nice LotG mule and it seems like it is far and away the best choice when it comes to getting from A to B faster. Agree? Kind of off-topic, but something that's been bothering me - I've got Combat Jumping slotted with the Kimet +ToHit Unique. In Mids, when I toggle off CJ, I lose that bonus but 1) I don't lose the bonuses of anything else slotted there (like LotG) and 2) I don't lose the Kismet bonus if I have it in any other toggle power that's turned off. Do you know if this is just an error in Mids or is there something buggy in the game that actually makes it work that way?

I don't necessarily disagree under most circumstances, but with Fold Space to gather my enemies into melee range, Gauntlet and numerous AoE powers, it just seemed redundant here. My mindset as a Tanker is often to take the alpha and then make sure that I hold the aggro for the most dangerous, hardest-hitting foes while using what mitigation I might have to keep the other mobs under control (Like Cloak/Touch of Fear or the KD from Foot Stomp). Often times positioning is every bit as important as getting them to focus their attentions on you (like getting on the far side of foes with cone effects). I also tend to have the mindset that, by the levels in which I'm able to do what I do effectively, my allies will have put together builds competent enough to survive the occasional attack from whatever might get past me. I also agree with you on Brutes taking it, if only because it helps them build and maintain Fury... but not all Brutes are built to take that much attention. Many simply play them as Scrappers with a higher health bar, but to be fair, I've been guilty of playing my tanks the same way.

I'm sure that's where the confusion stemmed from. Thanks again.

I'm sorry to beat this horse, but after reading through the thread, I'm still a little confused and you've been very helpful with your other responses. Putting this question as simply as I can (cuz I'm a simple guy), On a Willpower Tank I've got Quick Recovery and of course Stamina. I have each of those powers slotted with a Power Transfer +Heal proc and a Performance Shifter +End proc (I also have a Panacea proc in Health and a Preventive Medicine proc in an always-on RtoC). Slotted as they are, am I losing anything when it comes to the individual effectiveness of the IO's listed, or are they all working just fine independent of one another? If there is no conflict or diminishing returns, was this a problem before that has since been corrected, or was it never an issue as far as you know? Thank you so much, your guides have given a great deal of clarity to myself and I'm sure many others.

Thank you guys for the responses. It seems to me that it's kind of a dud, at least compared to some of the other options. Does a standard Jump IO offer some benefit? I know that Mighty Leap takes them, but if its a power that enhances other powers I'm not sure the bonus transitions.

It's bizarre, I literally cannot find anything on this set in Google or searching these forums. I'm just trying to figure out what the Increased Jump Height unique from that set actually does (As opposed to what a typical Jump enhancement would do). Does it basically just increase your time in the air? With the inherent Double Jump ability, I'm not sure what benefit that really offers... I've already got Super Jump and I have a free power slot, so I was trying to figure out what I should put there and how to slot it. I thought maybe Mighty Leap (for thematic reasons) and I was looking at the Launch IO's - just can't figure out what practical benefit this unique IO offers.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.

I think a lot of the 'unkillable' aspect of your build is the skill you have in playing it and the fact that it suits your particular playstyle. For people trying it out, figuring out the build isn't the problem, it's the elevated level of play that is required, or maybe just getting out of their comfort zone regarding how they think a tank should be played. Yeah, it's hard not to love Gloom and Darkest Night. Sure, the latter is an Endurance hog, but no more than Focused Accuracy would be... and DN is such a wonderful pulling tool. The problem is that endurance-wise you lose Physical Perfection (and it's potential PS proc) and you have to make certain you've got something else in place of FA so that you can fight off ToHit and Perception debuffs. That's the downside of a Resist-heavy defense is that you lose that extra protection from all of the non-damage debuffs which pretty much auto-hit. Definitely think you should consider that Preventive Medicine proc, btw - it's a life-saver, and synergizes well with res-heavy builds.

Little thread necro here - in part because I have a question and in part because it's always a good thread for people to see. If you increase your maximum endurance, does that basically add a flat amount to the 100 number we have set for base? In other words, does a +5 to maximum Endurance also increase your recovery rate by 5/minute? I'm assuming that an increased max endurance also increases the recovery rate by a commiserate amount, so that you will recover fully in the same time frame rather than extending the amount of time necessary to get there.

I took a stab at my purple IO build, taking advantage of a few of the concepts that you lean so strongly into. Obviously playstyle differs and there's not necessarily 'one right way' to do anything, given the variables out there, but I'm quite pleased with the way it came out and would appreciate any thoughts you might have. By way of comparison, your build and mine are pretty similar when it comes to resistances, capping S/L/N/F/C & P while trailing only about 10% in Energy and Toxic. I originally had us about even, but I saw a few opportunities that I didn't want to miss. I know how you feel about defense without DDR, but giving up that little bit of resistance I still managed to go from flooring my defenses to soft-capping melee and having 23+% on everything else. That's an easy trade-off in my mind, especially considering how much more effective it makes your inherent ToHit DeBuffs. Between non-suppressible stealth and my ability to gather ranged threats into Cloak of Fear range with Fold Space, non-melee attacks should theoretically be at a minimum. I've also got 8 points of KB protection instead of 4, for whatever that's worth. I think my Endurance management situation is a bit smoother. This build's max Endurance is about 5 higher and it burns a fair bit less endurance overall. I've also got two Performance Shifter procs in there that aren't accounted for in the numbers and I managed to slot the Theft of Essence proc into Siphon Life without reducing any of its effectiveness as an attack. I really like the way I have Siphon Life slotted, it's getting me some serious bang for my buck, but if it turns out that I don't need the extra healing or Endurance, I might drop a couple of damage procs in there to make it that much more of a threat. I'm getting way more out of my Fear abilities than you have them slotted for. I seriously considered both Oppressive Gloom and Death Shroud, but right now Cloak of Fear is dealing more damage than Death Shroud would, it gives me a stackable Fear, I'm using less Endurance, nobody goes wandering out of range and I'm not burning through hit points. A few random thoughts: I initially split Superior Gauntleted Fist to help get my Energy resist higher, but cobbling it back together is what allowed me to get over the soft-cap for Melee defense. Soul Transfer was a perfect place to drop in a Preventive Medicine +Absorb proc. I didn't take Taunt. We'll see if I end up needing it. I'm still a little torn on my Cloak of Fear slotting because I really like the overall set bonuses from going straight Glimpse the Abyss as well. I honestly don't know how anyone could crap on Dark/Dark as a power combination. I'm looking at a toon with capped melee defense, basically capped resists, not one but two of the best heals in the game, a self-endurance buff, three different AoE Mezzes - two of which stack - what's not to like? Thanks again for your earlier input. It's always good to hear from players with real experience running their preferred power sets. 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(NM - answered in another thread)

Well you've certainly given me a lot to think about - my default has been to max defense and consider Resistance lagniappe, but between the control mitigation and capped Resistances, it's a very different approach that I think I can learn a lot from. I made the originally posted build without any purple IO's or any Tanker sets and was pretty proud of it given the circumstances, though I'm already seeing things there I could tweak. How does this high-Res build hold up under similar restrictions?

That's good point about Death Shroud - I only took Torrent for the IO set slotting. It does make me worry more about Endurance issues, though...

A little thread necro here, but I'm really surprised not to see Dark Melee mentioned for synergistic purposes. Was this before Touch of Fear got boosted?

I struggled trying to figure out which powers were skippable vs. which powers were must have, and just as much when it came to where I should put my slots. I really like the power set combination and I feel like what I've got is just fine, but I'd like to know if I'm missing something completely. I feel like what I've put together gives me the best of all worlds when it comes to multi-layered defenses/healing/control while also letting me manage my Endurance issues as well as can be. Due to severe alt-itis and occasional lack of funds, I try to pre-build as effective a character as I can with IO's but without using any purple sets, so that's kind of the criteria here. I figure that I'm close enough to the defensive soft-cap that pretty much any team-provided defensive buff will get me there. Resistances are solid if not spectacular, but I'm looking at stacking Cloak of Fear with Touch of Fear whenever I can for mitigation. Taunt and eventually Fold Space should help me gather everyone into range of both. Set bonuses basically give me +10% Endurance and 10% Endurance reduction. I don't think the Performance Shifter procs are factored into the Recovery numbers, but between those, Dark Consumption and the occasional Theft of Essence proc popping off I think I'll be good Endurance-wise. Side question about the Theft of Essence proc: considering how obscenely expensive Dark Regen is, would I actually be better off dropping a L50 Endurance Reducer there? I plan on only running Focused Accuracy on an as-needed basis since everything but Cloak of Fear is already hitting at over 95% on +4. I put a snapshot of the build below - TIA for any responses, I'm really looking forward to giving this guy a try!

Is it really? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'd like to be able to run all the toggles I want (Maneuvers, Focused Accuracy, Tough/Weave, etc.) and simply not have to worry about Endurance. If I could do that with only two or three instances instead of all four, those are free slots I could definitely use elsewhere. Considering that the build also includes four sets of Unbreakable Guard and a full set of Preventive Medicine, that's another 13.75% Global Endurance Redux on top of everything else...

So I'm putting together a build for a character I'm probably going to be soloing a good bit, Street Justice/Rad Armor with the Energy Mastery. No experience with any of the three power sets but I'm playing around with the build in Mids. Knowing (and enjoying) the go-go-go nature of Brutes, I was considering slotting the Power Transfer +Heal proc and the Performance Shifter +End proc in Gamma Boost, Stamina, Superior Conditioning and Physical Perfection. I know that Rad Armor already has a fair amount of healing and recovery in its DNA, but my default here is that more is always better. Am I completely misunderstanding how procs work in auto powers?

That's an interesting approach - are you using it to winnow out characters you've made or do you have to catch a new character all the way up if you make one?