Story Archer

I've enjoyed a LOT of Scrappers, but the one that's been the most fun by far has been my DB / Ninjitsu. She's my badger and the closest thing I could possibly get to a main. Positional Defense: Melee 50.4% Ranged 46.6% AoE 46.6% Resists: S/L 58.5% E/N 28.8% F/C 61.1% Tox 61.8% Psi 75% In addition, she's got Rune of Protection to temporarily hard cap my Resists in tough fights and the T9 Kuji-Retsu and Ageless Radial Epiphany to make sure DDR isn't an issue. I've got two smooth, highly-damaging attack chains depending on whether I'm fighting hard targets or big groups to go along with a killer tool box that includes a nice self-heal, self-recovery and stealth toggle. If I'm soloing, she's the one. [Veil of Blades 2].mbd

Probably not enough - thanks for the response.

If you have a clickable status protection like Kuji-Rin or Practiced Brawler on auto-fire, could it be replaced if you took Clarion Core and auto-fired it instead, or does it diminish too much before recycling and create a window where you're vulnerable?

To start I'd say that you have way too much defense (with SR you don't need much more than 45%) and not enough damage resistance. I was going to type up a whole thing line by line, but it was quicker just to throw together a quick build. it's not perfectly optimized, but it should work a good bit better for you. This is a late-game build, of course, and won't be cheap influence-wise, but it's definitely something to work towards. If you have any questions why this or that, just ask and I or someone else I'm sure will chime in. Gumbo (Claws - Super Reflexes).mbd

Death IS an excellent DeBuff... I'm sorry - BEING ARRESTED is an excellent DeBuff.

I think it's generally ugly, and it's the set that makes me most wish we had more 'No FX' options... but that's probably not what you're asking about.

This is how the character is built currently, but I've got a couple of respecs available and there are a couple of things I wouldn't mind changing if I could come up with a better option (build at the bottom of the page). Overall I'm extremely happy with the character, so I'm not looking to tear apart the whole build, but now that I'm topping out I want to make sure that I'm not leaving anything on the table. A few things: I have two different attack chains that I use, depending on the situation, and I'm quite happy with both. They're very smooth and give me everything that I need, while also allowing me to benefit from the combos a little, so I'm not worried about chasing too much more recharge. As much as I hate to skip a primary T9, I just can't justify taking 1,000 Cuts with its long animation time. Attack Chain #1: BF -> NS -> AS -> TE Attack Chain #2: SS -> NS -> AS -> BF I almost never use Arcane Bolt, Energy Torrent or Laser Beam Eyes for anything other than the set bonuses. Ditto Kuji-In Retsu, it's just a mule for the LotG IO. I almost never need Focused Accuracy, using it only when dealing with lots of debuffs, but I feel it's better to have it as an option than not, and it opens the door to the rest of the Epic Pool. Should I have gone with the Ageless Destiny Incarnate to have access to better DDR instead of the heals provided by Rebirth? Thinking about it, that seems like the way to go. Any thoughts at all would be much appreciated! TIA. [Veil of Blades 2].mbd

How do you feel their performance is? I have them on my Scrapper and I never seem to really notice their effect... when I notice them at all, it's because they look like they're just standing around - but as I said, I don't have a lot of experience with pets, Lore or otherwise.

She's a Rad/SS that takes Rage and is heavily AoE focused. The only thing she really needs from her pets would probably be increased DPS because I never feel like I'm lacking anything. I don't have very much experience with pets across the board, but I do know that hate big pets that clutter the screen. Right now I'm thinking Cims for single-target dps or Polar Lights for complimentary AoE. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I'm actually running this as a DB/Ninjitsu Scrapper and she's turned out to be one of the top two characters I've ever played. Very smooth attack chain with about 95% global recharge and no Hasten. Blinding Feint has the +Crit. proc and the Gaussian chance for Build-Up proc slotted, so I'm really happy with her damage. Working towards my 1,000 badge goal as we speak. 🙂

I'm finishing up a DEF build (DB/Ninjitsu) and I'm playing around with the last few slots. With the understanding that the power set doesn't have much in the way of Def DeBuff resistance (about 35%), is it worthwhile to run those defenses up to the 47-50% range to help offset some of the occasional debuff's I'll come cross, or does that not really make much of a difference in real game world? So to speak.

True. I presume that's the same with the Incarnate -Max HP proc?

Thank you for providing that! I wouldn't be so quick to discount the -Regen... in my experience, if you counted the health not regained, it tends to equate to a substantial amount of additional damage.

What would be the difference (if you know) between robotic drones and polar lights? I think polar lights will fit best theme-wise but the drones would be good as well, so I'm torn...

I think it's down to these two if I go with theme... what makes Polar Lights good?

I'd really appreciate any critiques/observations/thoughts about my current Rad/Stone build, including Incarnate selections. I love the character but I want to make sure that I'm getting the most out of him. For single targets, he just chains his four attacks, and for AoE's (which is where he thrives), he uses Tremor, his two mini-nukes and his Judgement power, relying on the FF +recharge to have them back up when they're needed. TIA! (final) Tanker (Rad - Stone).mbd

Well this is her if you want to review her... [Sheen].mbd

Obviously I spend the vast majority of my time teaming, but it'd be nice to be able to solo effectively as well, so I'm thinking probably a damage dealer with a little bit of survivability - maybe one that can pull/hold some of the aggro? If it matters, my other Incarnates are: Alpha: Nerve Core Paragon Judgement: Ion Core Final Judgement Interface: Diamagnetic Radial Flawless Interface Destiny: Barrier Core Epiphany Hybrid: Assault Radial Embodiment Build, for those interested: [K-D1VA] with Inc.mbd

Well, she's not built for defense like a conventional Tanker - basically just high resistance and a bit of healing/absorb and that's it. Still, I feel like the only thing I really need help with is single-target DPS for those EB/AV/GM fights, since I tend to dominate the AoE aspect of the game. I'm having a little bit of difficulty tracking that on the link (thanks for the link, btw) - any suggestions off the top of your head to narrow it down? Maybe Phantoms or Knives of Vengeance?

As Damage Resistant and AoE smacking as possible? Sounds like my favorite character ever, my RAD/SS Tanker. Two mini-nukes up every 20-30 seconds (at the most) plus spammable Foot Stomp fuled by stacking Rage... The Res-based defense lets you ignore the -Def from Rage crash and focusing on damage procs across the board let's you ignore that aspect of it as well. In a game where groups move fast I'm usually finishing off mobs by the time my group catches up. LOVE it.

What would be the most highly recommended Lore pet for a Rad/SS Tanker that relies almost entirely on +Res and +Absorb/+Regen for defenses and relies on damage procs to counteract Rage crash? And while we're on the topic, other side of the fence, what would be the best Lore pet for a SR/Dark tanker that's pretty much the opposite? Why each suggestion would be the best call would also be appreciated, if you're so inclined to share 🙂

My RAD/SS is by far the most fun character I have, and that's out of dozens and dozens. The trick is to go extremely heavy into damage procs and lean into the +Res/+Absorb/+Regen aspects of your defenses and simply expect to play with your Defense floored. The only SS powers I actually take are Punch, KO Blow, Rage and Foot Stomp. The two mini-nukes from Rad combined with Foot Stomp makes you a bit of a burst AoE king. I also use Darkest Night and Meltdown when going up against particularly hard foes, but I almost never need them. The character plays more like a Scrapper who can take an Alpha pretty easily than a traditional Tanker - a lot of times all I need to do is drop FS -> Rad Therapy -> Ground Zero -> FS and then its off to the next mob while the rest of the group cleans up. Seriously, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Awesome - thanks!

I'm trying to understand how Recovery rates work. Let's say that I have 100 Endurance and normally recover 1 point/second, meaning that it takes 100 seconds to go from 0 to max. If I increase my maximum Endurance to 105, do I still recover 1 point/second, meaning that it now takes 105 seconds to go from 0 to max, or do I now recover 1.05 points/second and still need only 100 seconds to go from 0 to max?

This is very interesting - and I haven't played this particular build so I cannot speak knowledgably about it, but I'd like to offer a couple of counterpoints, particularly with regards to diminishing returns. Please note that I haven't dipped my toes into Incarnates at all yet, so their potential benefits are not include din this analysis. Not very long ago I took a break from my chronic alt-itis and embarked on my own RAD/SS Tank, focusing on a damage-heavy build rather than defaulting to 'ultimate survivability' for a change and the results have been absolutely spectacular. I have never enjoyed a build nor had more fun playing the game than I have with this character (named 'Gleaming Fury'), so in spirit I'm very much right there with you... but again, without having played what you recommend, merely going off of what I would surmise from your build as presented and from your own comments here, I think you're losing a good bit more than you're gaining with the pursuit of Psi Mastery. I feel like I deal more damage with my build than I have with any non-Blaster character I've ever made, but I don't want to lose all the wonderful things that come with being a Tanker... and one of those things is being able to jump in, take an alpha and set the table for the rest of the team (when I'm not just wiping out the mobs before they can get to them). And preferably without an over-reliance on inspirations - I just struggle to admire a build that has to lean on something that has nothing to do with the build to keep it alive, particularly when it's a Tanker build. I've no doubt that you have come all to the same conclusions as I regarding this particular power set combination - that damage procs mitigate the offensive drawbacks of Rage crash while a high Res build mitigates its defensive drawbacks, that the Tanker's ability to affect a greater number of targets with their AoE lend themselves well to Rad's mini-nukes and Foot Stomp as part of a regular rotation, and that SS grants a number of wonderful opportunities to take advantage of the synergy of FF procs... but I still want to be survivable, and I want to be able to focus on destroying my enemies rather than spending my time juggling my inspirations trying to stay one step ahead of the reaper. With Meltdown up more than it's not, I'm basically hard-capped Resistance-wise to everything, and, to compliment that, I chose Soul Mastery, because I found that I simply didn't need any additional AoE. Two mini-nukes, Foot Stomp and well-placed Cross Punches keep me quite busy enough as they're up for every mob and usually by the time I cycle back around to the big guns, somebody else has finished that particular group off, or at least enough so that additional AoE's are just a waste. I think you'd find that a proc'ced out Cross Punch compares very favorably to a similarly enhanced Dominate dps-wise, and that's before taking into account that it can often hit two or three targets at a time. By taking Darkest Night in place of Psionic Tornado, it let me actually put some effort into my defenses, and between the two I'm at roughly 49% defense vs melee and 32% Ranged/AoE (before teammates chip in, of course). I don't always need it and it's certainly not the end-all, be-all, especially without having any notable DDR, but it does add a very strong extra layer of survivability, especially during those crucial first 5-8 seconds of combat, and let's me play like a TANK should play, without fear. Previous defense-heavy builds didn't bother with Darkest Night (again, diminishing returns), but its synergy with this particular combination seems ideal. I also don't take Taunt in this particular build, so DN can help give my allies a little more protection than they might normally have, including against AoE's directed at me but which might also catch them. All of that's not to say that the way you've built things isn't without it's upside, and NO ONE should ever try to judge another on their personal preferences when it comes to play style - that is absolutely not what I'm trying to do here. My counterpoint is simply that I would much rather have a tiny bit less damage in exchange for a whole lot more survivability, and I'd rather not spend my time focused on juggling inspirations and trying to keep my 'glass canon' alive long enough to get off my next big boom, that's Blaster stuff. Sometimes there CAN be too much of a good thing, especially when you have to surrender so much to get it. As an additional benefit, by not having to load up Dominate and Psionic Tornado also leaves a lot more available enhancement slots to play around with. Frustratingly, due to the recent issues with Mids, I'm not able to look at your build directly to make a fair statistical evaluation, but I'm going to go ahead and include mine, just so that interested parties can consider their relative strengths and weaknesses. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that your build would struggle with Accuracy and/or Endurance against higher-level mobs, unless that's something you plan on relying on Inspirations and teammates for as well. Again, I want to reiterate that this is not intended as a disparagement in any way, just a counterpoint to what looks like a perfectly strong and interesting build. If you (or anyone else) has actually read this far, thanks for taking the time to endure my rants and please take them in the spirit with which they are intended. 🙂 (final) Tanker (RAD - SS).mbd EDIT: This build is a tiny bit out of date. In place of the +Rech you see in Radiation Therapy, I have Overwhelming Force Damage/Chance for KD proc and and in place of the +Acc you see in Ground Zero, I have the Shield Breaker proc for Lethal damage. I'm also seriously considering dropping down Meltdown to a single slot and maxing out Gloom to increase my single-target dps vs. those pesky AV's & GM's...