marcussmythe

-nods- Totally reasonable to like the set you like. Agility Alpha should do really crazy things to your DEF, if thats a thing that interests you, and might make a tiny bit more headroom for resistance?

You were my other inspiration! I didnt have a problem hitting him, oddly, he just killed me. Given that you did it on WP, obviously I dont need the damage out of Bio-Offensive. Efficient may be a better choice, but I anticipate WP still has more stable self-healing in a 1v1 than Bio does.

If your willing to give up the LOTG and the DEF your getting from the sets in Afterburner, a ranged attack could give you more Energy/Negative Energy Resist. Not stating this is a good tradeoff, just that its an option. Another option would be to break your Superior Gauntleted Fist into 2x 3 piece sets to double down on the enrg/neg resist at 3 slot, but I dont think thats a good trade. Hmm. Not sure where the edge cases are to get more going on, here. Also - would you see this as a played build, or do you think you would in practical play back off the thought experiment angle and go for a bit less +RES, with more recharge, etc? Practical surviability MIGHT be higher with, say, medicine for a self heal, or dark melee for the same purpose.

In a (much less impressive) version of Stupid Scrapper Tricks inspired by the Duo-STF, I decided to take on the weekly trial, solo, last Saturday. Faathim the kind sent me out, various AVs went down, all Rularru in Caves were Defeated... But I hit a wall in Lanarruu. Hurting him isnt hard (a -4 Marauder I hit in an overleved arc was much harder to hurt!), but he just murdered me within a minute or so. Inspirations ran out, he didnt miss much (even through overcapped defense - 6.5% adds up) and when he did hit, there were debuffs. Oh, and its raining blizzard slow death all the time. I'm rolling TW/Bioarmor. Bioarmor is for all its awesome probably not the best choice for dealing with heavy energy damage hits while slugging it out 1v1 with an AV (so much of Bio's Cool Regen relies on crowd-slurping). TW definitely lends itself to 'kill it first the playstyle'. No doubt something else more resist focused, with dark melee for a constant self heal, would be a better choice for the mission. Im planning on heading back out in a week or two, once the purples come in and the incarnate slots fill out. If necessary, will bring Shivans and maybe other summonables along, might even build a separate set of Incarnates for him (Im thinking Barrier and some beefy ranged nuke pets). Anyone bagged this guy 1v1? Any thoughts or tricks beyond the obvious 'bring every temp summon and summon them all right before you engage under the effects of maxed out inspirations and an Ultimate Inspiration'? And yes, Im aware that 'solo' and 'bring all the pets' seems counterintuitive, but 1.) Its a shard of a dimensional god, and 2.) He summons stuff, I can too. :)

It seems to work for me on my dark, but I DO run at least some of the toggles a lot. My understanding of received wisdom is that it does work.

Good point on the Longbow Cataphract. I may try to whip one up before I take another shot at soloing Lannaru the Mad.

For me, Id like to see Energy Melee be a set that does damage, rather than a Melee Controller w/Stuns set, but if the POTB are reluctant to let anything dethrone the One True God Of War that is Titan Weapons, worthwhile stun-based crowd control would at least give it ~A~ hat to wear.

Its post-going-rogue content. The default difficulty setting for anything Gold-Side or later is -1/x1 until proven otherwise. That mission arc, in particular, fresh back to CoH on an underleveled (SKed up to a leader who was running it at +3, 8 men, AVs on) Invuln/DM tank, a reroll of my beloved main from Live, resulted in that character being retired as useless.

Well, its hard to give 'best for every brute answers', but heres what I tend to like: Alpha Slot: Probably Musculature (the high damage version). Unless Im leaning more to the tanky side of brute, or just want more QOL from an easier perma-hasten and softcap, in which case agility. But probably musculature. Judgement: Pick what fits your character. I like the Dark one with the -Damage as a debuff, but Moar Damage is never wrong - PBAOE fits me as a brute, because I want to draw a crowd. Dont like cones for melee characters for Judgement. Interface: Generic Answer is Reactive, DOT version. Theres some arguement for the -Max HP version for breaking down AVs. Problem in Incanrate Teams is most people go reactive, and I dont think the dots stack - so if you team alot, dont be afraid to go with an unusual choice. Destiny: Ageless, either Recovery (to decide you dont care about END anymore ever), Debuff Prot (for reasons that endgame makes obvious), or one of the Barrier (not so much for me, but it keeps your Lore pets, and your teammates, alive when suddenly stuff goes bad). Lore: Personal choice. Look at buffs provided. If all you want is DPS out, Cimmerorans for single target, Storm/Polar for AOE. I kinda like Seers (their buff pet casts fortitude), and Demons (cause.. summoning.. demons. Nuff said) Hybrid: The 'meh' incarnate slot, for us. Probably Assault Doublestrike, for more damage, cause more damage is.. more? If your still squishing, maybe Melee.. but your a deep incarnate brute, if your still squishing, something else is the problem.

Ive put below a 'cheap-ish' lvl 30 IO build. The killers, budget wise, will probably be the ones in Health, but they are worth the price. Set the build to lvl 30, its all lvl 30 stuff and only lvl 30 slots - I reckon by the time you read this, youll be level 30. The BIGGEST game changers in the build are the Theft of Essence Chance for +END in Dark Regeneration (this greatly reduces its cost, and in crowds sometimes makes it an end gain), and the Gaussian's in buildup - it will proc almost every time, giving you a double buildup that can be fired with whirling sword to help nail down aggro, or for additional DPS solo. The rest is pretty boring. Turn death shroud on as END allows for more aggro (I slotted it for taunt, also slotted recharge and taunt in Taunt, since you said you had aggro problems). Turn cloak of fear on and off as END allows for more mitigation. Turn CJ on and off as END allows for more mitigation. Keep Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, and Obsidian Shield on 24/7. If you find you need still more endurance, drop a damage from hack and slice for more endredux. With just DE, Murky, and Obsidian going, as well as Combat Jumping (its cheap) Im showing .53 END/Second out, with 2.74 End/Second income, net +2.21 End/Second. Your most expensive attack, Hack, burns about 4 END per second, the rest are cheaper. So your bleeding about 1.8 End per second, assuming you dont rest, dont stop swinging, have no buffs, and Hack as soon as it finishes animating (you cant, itll be recharging and your other attacks are more efficient) Things Not Appearing - Tough, Weave, Manuvers, Hasten. All these are good things, for later in your levels when you have more slots and better enhancers and more tricks. Also, no acrobatics, because there are -3- Knockback Prevention IOs.. mag 12. This should be sufficient. Cant promise this is best build ever, hopefully someone will come along and tweak, but it should -help-. If you need help in game (or even a small loan for some of the enhancements, I know what it is to be low level and feel trapped by decisions made at lvl 1 in character selection), holler at me on my global. Happy hunting! Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 49 Magic Tanker Primary Power Set: Dark Armor Secondary Power Set: Broad Sword Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Hero Profile: Level 1: Dark Embrace (A) Endurance Reduction IO (3) Resist Damage IO (3) Resist Damage IO Level 1: Hack (A) Endurance Reduction IO (5) Accuracy IO (5) Damage Increase IO (7) Damage Increase IO (15) Damage Increase IO Level 2: Murky Cloud (A) Endurance Reduction IO (7) Resist Damage IO (9) Resist Damage IO Level 4: Slice (A) Endurance Reduction IO (11) Accuracy IO (13) Damage Increase IO (13) Damage Increase IO (15) Damage Increase IO Level 6: Obsidian Shield (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 8: Dark Regeneration (A) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance (17) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (17) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Healing Level 10: Taunt (A) Taunt Duration IO (19) Recharge Reduction IO Level 12: Cloak of Darkness (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 14: Slash (A) Endurance Reduction IO (19) Accuracy IO (21) Damage Increase IO (23) Damage Increase IO Level 16: Parry (A) Accuracy IO (21) Endurance Reduction IO (23) Defense Buff IO Level 18: Combat Jumping (A) Defense Buff IO (25) Karma - Knockback Protection (25) Defense Buff IO Level 20: Super Jump (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 22: Build Up (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 24: Death Shroud (A) Endurance Reduction IO (27) Taunt Duration IO (27) Damage Increase IO Level 26: Cloak of Fear (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance Level 28: Super Speed (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 30: Whirling Sword (A) Accuracy IO Level 32: [Empty] Level 35: [Empty] Level 38: [Empty] Level 41: [Empty] Level 44: [Empty] Level 47: [Empty] Level 49: [Empty] Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Gauntlet Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Run Speed IO Level 2: Health (A) Miracle - +Recovery (9) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End (11) Endurance Modification IO ------------

Almost anything that was invented around Going Rogue or later. Defense? Nah, we can debuff that to nothing. Resist? Lol. -100% for you. Regen? Why do you need HP?

Mace is very good, numerically, very ‘smashy’ in terms of feel and sound, astheticly, and very simple to operate, in game. No combo points/builders/lockouts, just hit things. I dont have one right now, but I loved it on live and will be revisiting it soon. Am considering running with a low intensity defense set (Willpower?) for a high situational awareness team play character (less time spent microing powersets means more time with eyes up and on a swivel) This lack of attention demand will likely serve a Bioarmor character well, as Bio rewards your time and attention.

Gold Side Mobs are made of exotic damage types and debuffs. They were late created and as such designed to take advantage of the vulnerabilities in the defensive powersets - and badly devalue them. Against the very last groups of villians designed, burst damage, hard control, or crippling debuffs are a better survival strategy than a defense/res powerset/AT, especially one that does less damage in service of that survivability - because goldside mobs (and later on, Dark Astoria groups) by design trivialize defense and res and stack slows and the like. Better to just kill them quickly. I noted on gold my tank was almost crippled by things my stalker and blaster simply tore through - the tank could not kill fast enough.

I think we have to stop and at least nod to the altar of overcap defense and DDR. I will say that yes, a tank may be resist and thus ‘not need’ defense, but I have seen mobs crash my bioarmor’s Defense (not hard, no DDR) and then the same storm of attacks that crushed my DEF also apparently carried -RES as well.. I have see my DEF hit -100, RES shortly after, and I usually see the floor and then the hospital right afterwards. There is a nearby thread discussing piling RES into an SR tank - there is at peast a possibility that with a confluence of such, you could get an unimaginably tough SR tank. Much of this is, of course, theorycraft - with Tanks, the question seems more to be ‘at what level do you become so tough that it stops mattering for 90% of what you do’, along with ‘what of that remaining 10% or less do you pick as your problem content’, ‘how much of that 10% can you make go away with incarnates and IOs’ and ‘at what price and with what aide benefits from your set’

Throw a foe-targeting toggle on the runner and he'll bring you -lots- of friends! Just ask any Rad or Dark Controller, Corruptor, or Defender! I loled way too much. +1 Inf.

I'd gathered this was the case from other threads & the combination of how OP it's supposed to be & the general character aesthetics involved seem right up my normal alley... but for some reason I'm just not very interested in playing it. More inclined to play Fire/Bio or WM/Bio. I think if I make a TW/ it'll probably be /WP. I've got a very low-level TW/Elec scrapper & I didn't dig it quite like I thought I would, at least up to the level I played him. May try again later... Ive a lvl 50 (working on sets and incarnates) TW/Bio. Shes by far and away the most ‘powerful’ overall character Ive ever played, in terms of the combination of offensive and defensive power. I also dont enjoy it that much as many onthers, though still fun when I feel like beating up the game, for whatever reason. YMMV.

1.) An awesome project, and one I will watch with interest. 2.) Ill play around with builds later. 3.) Have you played with the Sorcery pool? It has a large self-buff to resist (I think), though Im not sure if it ‘counts’ due to limited uptime. Could alternate it in and run Barrier, using it when Barrier is starting to fade. But I believe the spirit of the matter is ‘100% uptime 0% management’

I am reposting below Murcielago's most recent datachunk as a long form forum post, as someone on Help chat was requesting help with a Dark/Shield Build, but cannot make Pines work on their Mac and cannot read datachunks without it. Kushfire, I hope this helps. Let me know if you have trouble reading it or anything, and I can relay to your from Pines. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Murcielago: Level 50 Natural Scrapper Primary Power Set: Dark Melee Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Smite (A) Hecatomb - Damage (3) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (11) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge (13) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance (13) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative) Level 1: Deflection (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge (5) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge (7) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (42) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 2: Battle Agility (A) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (7) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (9) Shield Wall - Defense (15) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 4: True Grit (A) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance (5) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (17) Panacea - Heal/Endurance (25) Panacea - Heal (25) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance Level 6: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (9) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (39) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 8: Siphon Life (A) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage (11) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance (15) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (23) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (31) Crushing Impact - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (40) Healing IO Level 10: Active Defense (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 12: Maneuvers (A) Reactive Defenses - Defense (19) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance (37) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/RechargeTime (43) Reactive Defenses - Defense/RechargeTime (45) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/RechargeTime (50) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage Level 14: Super Speed (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range (45) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance Level 16: Boxing (A) Accuracy IO Level 18: Dark Consumption (A) Obliteration - Damage (19) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge (23) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge (29) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (37) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 20: Against All Odds (A) Endurance Reduction IO Level 22: Phalanx Fighting (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 24: Tough (A) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance (34) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist (34) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (40) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP Level 26: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (27) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge (27) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (46) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 28: Tactics (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance (46) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance (48) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance (50) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up Level 30: Soul Drain (A) Superior Scrapper's Strike - Damage/Recharge (31) Superior Scrapper's Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (39) Superior Scrapper's Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (43) Superior Scrapper's Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (46) Superior Scrapper's Strike - Recharge/Critical Hit Bonus Level 32: Midnight Grasp (A) Superior Critical Strikes - Accuracy/Damage (33) Superior Critical Strikes - Damage/RechargeTime (33) Superior Critical Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (33) Superior Critical Strikes - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (34) Superior Critical Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Superior Critical Strikes - RechargeTime/+50% Crit Proc Level 35: Shield Charge (A) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge (36) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (36) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge (36) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance (37) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage Level 38: Moonbeam (A) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge (42) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (43) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge (48) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance (50) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative) Level 41: Shadow Meld (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 44: Grant Cover (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed Level 47: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (48) Recharge Reduction IO Level 49: One with the Shield (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% Level 1: Brawl (A) Accuracy IO Level 1: Sprint (A) Celerity - +Stealth Level 2: Rest (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 1: Critical Hit Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Run Speed IO Level 2: Hurdle (A) Jumping IO Level 2: Health (A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery (17) Miracle - Heal (21) Miracle - +Recovery (29) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy (40) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 50: Void Core Final Judgement Level 50: Paralytic Interface Level 50: Polar Lights Total Core Improved Ally Level 50: Melee Radial Embodiment ------------

-DEF is always good to have on a power - it allows it to slot the Achilles Heel -RES Proc.

Just Fighting-Weave? Or do you also eschew Manuvers from Leadership and CJ/Hover?

Testing Results: EM/Bio Brute - Pylon DPS 315 TW/Bio Brute - Pylon DPS 442 Builds Identical save for different primaries. EM forced to go out of set for Gloom to get the above DPS numbers. Given better CC and far better AOE capacity of TW, suggest reduce EM animationntimes by 33% or a bit more. This wont actually give as much DPS as it first appears, as will increase reliance on lower DPA powers (Energy Punch and Bonesmasher), but would get it within screaming distance of TW for aingle target, while still being grossly inferior in AOE capacity. If we want it to be better than TW at the one thing it does, will have to add additional effects (RES Debuff or the like)

In light of the above, I decided to explore a forgotten and much maligned set, Energy Melee. Upon a time, it was my main. Now, Scrappers dont GET Energy Melee, but Brutes DO.. and Brutes get Bioarmor, and Titan Weapons, and I had these Titan/Bio Brute times lying around. We all know the reputation Energy Melee gets... but does it live down to it? I set out to draw a crowd of fury buffers.. usually managed to start each timer with 70-80% Fury Bar. My rotation was dirt simple, which probably explains the consistent times. Lacking any held weapon, Energy Melee can easily 'duck out' of its pool to grab gloom. Gloom, amusingly, is better DPA than anything in the set but Energy Transfer, so it becomes a very straightforward Energy Transfer-Gloom-Total Focus-Gloom. Timing was just right so I could trigger Buildup right before the next Energy Transfer, right as gloom finished animating and Energy Transfer came off recharge. So whats energy melee got left in the tank, when you do everything you can to make it better, including going outside of the set to make it better? Time: 3:40 3:33 3:30 (315 DPS) ... Say gnite, gracie.

That is excellent to hear! Ive got an alt coming up that I wanted to go Mu rather than Soul, but having one power be that much better than the other was forcing me onto an uncomfortable 'fluff vs crunch' dilemma.

Well, in the spirit of 'make energy melee great again', and with a nod to 'whats good for the goose is sauce for the gander', Im working on a proposal for Energy Melee that tries to close the performance gap with Titan Weapons (in narrow conditions). Man, Titan Weapons doesnt make -more- sense as you dig in the numbers. It makes less.

Someone help me here. Either I am misreading this, or the formula above ignore animation time entirely?