marcussmythe

Thats quite a number! AT? Powersets? Incarnate Powers, and which if any active?

Mines.. kinda stalled? I love the throughput, I love the 'OMGWTFBBQ'. But shes so much -work- to play. I think stacking two micro-intensive sets may have been a bridge too far for me. So now I'm leveling an SR/Claws tank with no hasten (PB on auto, nothing else to manage but HP), and an Energy Melee/Energy Aura/Energy Mastery Brute (Not cause good, just cause fun)

You all know that, thanks to this thread, we're gonna be seeing Titan and Bio builds -everywhere-. Just sayin. :)

They are considered set bonuses so you can only have 5x LotG +7.5% but they do stack with other +7.5% Rech bonuses because they have different names. The set bonus quotas work by name rather than bonus size. For example, my Ill/Cold has 5x LotG +Rech and additional +7.5% from Basilisk's Gaze and they all stack up nicely. Thank you DSorrow for stating it more clearly.

Looks like the mean on each condition is about the same - moving Water Spout from ‘DPS Increase’ to ‘Not going to hurt you, use if you like it’. Thats cool.

The LOTG Unique IO bonus is, I am informed, filed under a different 'name' by the game than the 7.5% Bonus provided by sets. Its still limited to 5, but it does not conflict with the other bonuses.

I appreciate the effort, but the recovery was atrocious. Fair cop on the recovery - I tend to still come from a tank mindset, and so pursue defenses first, then patching any END holes with incarnate abilities, etc. Your Invuln illustrates exactly how slot-cheap it is to cram in rather a LOT of +REC. I will be mindful of this. As Jack's build illustrates, the glory of WP is that you can in fact have your cake and eat it too, at least on the DEF Front -likely driven by the very high E/NE values it gives (For whatever reason, Energy Defense is much harder to IO for than Smash/Lethal or Fire/Cold).

They will absolutely work in auto powers, and that is the most frequent place you will see them.

With apologies to Sheldon Cooper, all I could think of was this... "Soft farmer, warm farmer, for PL we do yearn! Happy farmer, wealthy farmer, burn, burn, burn..."

Easy enough to copypasta Hover-Fly in place of CJ/SJ. For my own part, Ive also got a flying TW character - despite the conflict between TW and Fight. Concept sometimes controls

Agreed - in the random condition, the +DEF from teammates is everywhere, while + RES remains much less common. The same is true, though less strongly, for Healing and +Regen effects. This does advantage RES in the generic condition.

Hmm. Id love to see this functionality in the game somehow, either via Reveal (free to all, essentially!) or through an underused power deep in a pool. Because I remember the last DE Emanator on a Layer-Cake Cave. It was behind a rock in a corner on the top level.

Looking at those builds side by side, and discounting the difference in approach (I added pool powers to pursue bonuses, above poster broke the Brute set to double dip, avoiding the need for pool powers) - I think this really nicely illustrates the differences between 'built out' WP and 'built out' Invuln. Both are softcapping. Invuln has an edge in defense debuff resistance. Both cover most mezz types - Willpower gets a few Invuln does not. Willpower shows notably better against Psionic. Invuln shows phenomenally better against Smash/Lethal, and significantly better against Energy/Negative. Willpower (but of course) heals quite a bit faster standing, and also doesnt have an endurance bar that it cares about. Invuln has to pay attention to both, though it does have a massive self heal - though compared to the incredible health income of a saturated Rise to the Challenge, the bonus heal from Dull Pain isnt all that noticeable. I'm tempted to say Willpower is a just-plain-better set at endgame with IOs, but the difference is small enough that I can see choosing either, just based on personal preference.

If you want to see Broadsword at its best, I think the Stalkers are doing great things with it - Stalker Crit Mechanics love high damage attacks, and of the -Stalker- sets, Broadsword is one of the stronger performers in that regard. Especially with Shield. At least one other set that proliferated to Stalkers and had super-high-damage attacks got a specific ‘no crits/reduced crits’ applied to it, to avoid the shenanigans they are pulling with BS. That was EM.

1st Opinion: Dont let an abstract performance metric in an artifical situation make you feel bad about your character. Fire Melee is a single target AND AOE Damage Machine. Invuln on a Brute is (with IOs and a plan) basically indistiguishable from Invuln on a Tank for toughness - and Invuln on a Tank is the definition of 'tough' in this game, barring a Stone. Id anticipate you can cut that time down, substantially, with a plan, incarnates, IO slotting, etc. IF thats what you want to do. If you are still seduced by the siren song of pylon numbers - Invuln on a Scrapper is going to be rather more fragile than on a brute, but probably still tough enough. If your chasing even more damage, Shield is IMHO the best set in the game. Seriously, all its lacking is self heals and a pony. If your chasing YET EVEN MORE DAMAGE THAN THAT, Bioarmor and Titan Weapons will get you there, but its a rough fit for most people - I hear a fair amount of people starting them up and then stalling out/deleting. If you want something tanky enough, with MOAR DEEPS THAN BRUTE, the all-around 'best' Scrapper, IMHO, is going to be Dark Melee/Shield. All it does is have softcapped POSITIONAL defenses, a great AOE, basically-buildup-always-on-twice, self heals, decent resists... Really, it is kinda silly. Footnote: I too have followed the 'long slow slide down the DPS road' with my Melees. Originally a tank, but when they got trashed and brutes got awesome, went brute. Now Scrappers are getting love and cool sets and somewhere along the line they got a damage buff, and Im finding I can still be 'tough enough for anything especially on teams' as a Scrapper - so its just a Tank/Brute with moar damaeg. At this rate, I may end up working my way down to Tankstalker. :)

I dont.. think so, at least not mechanically. Staff, with its fluid animations, mix of AOE and single target, and the flexibility of the 'stance' mechanic, brings -something- to the table to enhance most any set it is paired with. This is I think a great thing - I like sets that pair well, IN DIFFERENT WAYS, with different sets, where each brings something to the table. That being said... If there was a single peanut-butter-jelly-time set with Staff, Id actually go Bioarmor. Two DIFFERENT sets EACH with 3 different 'stances', basically 9 different gear-shift settings before you even start playing 'which Incarnate will I slot today'. Now, this wont give you the radical play-style differences of, say, 3 different VEAT builds in 3 different build slots - but this is a lot of fine tweaking on the fly.

If you really want to explore the Paladin Concept - Anyweapon/Shield Medicne Pool, including Aid Other, Aid Self, and a Rez Leadership Pool, all yuo can cram in. Yannow, maybe not -mathmatically maximized-, but fun... I could totally see playing that character.

I don't really take issue with -Regen being included in the times so long as it is acknowledged. For most intents and purposes -Regen = DPS and most -Regen abilities are up constantly enough not to be situational and its effect is pretty easy to quantify. Besides with /Bio (/Rad as well?) and Interface all melee ATs have access to it too so should any times with those be treated differently? Lore pets and Hybrid (besides the passive boost) should be left out though because of their limited uptime. With the proliferation of -Regen I'd say the "rules" of the pylon test could be no temporary powers and no situational powers outside of your primary/secondary. That should give a pretty good representation of the build's consistent output and any smart players already know that numbers with -Regen in them won't transfer 1-to-1 from a pylon to an AV. It doesn't take much to floor an AV's regen. -regen doesn't benefit from damage buffs and resistance debuffs either. Hybrid Assault works fine because it doesn't really alter the base formula. "Archvillains are also noteworthy for having strong debuff resistance that scales by level. As of Issue 9, this resistance applies to -RunSpeed, -Recharge, -Endurance, -ToHit, -Defense, -Perception, -Regeneration, and -Recovery. " The above is from Paragonwiki - which is I will grant a wiki - but it is the best information I have at my fingertips. If this is not the case, please let me know? I will note that when soloing AVs, I have to -hammer- them constantly with Enchanted Daggers to keep their regen under control - but the plural of anecdote is not data.

I can see a good use case for both. Both are ‘natural’ pairings with TW. TW does not like to be interrupted, and neither WP nor Inv are going to draw attention away from the demands TW places on you. My gut instinct is the increased END budget will serve TW better than the increased maximum resilience of INV - especially as INV can be very demanding of specific sets and bonuses to put its best foot forward. So if youve no greater attraction to the one than the other, Id say go WP - but thats not a strong leaning, and if you want to do heavy as a tank in very tough content, and have all the time and budget in the world, Invuln may serve you slightly better there. I dont have a WP Build handy, but I do have a kitbashed TW/Invuln Brute build. Highlights include softcap to all, and 86% Smash/Lethal that will scale to 90 pretty quickly as you take damage. I wish E/Neg was higher, but only so much to be done. I know the Ancillary pool choice is odd - I wanted a Hold to grab those set bonuses, and a ranged attack, same reason. I swapped Flight for leaping since you cant Arc of Destruction in Hover, but YMMV there. IDK how much utility the ranged attack and hold will have in play - they are here as mules for some (very good!) set bonuses for Energy Defense - Energy Defense is hard to get and late game likes Energy Damage. Agility is chosen over Musculature as Titan Weapons is -very- recharge-time intensive on its output. Ageless for the samer eason, and for the bonus endurance. Defensive Sweep is skipped in endgame build due to softcap being reached without it. Titan Sweep is skipped as having a role only in the purest of AOE rotations - feel free to slide it back in if you want to go even heavier on AOE focus, but here I was gunning for 'tanky'. Final thought - this is a theorycraft 30 min with Pines build, NOT an "ive loved this character and played it for years" perfectly tweaked one. YMMV. Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! TW-Invuln Brute: Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Arctic Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Crushing Blow -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(40), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43) Level 1: Resist Physical Damage -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtnCtn-ResDam(3), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(3) Level 2: Temp Invulnerability -- GldArm-End/Res(A), GldArm-ResDam(5), GldArm-3defTpProc(5) Level 4: Dull Pain -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(9), Prv-Absorb%(11) Level 6: Build Momentum -- AdjTrg-Rchg(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(11), AdjTrg-EndRdx/Rchg(13) Level 8: Follow Through -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(46), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Hct-Acc/Rchg(48), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(50), Hct-Dam%(50) Level 10: Resist Elements -- TtnCtn-ResDam(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(13) Level 12: Taunt -- PrfZng-Dam%(A) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15) Level 16: Unyielding -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(19), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(19), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(21) Level 18: Rend Armor -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg(21), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury(25) Level 20: Resist Energies -- TtnCtn-ResDam(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(27) Level 22: Super Jump -- Empty(A) Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(27), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29) Level 26: Whirling Smash -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Erd-%Dam(31), ClvBlo-Dmg/Rchg(31), ClvBlo-Acc/Dmg(31), ClvBlo-Acc/Rchg(33) Level 28: Invincibility -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(33), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(33) Level 30: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 32: Arc of Destruction -- SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg(A), SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg(34), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End(37) Level 35: Tough Hide -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(36), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(36), ShlWal-Def(37) Level 38: Tough -- Ags-Psi/Status(A), Ags-ResDam(39), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(39), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(39) Level 41: Block of Ice -- SprEnt-Acc/Hold(A), SprEnt-Hold/Rchg(42), SprEnt-End/Rchg(42), SprEnt-Acc/Hold/End(42), SprEnt-Acc/Hold/End/Rchg(43), SprEnt-Rchg/AbsorbProc(43) Level 44: Ice Blast -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(45), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(46), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(46) Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(48) Level 49: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 0: Born In Battle Level 0: High Pain Threshold Level 0: Invader Level 0: Marshal Level 1: Momentum Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------

Have not done StJ. Have done several Bios. Bio is quite manageable on its own - with Spines, I could monitor and best-time my Bio clickies pretty smoothly as I leveled, and quite smoothly at 50 as the character and op4 stabilized. Bio becomes more challenging with another ‘management’ set - but even with TW, the most management intensive set (momentum, priority attacks, END cost, week long animations) Im finding it -doable-, if sometimes frustrating, into the 30s. I anticipate that with faster animations and less (although not insignificant) management, StJ and Bio will be quite workable together, though it wont be as smooth a ride as something like Claws/Willpower, of course. (Hmm. Interesting side discussion - whats the least attention-demanding pairing possible?)

Though some debuff sets will floor an AV, as well... though as you point out, a player who is looking at Pylon times can likely be assumed to be aware of such things.

Dark is a phenomenal and underrated set. Underrated mainly due to end cost and to a lesser degree lack of KB protection. IOs fix the later, Staff the former. Its a match made in heaven. Willpower is the quintessential ‘I just want it to work’ defense set. Turn on, carry on, little attention required. Given Staffs ability to switch stances, and the mechanism that consumes your perfection - Willpower may let you pay more attention to the Staff. Staff lets you Dark Armor better. Willpower lets you Staff better. Which is your priority?

I like seeing the -regen times. Even if they dont reflect raw DPS out, they are informative as to -effective- DPS out, as against a superhard target. (caveat, of course, that such may not reflect performance as against the gold standard superhard target - the debuff resistant Archvillian) Inasmuch as it reflects abilities inherit to the character/powerset and synergies thereby, Im for it. Im a bit at a loss as to how we want to weigh incarnates - my thought is ‘everything is fair game except lore pets’ - everything feeds into your output, and they are still permanent ‘powers’ the character has. Lore pets are arguably no different (for anyone with a Lore Slot) - but for me at least their impact is just too large to include, because they swamp everything else to the point of blurring distinctions. This does denegrate the DPS performance of buff providers with their pets, however. Lore pets have relatively more value on, say, a Kinetics Defender than on my tank. (Oh god. Fulcrum Shifted Cimmerorans!) - and its a fair cop that ‘transform friends into gods’ is rather the point of certain ATs, and a greater ability to take advantage of those friends is an aspect of that AT that does translate to ‘damage outbound’. As such, Im still interested in what a debuffing/buffing summoner can put out, even with the loriest if lorepets as multipliers - because I think it will be interesting (appaling, stunning) what the answer is, and I like having more data - even if we dont list it in the same category as Bob the Solo Scrapper. For me, the point of Pylons is not to display power - but to collect data that can inform player decision making. YMM, of course, V.

Are you being serious? I really can't tell. If your experience is valid, then numbers shouldn't be that hard (or at least find someone with numbers). And "Fix it"? These are volunteer developers with full time lives...Maybe a please? Numbers, and someone elses spreadsheet numbers, posted above. I would dearly love for them to look at it (thus the suggestion) but have neither anticipation or hope. These issues and others were old-old when the game was shut down. To expect unpaid volunteers to repair that which Cryptic/NC Soft team bulldozed is wishful thinking.

There are pefectly reasonable motivations for not taking shield. For my own part, I just dont care for the look - if I could get the Shield mechanics, without the funny walk/run cycle and the board on my shoulder, Id take it for everything.