marcussmythe

And it can, apparently, be done - not sure about END stability even in IO Land, but its worth a shot... 45% or better to all positions (okay, 44.7% AOE, but who is counting!) Some ACC Debuff, and the dark-ranged-bomb of Obliteration can be dropped for another big acc debuff in Darkest Night if you are really worried. 90% S/L/F/C/Psi, 86% Negative, 61% Toxic, 55% Energy Dark Regeneration heals for 1100 hit points every 11 seconds, assuming it hits one target. If it hits two or more, its a full heal. Offensive is classic fire single target/aoe goodness. Survival is high enough that the agility can (and probably should!) be switched out for something more offensive or endurance friendly. Won't know overall how END handles until I get there - but I think it will be okay. Whatcha think? More KB Protection? I know hover/flight on a tank is wierd, but thats a personal preference. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Balrogish: Level 50 Magic Tanker Primary Power Set: Dark Armor Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Death Shroud (A) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage (3) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Recharge (3) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All) (5) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (5) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Scorch (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (9) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (9) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (11) Superior Blistering Cold - Recharge/Chance for Hold Level 2: Dark Embrace (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (11) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (13) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (13) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime Level 4: Murky Cloud (A) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance (15) Gladiator's Armor - Recharge/Resist (15) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance/Rech/End (17) Gladiator's Armor - End/Resist (17) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (19) Gladiator's Armor - Recharge/Endurance Level 6: Obsidian Shield (A) HamiO:Ribosome Exposure Level 8: Dark Regeneration (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance (19) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (21) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge (21) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery (23) Numina's Convalesence - Heal (23) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge Level 10: Boxing (A) Empty Level 12: Cloak of Darkness (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (25) Karma - Knockback Protection (27) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage (27) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 14: Tough (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% Level 16: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 18: Cloak of Fear (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance Level 20: Hover (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 22: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 24: Fly (A) Freebird - +Stealth Level 26: Fire Sword (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (31) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance (31) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge (33) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (33) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (33) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal) Level 28: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (34) Recharge Reduction IO Level 30: Fire Sword Circle (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage (34) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance (34) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (36) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (36) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (36) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown Level 32: Build Up (A) Recharge Reduction IO (37) Recharge Reduction IO Level 35: Incinerate (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage (37) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/RechargeTime (37) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (39) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (39) Superior Gauntleted Fist - RechargeTime/+Absorb Level 38: Gloom (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (40) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/RechargeTime (40) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (40) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (42) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (42) Superior Winter's Bite - Recharge/Chance for -Speed & -Recharge Level 41: Greater Fire Sword (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (42) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance (43) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge (43) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (43) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (45) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal) Level 44: Breath of Fire (A) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge (45) Ragnarok - Damage (45) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (46) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge (46) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance Level 47: Dark Obliteration (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage (48) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (48) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (50) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (50) Superior Frozen Blast - Recharge/Chance for Immobilize Level 49: Taunt (A) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge (50) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge/Range Level 1: Brawl (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage 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) Empty Level 2: Health (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance (46) Miracle - +Recovery Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon ------------

Since early in CoH, Ive been in love with resist sets, espc broad-spectrum, no-holes resist sets. Of course, I’ve also know that if resist is king, defense is the queen and the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Healing is also necessary, and if you run out of END, you are done no matter what. And thus, Ive had a love/hate affair with Dark Armor. It covers almost every resist base and has an incredible self heal, coupled with fun soft control and what the heck a DPS Aura, too. It also provides only a little DEF, and it takes your END like the big kids take lunch money. Thus the love/hate, but that was many years ago. Since then, weve gotten innate fitness, IOs, and a Staff set that does wonderful things to endurance costs. Has anyone taken a Dark Armor tank out for IOs and Staff and Sets to see if we can get it to softcap, feed its endurance needs, and then go out and do things while having the entire trinity of resilience covered? Can we use Incarnate End Reduction to get away from Staff and pursue better DPS while we are at it? (Fire keeps talking to me, cause I wanna be a Balrog)? Does this way lie madness?

I wonder when someone is going to do that because you k ow they will. I now have a thing I want to do. Just because it is there.

For personal murder, hard target specific but also with good AOE, DM/Shield Scrapper can do some crazy crazy things. For turning a group you are in into an unstoppable wrecking ball of mass destruction, kinetics, dark, and radiation defender sets are all excellent choices. Really too many variables to solve for ‘what is best damage’ without knowing if you are looking at team or solo, single target or aoe, enemy-count-reliant or ‘mano y mano with the AV’, if you count survivability and utility, or the like.

Dark Armor in infamous for its endurance consumption. I’d look at endredux in attacks other than your AOEs. Put one in every attack minimum - if that doesnt work, try two (Brutes, inasmuch as they rely on Fury for a damage buff, have more headroom for slotting things other than damage in attacks - though youll still want damage) Note that at your level, SOs are still outperforming IOs (though likely not enough to justify a switch back to SOs at this point). While General gets more eyeballs, the Brute-Specific forums may draw commenters more knowledgable than I.

A great additional example, and a great commentary on the ludicrous power of buffs in CoH (Ive got a power thats better than your whole power set!). "don’t overlook how tough anyone with the right buff set and a cunning plan can be." Honestly, if the game were still being developed, Time would probably get a balance pass. :) But it isn't, so the tankmagecleric is definitely go. :)

Its not about the reward - it is because, as the man said "It was there." Ill certainly be revisiting Chimera with some Daggers when I get home from work, thank you. :)

My Spines/Bio Brute has a similar experience - I think having two constantly running damage auras is likely contributing.

HOW TO NOT VISIT THE HOSPITAL Building a character for resilience in CoH is not a straight line affair. Too great a focus on a single tool to enhance survival can lead to disappointing results – as can, ironically, too great a dissipation of that focus. Many a /regen character throughout the history of CoH complained of existing in a binary HP state, unharmed or dead. The SR Scrapper dances unopposed through opponents until an unlucky few die rolls take him from full to dead. A pure-resist tank without heals or other options slowly crumbles under a wave of attackers – unless a stack of holds and debuffs, none of which miss our pure resist friend, overcome his mez prot, crush his endurance, flatline his recharge, or otherwise work together to overwhelm him. Nothing alone is perfect. So how do the various layers interact, what is the value of each layer, how is it gotten, and what are its performance limits? DEFENSE: THE FIRST LAYER Every even-con generic minion starts out with a 50% chance to hit you with its attacks. Each point of defense up to 45% reduces that chance. Thus 25% defense we get hit half as often, and with 45% defense, we get hit 1/10 as often. Some attackers will be more accurate (targeting drones, higher level, higher ‘class’), but those accuracy bonuses apply to whatever % chance to hit is left AFTER your defense. So 45% is as good as it gets, and will almost always cut the number of hits by 10. Take note: Assuming you start from 0, spending the resources to get to 25% defense cuts your damage incoming by half. Now that you’ve come this far, a mere further 20% will cut that half by x5 more. So its often worthwhile to ‘go big or go home’, though theres a case to be made for stopping at 32.5% - this costs less build resources, and lets you hit softcap for the price of a small purple, or for being on almost any team. Defense comes in two types, positional and damage typed. Each incoming attack almost always carries a ‘vector’ (Melee, Ranged, AOE) AND at least one type (Fire, Energy, Lethal, etc). Your best Defense is the one that applies. WHY DEFENSE IS GOOD: 1.) Everyone can get to 45%, at least in theory. 2.) Defense doesn’t just prevent damage, it prevents whatever comes along with that damage (debuff, mezz, etc) 3.) When in doubt, Positional defense is better than Typed defense. Its very hard to get typed defense to cover all 8 types – there are only 3 positions! WHY DEFENSE ISNT GOOD ENOUGH ALONE: 1.) Defense relies on dice rolls. Sometimes the dice hate you. 2.) Most powersets that give heavy defense give little else – especially if they give typed defense. 3.) Defense debuffs are fairly common. This can lead to cascade failure when ONE guy gets lucky, and hits you with his 1-in-20 SMG shot that carries a -5% defense debuff. Now your at 40%, and two guys hit you… now your at 30%, so the next FIVE hit you. And your gone. Some sets have resistance to defense debuffs, which can help, as can going over the 45% cap if you can afford to, so as to have a buffer. I still like to carry a few purples. HOW TO GET DEFENSE 1.) Buffs from friends, or even better buffs that buff your whole party. Buffs in CoH are far more powerful, usually, than self-effecting powers. If your reading this, your probably playing a Tank/Brute/Scrapper/Sentinel, but don’t overlook how tough anyone with the right buff set and a cunning plan can be. 2.) Self-Buffs from your defensive powerset. Remember that Positional Defense is better than typed – but – the positional defense sets frequently don’t give as much heal/resist/etc. as the typed defense sets. 3.) IOs – Set Bonuses and Uniques. Two IOs carry flat DEF buffs that apply to all types and positions. They should be standard on anyone who cares even a little bit about Defense. Beyond this, note that set bonuses OFTEN favor positional defense over typed (There is a lot of Ranged Defense in the Thunderstrike set, popular among Blasters and now Sentinels) and its not uncommon to see a set give 2.5% Defense (Position) and 1.25% Defense (Type A and Type B). RESISTANCE: THE SECOND LAYER Resistance is straightforward, as a % damage reduction to incoming attacks. Most ATs can reach at most 75% resistance, while Tanks and Brutes can reach 90%. At 75% defense, you take ¼ the damage you otherwise would have. At 90%, you take 1/10th. So like Defense, resistance is very much a ‘some good, more much better’ affair. WHY RESISTANCE IS GOOD 1.) No dice rolls required. Resistance is there, its always there, it always applies. 2.) Resistance debuffs from foes are rare. 3.) Good to bring your own – resistance BUFFS are also harder to come by. WHY RESISTANCE ISNT GOOD ENOUGH ALONE 1.) Many attacks carry another effect along with them. An End drain, a slow, a status effect. These can quickly stack to become crippling, if all you have is Resistance. 2.) You will still get hit, a lot. If you don’t have a good self-heal or really hefty regeneration, you can be worn down. 3.) It is basically impossible to get 75% (much less 90%!) to ALL damage types, and most resistance based sets tend to have large holes (most classically psi resist on the Invuln set – it also has a psi defense hole, as well) HOW TO GET RESIST 1.) External or team buffs, as in defense. Note that resistance buff are less common than defense buffs, and resistance inspirations give less resistance than defense buffs do defense. 2.) Defensive Powersets – note that most powersets that give a mix of resist and defense have holes in their resistance, and no powerset alone will get you to the highest level of resistance. If you want to see 75%, much less 90%, you will be going heavy in IOs 3.) IO Bonuses and Set Bonuses. Like Defense, there are unique IOs that give +RES. You probably want them if you want resistance at all. Set bonuses for resistance also exist, but give (relatively) less resistance than defense sets give defense – because of the much higher resist cap, and greater number of damage types, IOs wont make up as much ground on resist as they will on defense. If you plan on being serious about resistances, you WILL have to get a lot from your powers. HIT POINTS, THE THIRD LAYER Less discussion here. You die when you run out of hit points. More hit points is a linear bonus to your time to live under fire. Hit points are largely determined by Archetype, though some powersets have powers that give a bonus to hit points, and IO sets may provide further bonuses. Adding hit points has a much more linear effect on survival than adding DEF and RES – so should be prioritized only AFTER your getting the DEF and RES levels you planned on. Sacrificing the last 5% of Melee Defense or the last 10% of Smashing/Lethal Resistance for an additional few % of HP is a bad investment. Caveat to the above – what hit points CAN buy you is time. If the damage is coming in through a hole in your resistances, or you’ve flat gotten unlucky, extra hit points can be the difference between parsing the log to try to figure out why you died, and hammering a pre-set line of candy to stand you back up (I tend to have a line that consists of a breakfree, a large green, and some large purples on my F1 key. Whenever I have a heart-attack moment, I fast-tap line 1. This gives me enough time to cast further self heals or take other measures) HEALING, THE FOURTH LAYER Healing is weird. Healing is like extra hit points that you don’t have right now, but will have as time passes (health regeneration), as animations finish (heals being cast), and as cooldowns finish (staring at a recharging heal as your HP flash in the red). Healing is unusual in its survival behavior. If your incoming healing per second (from regen, or over time from heals) is greater than the damage that is making it through layer 1 and 2, then you live forever. If its less, you don’t – and you probably die pretty quickly. A large pile of innate regeneration gives a buffer, and a self-heal can go a long way to keeping you safe (I recommend topping off, rather than waiting for emergencies). WHY HEALING IS GOOD 1.) Healing cares not where the damage came from, it just makes it go away. 2.) Some attacks may not carry a damage type, or one you don’t have coverage on. A very rare few (one?) lacks a positional component. Healing doesn’t care about that either. WHY HEALING IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH BY ITSELF 1.) Often (large groups, AVs, etc) damage comes in so fast and heavy that healing ALONE cant keep up, or that flat kills you in the time it takes to realize you are taking damage. A LOT of Regen Scrappers died this way upon a time – and a careless Bioarmor does so just as easily now, when it bites off more than it can chew. 2.) As with Resistance, debuffs still come in – and there are even (though rare) debuffs to your regeneration or healing received. HOW TO GET HEALING 1.) Powersets. A self-heal is a strong selling point in any power set, and some sets provide a large constant self-healing (notably Regen, Bio, WP). If a not-traditionally-defensive powerset provides a self heal (notably Dark Melee), this can be a large benefit to whatever it is paired with. 2.) Pool Powers – notably ‘Aid Self’. While imperfect and requiring two power selections, it’s a self heal when some days you cannot get one any other way. 3.) IOs – various IO sets offer a bonus to Regen, usually in the first two pieces. Its not enough to sell me on a set, or to send me hunting for them, but they can be very good to have. ADDITIONAL CONCERNS Debuffs also increase survival. Some sets slow enemies, others decrease their damage or endurance. Control always helps. A debuffing defender can make a blaster more survivable against a mob than an unsupported tank would be. Situational awareness can be key – there are debuffs (TARGETED) that amount to ‘you are going to die shortly’, and mobs (Sappers, certain Carnies) that may be a lethal threat to your character. Be aware of those things. Also remember that ‘paying attention’ is a finite resource – a character whose survival is based on always clicking the right buttons at the right moment is a player with less mental resources to pay attention to the whole situation. Know your attention budget and mental energy level. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER If you have 2000 HP, and no defenses, 20 attacks, each dealing 200 damage per shot, likely kill you in the opening salvo – they probably do 2000 between them – 10 shots hit, 200 damage each. If you have 45% defense to that incoming damage vector or damage type, on average 1 shot hits, you take 200 damage, and life goes on. Mind you, unluck can end you here. If you had instead 90% resistance to that damage type, you instead get hit 10 times, but only for 200 damage. Life again goes on, and unluck is less of an issue – but you did get hit 10 times. If those attacks carry an END drain, you probably hate your life. If you have BOTH – well, now we are off to the races. 20 attacks. 1 hits. It does 1/10th the damage – 20 points. At this point your walking away from the keyboard to make a sandwich. If you have high innate regeneration, you can probably go from ‘make a quick bio break’ to ‘cook dinner for 5’. A good self heal will let you have that same dinner for 5, as long as you put it on auto. And a giant pile of Hit Points makes sure that even if somehow EVERYTHING GOES WRONG, you have time to hit your emergency buttons and recover the situation. CAVEATS-CONCERNS Nothing is free. You only get 1 primary and 1 secondary power set, only so many slots. Only so many IOs and bonuses. Only so many pool selections. You cannot make a character that’s softcapped defense to all positions, maximum resist to all types, with a huge pile of hit points, constant regeneration, and clickie emergency buttons. And that’s a good thing. Further, as discussed, the first two categories have INCREASING returns up to cap. If you have the choice of having 90% Resistance and 0 Defense, or having 50% Resistance and 25% Defense – 90% resistance cuts your incoming damage by a factor of 10. The mix of SOME resist and SOME defense only cuts it by a factor of 4. So pick one (likely DEF) and go with it. WORKED EXAMPLES Given that we want as many layers as we can for survival, but that we get an increasing Return on Investment up to cap, what do we build, and why? If we choose a ‘single type’ power set, such as Regen (for healing), Dark Armor (for Resists), or Superreflexes (for Defense), the set will get us to caps, or at least very good values, with at most a visit into the pool powers and SOs. In an SOs only world, a pure set can look very good, due to that ‘increasing return on investment). But we don’t live in an SOs only world, and a pure set will have trouble creating a second layer out of IOs and Pool Powers. This is because there are only so many bonuses available, and the further you go chasing them, the less return on your slots. There are only so many 5% Defense -Ranged IO sets – trying to softcap ranged defense on a Regen Sentinel is doable, but painful. Trying to softcap all is a fools errand, without something to start with. Therefore, your best bet (if all you care about is surviving!) is to find a set that offers multiple layers, so you can -efficiently- build onto those layers. Case 1: Invuln Invuln is an old and somewhat creaky set in modern play. But what it does offer is a broad swath of DEF and RES powers, and a large (if slow) self heal. Invuln is a solid basis for a VERY tough tank, as you can softcap its resistance to smashing/lethal, while still having high resistance to most damage types, and softcap its defense to almost all damage types, as well. Its large HP bonus from Dull Pain (also a long cooldown but powerful self heal) rounds out the set. Pairs well with an additional heal (Dark Melee is popular here). Case 2: Willpower/Bioarmor These are treated together as they are both mixed sets. While requiring more investment to pursue softcaps than Invuln, above, both also provide heavy regeneration, and in the case of Bioarmor a series of clicky emergency buttons. Care 3: Ninjutsu Will reach positional softcaps in a relatively straightforward manner. Carries a self heal. Will never softcap any damage type resistance, so will be in that regard more fragile than case 1 and 2, but its POSITIONAL rather than typed defense means it has less ‘sudden surprise wrong bad guy’ moments than the above two cases. SR may be treated similarly. Case 4: Shield Mix of Resistance and Positional Defense. Requires a large investment, because these are low values compared to above – but the fact that the defense is positional has all the same value as in Ninjitsu, and very high resist (at least to S/L, with tough) is also possible. Though not as resilient a base as case 1 and 2, it lacks the holes, and provides other benefits (Damage buff, AOE). Will probably want to pick up a self-heal of some kind (Dark Melee, Medicine Pool, etc.) to supplement its lower values. Note it also buffs its defense from nearby teammates. Case 5: Sentinels/Blasters Mentioned here because of the relative ease of capping a single type of positional defense, ranged, coupled with the fact that generally mob melee attacks hit harder than ranged ones, means that Blasters can be with IOs and pool defenses surprisingly survivable, and that in many instances my Sentinel laughs at content that my leveling Scrapper or Brute hated. CONCLUSION Surviving the foes in PvE COH is a matter of combining multiple layers of resilience. One is well served to pick one and maximize it (the author recommends soft capping DEF as the first step), and then shoring up as much as possible or needed in additional areas. Each area offers increasing returns as it closes on its cap, with little value for further investment beyond that cap, but at an increasing cost in powers/slots/sets as one increases investment. This will inform powerset choices. The above should not be construed as a ‘what you should play’ guide, but to further understanding of how the parts work together so you can make the best choices for the powerset you love, or love the powerset that fits your chosen play goals.

Thank you. That does help. Though, and do correct me if I am wrong - does not an AV carry a massive debuff resistance, on the order of 85% under the current version? Thus the combination of the Radiation Debuff and the Envenomed Dagger mentioned above would be a -400% debuff - of which 60% would get through. Hmm. Step in the right direction. Was looking to do it organically, without temps or summons - but the Envenomed Dagger is a small enough visual impact that I can probably live with it, fluff wise.

Obviously, standing in front of an Archvillian/Monsters damage output is pretty easy on a Tank, of almost any flavor. Upon a time, I could manage the offense to break them down (via raw damage) on an energy melee/invuln, but that was many rules changes ago and the old DPS aint what she used to be. If we dont have a supportive crowd around to feed the AOE damage buffs from Dark Melee and Shield, (and no warburg nuke!) what powersets would be your go-to for avoiding the ‘pillowfisted Hulkerman litterally cannot beat up Thanoseid even if Thanoseid stops fighting back’ feel that is the only thing that makes me sad about tanking? Is there enough extra DPS in fast animating pool powers and enough DPS and Debuff in Incarnate to get there?

If youve gone fighting for tough/weave, leap attack is a solid additional AOE.

Redraw doesnt affect DPS, IIRC - the animation just gets sped up. Ive got a lvl 50 Spines/Bio Brute, and though the lack of single target is notes, its not a huge deal unless you really like solo AV hunting (Ive not had much luck beating AV Health Regen yet, but its a work in progress). For group to group on 8 man with bosses, I usually just drag surviving bosses along with me to the next group for AOE to work on - though no doubt a Burn-Patch build would wipe the groups more quickly, and lacking the Bioarmor health recovery and defense would have less breathing room to just ignore an additional boss or three swinging away.

Thank you for checking. The interface slot debuffs do apply with PBOAE toggles and carry the same language, so Im anticipating that this will as well.

The recharge speed increase in SR offsets some of the longer recharge times in BS, and BS’s best attacks are often the ones with extended recharge times. As to End, a Scrapper will usually show better than a Brute for END. Its higher base damage means that it does more damage per attack, so it takes less attacks to defeat a foe - less endurance used. Similarly, the Brute Fury mechanic rewards a very aggressive, attack-spamming, move quickly to next group of foes playstyle - which is also hard on Endurance. Thus, a natural synergy lies as between END efficient sets with lots of fast animating attacks and the Brute AT. All of the above aside, a BS Brute is not ‘bad wrong stupid’, it will just take more levels/slots to sing.

Actually, I dont find the endurance consumption at all problematic, pre-alpha slot, though you do spend most of your time in ‘Efficient’ stance. Once the Alpha got slotted, I started using offensive and defensive more - but Ive not found them particularly impactful.

Any idea what would be necessary to get Pines to accurately reflect the Bioarmor 'stances'? It would make designing them, especially in light of 'stance dancing', a lot more straightforward.

Does anyone know if the proc for fear/immobilize/stun (lists at 70% in Pines, states applies to 'most attacks') applies to damaging auras and AOEs? Im toying around with a Spines/Bio Brute, which implies two damaging auras and numerous further AOE damaging effects, but was wondering if anyone had tested it out before I started throwing incarnate materials at it.

Also, Brutes have a -lot- more room to not slot for damage than other damage dealers, due to Fury. Obviously you still want to, but its not as critical.

Below is my attempt to get as much defensive value as possible piled on to the heavy regen/recovery values of Bio Armor without crippling sacrifice in other areas. Pros: Softcap Smash/Lethal/Fire/Cold/Energy/Negative Energy Defense 90% Smash Lethal Resist, with significant Fire/Cold/Toxic and some (low!) E/N/P resists Maintains high uptime on Hasten (10 Seconds down), Perma Ablative Carapace and DNA Siphon Cons: Expensive in Merits Influence Psionic Hole still exists Not HP Capped Does not perma-hasten Heavy use of Kinetic Combat needed to softcap S/L Defense has a high cost in other potential bonuses Hit Points under softcap (though higher than Tank Base) Relies on a saturated Evolving Armor to hit 90% Resist S/L I THINK Ive pressed this about as far as it will go - Softcaps and S/L cap are hard priorities - but I want to see if anything sees any low-hanging fruit I've missed. Theres a slightly alternate lyrics version that drops Taunt to pick up lunge and give a bit more DPS on the single target rotation, but its a minor difference and Taunt is nice to have, even with the PBAOE DPS Toggles and Taunt Aura. Anyway, thoughts? Places to squeeze out a little more? Lillies you think I've over-gilded? Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! C'len Final: Level 50 Magic Brute Primary Power Set: Spines Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Villain Profile: Level 1: Barb Swipe (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance (7) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (9) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (9) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime Level 1: Hardened Carapace (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP (3) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance (3) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance (11) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime Level 2: Inexhaustible (A) Healing IO (11) Healing IO Level 4: Environmental Modification (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (5) Luck of the Gambler - Defense (34) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage (46) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 6: Boxing (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 8: Spine Burst (A) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge (17) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (19) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge (19) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance (23) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage Level 10: Adaptation Level 12: Build Up (A) Recharge Reduction IO (27) Recharge Reduction IO Level 14: Impale (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage (27) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/RechargeTime (29) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (29) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (31) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime Level 16: Ablative Carapace (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance (17) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime (21) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (48) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance Level 18: Quills (A) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (31) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (33) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (34) Superior Brute's Fury - Recharge/Fury Bonus (36) Superior Brute's Fury - Accuracy/Damage (40) Superior Brute's Fury - Damage/Recharge Level 20: Evolving Armor (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) (21) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% Level 22: Taunt (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge (23) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range (33) Mocking Beratement - Recharge (43) Mocking Beratement - Taunt (45) Mocking Beratement - Accuracy/Recharge (50) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range Level 24: Tough (A) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance (25) Aegis - Resistance (25) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance (36) Aegis - Endurance/Recharge Level 26: Ripper (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage (42) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance (42) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (42) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (43) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 28: DNA Siphon (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance (33) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (48) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge Level 30: Weave (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (31) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 32: Throw Spines (A) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage (34) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/RechargeTime (36) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (37) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (37) Superior Unrelenting Fury - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (37) Superior Unrelenting Fury - RechargeTime/+Regen/+End Level 35: Genetic Contamination (A) Eradication - Damage (39) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (39) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (40) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage Level 38: Parasitic Aura (A) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance (39) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime (40) Preventive Medicine - Heal (45) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance (48) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime (50) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 41: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (43) Recharge Reduction IO Level 44: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 47: Super Jump (A) Empty Level 49: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 1: Brawl (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage (5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance 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: Fury Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 2: Rest (A) Empty Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift (A) Empty Level 2: Health (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance Level 2: Hurdle (A) Empty Level 2: Stamina (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End Level 10: Defensive Adaptation Level 10: Efficient Adaptation Level 10: Offensive Adaptation Level 0: Born In Battle Level 0: High Pain Threshold Level 0: Invader Level 0: Marshal Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface ------------

I ran both Energy Torrent and Shockwave on a Claws Scapper many years ago - the combined knocks could really help break up an alpha strike. That said, if your willing to walk away from heavy AOE, Dark Melee is a damned fine set because it brings so many different things to the table - pretty much wverything -but- AOE murderball.

I’d honestly here go with character concept/rule of cool over ‘whatever kicks maximum butt’ - beither will be all that significant, so go with what fits how you see the character - are they more Kal El or Bruce Banner?

Many ‘launch’ sets have aged quite poorly. Others (Fire, DM, Spines all stick with me) have shown much better. I think part of the problem is they were not created with a lvl 50 IO Incarnate world in mind - the idea that Broadsword debuffed defense, meaning you hit more often, was enough to in the developers minds make it on par with the raw damage of Fire or the AOE of Spines.

Ill admit that serious alt-itis has resulted in me having only one character even in her 40s - and that primarily a product of spines/bio meaning Ive been putting huge crowds in my missions to keep things interesting. Amusingly, though shes great fun, Im in no hurry to slap Incarnates on, unless I can find a way to get solid single-target out of spines.

Im tempted to do something with Ice purely on the basis of never having seen it done.