Warshades

Stone is a mixed def/resist set, somewhat similar to energy aura or shield defense with some unique things to it like EE giving it max HP cap and a bit of regen from rooted. I could easily make up the s/l def loss from weave by splitting the superior stalker's guile set into 2 sets of 3, but making up the e/n defense would be a bit harder. Currently would be sitting at this without hide on if I were skip fighting pool. Alternatively, I could keep fighting pool and replace Geode, CJ, and SJ to get the Adrenal Booster and end up with something like this. Higher s/l resist and I can similarly find a slot (probably miracle +rec) to put into Energy Punch and split the stalker's guile set to end up with 46% s/l def and 39% e/n before hide. May end up having to try both and see which version I like better.

Also, would Adrenal Booster be worth fitting into this build? I would likely drop SJ, Geode, and CJ to fit it in, but the effects are quite strong for 1 minute bursts and would help with stunning and keeping AVs stunned. Haven't used Adrenal Booster in any builds before.

Quick rework per the suggestions, ended up moving the extra slot in EP for a kismet in hide. While technically all powers are at the minimum 95% to +3 without it, it's also extremely close to barely being over. Slightly higher average damage on AS and slightly lower on TF, but the flow of TF opener and hide proc triggering makes a lot more sense to then follow up with a crit ET. Proc'd out BoL more as well. Stalker (Energy Melee - Stone Armor)3.mbd

Thank you, will work on changing the proc and set placements tonight.

As I seem to be on a stalker alt-itis mode right now, I've decided to make a high ST damage stalker as an alternative to the high AoE damage elec/shield build. Thus far, came up with this and would appreciate any input/changes that can be made to improve it further. I originally had a full set preventative medicine in EE, but switched to panacea to get another +rec slot in health. I'm a tiny bit below e/n soft cap with hide suppressed, but not overly worried about it. Stalker (Energy Melee - Stone Armor)2.mbd

Tried to implement some of these changes and got the following in return. With regards to glad armor set in Frozen Armor, it wouldn't really benefit me as it only boosts cold/fire resist and it's primarily a defensive toggle. The one major issue I see from removing the full ATO set is that I lose the 5% range defense. While I'm not trying to soft cap this as I can rely on the -tohit and even regen from Drain Psyche, 22% to range feels a bit low. I swapped Grant Invisibility for Subdue and moved the slots from Fearsome Stare/Living Shadow to get it slotted. Also changed super speed to Infiltration to get back the LotG mule. Dominator (Darkness Control - Psionic Assault)5.mbd

Thanks for reviewing. Tbh, I was messing around with where to place purple sets for the recharge and picked up Living Shadows at some point, but you're right about it being unlikely that I'll ever use it. I'll switch it to Shadowy Binds and slot it with an Apoc set to get better ranged ST damage in rotation. Regarding AVs if I were to try to solo, I should be able to upkeep perma confuse with Possess to be able to close in and use Mind Probe/TT safely as part of my rotation. In a team scenario, shouldn't be to much of an issue to fight close with buffs from teammates, AV focus on a tank/brute, and standing behind an AV to avoid cones. Considering the lack of slots/procs in TT, I could even delay the power pick and get the ranged Subdue or Mental Blast instead to have a better ranged rotation. Mid's was showing Drain Psyche at 114% acc to +3 (assuming there's not a bug somewhere that's counting more than I actually have). Switching to Shadowy Binds with Apoc set would drop it to 102%. May load it up later onto test server to see if that accuracy is accurate. If it's not, I could slot it with D-syncs and an accuracy IO, or else a 5 piece panacea and acc IO.

Looking for some critique and any suggested improvements that can be made for this dark/psi build. I was initially going to go for permadom without relying on Hasten, but didn't quite like some of the sacrifices to get there. Theoretically, this build would get permadom without Hasten just by changing Psychic Shockwave to a 5 set Armageddon slotting, but I feel like more slow resist with Avalanche would be a better investment. The goal for the build is to be all around useful for anything between dealing with mob spawns or clearing AVs. Mostly designed for lvl 50 content, but Drain Psyche should take care of any endurance issues when exemplaring down. I'm not fully decided on the epic, but I did like the max HP from Hoarfrost and the usefulness of Sleet for -res. Any input would be appreciated. Dominator (Darkness Control - Psionic Assault)4.mbd

I guess my point, which I should've stated more clearly from the beginning of the topic, is that I tend to team more than play solo. I can see how playing solo, you'd get good usage out of TS against leftover bosses. On a team, I can open with LR and SC, but teammates are also opening their AoE attacks and bosses don't quite have the high amounts of HP left at times to justify using TS. This does depend on the make up of the team as not all PUG teams have great dmg to completely negate TS as a useful power.

Do you still find it to be that good in practical applications when you're on a team and fighting mobs? That higher dpa only factors in in ideal circumstances when you can guarantee that you're hitting TS with hide status/proc and that the target is still even alive by the time it hits, something that a pylon clear time test allows. Pylons are a single target dmg test, you can literally skip LR and SC if you're prioritizing pylon clear speeds. You also didn't use LR in that video for the test whereas fighting through general TF/mission content, I like to use LR any time I can against mobs. Maybe if every single mob you engage has an AV or GM where you can take advantage of the crit dmg from TS and the target staying alive to get that dmg by the time it hits, then it would win in dpa under those ideal circumstances. I'm looking more so from a practical content use. You don't lose much against AV fights using JL over TS. Additionally, the time it takes for the target to die matters, especially with an activation as long as TS. Another factor is how much HP the target has left when the hit happens. You can have amazing dmg from TS while hidden, but it doesn't mean much if by the time you hit, a boss has a sliver of life left and you would've still ended that boss using JL and getting a crit from hide. To be clear, this isn't to knock your comment about TS dpa and it's usefulness, I'm just trying to point out that teaming and doing missions/TFs isn't the same as fighting a pylon. Even the splash dmg will only factor in if there are enemies close by to your target, something that isn't guaranteed as minions and lieutenants die quickly, mobs can be immobilized by a controller/dom, and they can be knocked down and prevented from grouping up, particularly when you open with LR and SC. I would personally love for TS to be the better power pick as I dislike the visual look of JL animation, but there have been to many instances where I either may as well have not used TS at all or could've finished the target with JL.

Any armor set that helps with endurance would be a good pairing as stone melee tends to be endurance heavy. Bio and ice would both help, shield not so much.

As someone that likes to play in melee range, I'll play just about everything in melee even if I don't need to. I found elec/energy sentinel to be extremely fun for me. I play it more like a brute/tank by going in for the massive end drain from Short Circuit/Energy Drain and then blast away without having to worry about getting hit because most of the mob is not only drained, but also has high -rec debuffs applied preventing them from getting any endurance back to attack. Sentinels truly are one of the best sapping ATs in the game imo, and it makes them extremely good playing in melee to make use of their sapping ability. Thunderous Blast may be ranged AoE nuke, but it's just as effective, if not more, when launched from melee range (and to be clear it's more effective because I've likely completely end sapped the mob if I'm in melee when I'm firing it off and can get bonus damage from hitting end drained enemies). Granted, I also built my sentinel to be soft capped to most damage types and have high resist through set bonuses so being up close and in the fight wouldn't cause me to die, or even be concerned about dying. The nice thing is that there are many ways to play to game, you can easily play Sentinels completely at range. You can even split the ATO set that provides an early range boost bonus so that the range on most of your attacks is more similar to that of a blaster/corruptor/defender.

SS is actually one of the best candidates to procbomb because of rage. The +dmg and +tohit buffs from rage essentially negate the need to slot for damage and accuracy, this is further helped by musculature alpha which helps with dmg enhancement. The trick is getting a good amount of global recharge when you're missing out on recharge from set bonuses because you're putting in 5+ dmg procs in your attacks. Force feedback chance for +rech is a good way to do so, and as it so happens, a lot of SS powers and even Shield Charge can take that proc. One thing to consider before going with ss/shield is that shield is very much reliant on defense as the primary dmg mitigation, followed by resists and just being able to kill faster thanks to AAO dmg buff and shield charge. It has no inherent heal or regen buffs. If I were to do this combination, I'd probably pick a tank as they have higher base defense values from their toggles and it is possible to build up to 65% positional defenses so that even with the -20% from rage crash, you're still at soft cap. Endurance will also be an issue for the combination, though this is relatively easy to fix for lvl 50 content by making Ageless core destiny (which you would want for the recharge help that wouldn't negatively impact proc chances). If you plan to exemplar down for lower lvl TFs and such, I would plan accordingly as you won't be able to rely on incarnates. Also as an FYI, using alpha incarnates like Spiritual that boost recharge count as if you're slotting a recharge enhancement into the power and will lower proc chances of going off. Global recharge from Hasten, set bonuses/lotg +rech/FF +rech, and Ageless destiny incarnate will not. Another excellent proc bomb combination is radiation armor (has 2 nukes you can fill with procs) and even bio armor. You'll still feel the impact of the def loss even on a resist focused set like rad armor, but having the near 90% resist cap to most dmg types (again, easier on a tank) makes it sting a lot less than on a hybrid set like shield. I would personally go with a tank first if you plan on proc bombing for 2 main reasons: Easier to survive (higher values on armors and higher base HP) Tanks have increased AoE radius for many powers, making it easier to hit all enemies in mobs (this buff didn't affect some powers like Foot Stomp, but it had a high base radius so wasn't really needed) It may seem counter intuitive to build a tank for damage, but at high content and/or once you're IO'd, the main job of a tank is to take the alpha strike dmg and maintain agro of enemies (easily done by gauntlet inherent and taking taunt). In some ways, quickly nuking mobs so fewer things can attack and kill you can also be considered as building towards survival through offense, something about a saying that the best defense is a good offense? 😄 Personally, rad/ss is my favorite pairing for procbombing, but I would also pick ss/bio before I would go to shield.

I did not factor splash damage in as that is very variable. I was only looking at the damage done to a single target. Even from the brief 2 days where I ran the stalker with TS, it was rare that splash damage would ever factor in. Mobs were often already down after LR + SC, or else would be immobilized from a troller/dom and wouldn't group up for the splash damage to be a big factor from Thunder Strike. I think that at lower levels, if you exemplar often, you might feel more use out of the splash damage as most ATs are missing their big hitting AoEs, but at lvl 50 I was mainly only getting the ST damage (and that's assuming the target didn't die before it hit). If anything, the knockdown from LR + SC actually makes it harder for any remaining enemies to group up together.

Nice, I really appreciate the number crunch. I ran a quick DPA comparison yesterday between CB and TS before respecing out of TS and saw that CB's DPA pulled way ahead of TS, but I didn't compare it to HP or JL. I'll also change up AS to run the 3 ATOs, 2 damage procs and probably replace the 3rd with the +5 dam Hecatomb as that should offer more damage consistency and give another small recovery bonus. I'll change the interface to degen as well. I've gotten used to running reactive on nearly everything, but you are right in that some of the benefit would be lost if -res isn't applied by the first nuke and that's not counting overstacking of reactive from other players. This will hopefully be the final version that I respec into now.