Omega-202

And if you feel like you want to rebuild your character, remember that you get a free respec every 10 levels. So if you decide that you don't need both Fire Blast and Flares after having both for a while, you can always repick your powers and drop one of them later.

A lot of this is incorrect. 1) Most Scrapper primary sets have Build up. A few outliers like Claws, Kinetic Melee and Dark Melee don't. 2) In concept, Stalkers can use Assassin's Strike from stealth, but after the Stalker revamps in i22, most Stalkers don't and instead open with a different move because AS is too slow in a team environment. Also, most higher level Stalkers do not take or use Placate. Overall, the end effect is that Stalkers and Scrappers don't play THAT differently. Stalkers just get more control over their crits. 3) You completely left out the Assassin's Focus mechanic. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Stalker

It's pretty nasty if you squeeze it in. The 1-2 punch of Zapp>Shackles can drop running Lts or damaged bosses like a sack of twitching potatoes. I'll post my Stalk-tinel Elec/Inv/Mu build later, which is a "not quite optimal" concept character that has all 4 Mu ranged attacks, but still tears it up in melee and at range. Just realized I never shared it on the forums. EDIT: Build here Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Stalk-tinel: Level 50 Science Stalker Primary Power Set: Electrical Melee Secondary Power Set: Invulnerability Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Leaping Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Charged Brawl -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 1: Hide -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(5), Ksm-ToHit+(7) Level 2: Resist Physical Damage -- ImpArm-ResPsi(A) Level 4: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A) Level 6: Assassin's Shock -- SprStlGl-Rchg/Hide%(A), SprStlGl-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg(13), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprStlGl-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprStlGl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 8: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 10: Dull Pain -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal(17), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(17), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(19), Prv-Heal/Rchg(19), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(21) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21) Level 14: Temp Invulnerability -- UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23) Level 16: Unyielding -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Ags-Psi/Status(25), Ags-ResDam(25), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(27), GldArm-3defTpProc(27) Level 18: Chain Induction -- SprAssMar-Rchg/Rchg Build Up(A), SprAssMar-Acc/Dmg(29), SprAssMar-Dmg/Rchg(29), SprAssMar-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), SprAssMar-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprAssMar-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 20: Environmental Resistance -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(46) Level 22: Tough -- ImpArm-ResPsi(A) Level 24: Mystic Flight -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 26: Thunder Strike -- Obl-%Dam(A), Obl-Dmg(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), ScrDrv-Dam%(34) Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(34) Level 30: Reinforced -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(36), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(36), ShlWal-Def(36), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37) Level 32: Lightning Rod -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg(37), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(37), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Acc/Rchg(39), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(39) Level 35: Tough Hide -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 38: Mu Bolts -- SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(40), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42) Level 41: Zapp -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Acc/Rchg(43), Apc-Dam%(43), StnoftheM-Dam%(43) Level 44: Ball Lightning -- Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Knock%(45), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Ann-ResDeb%(45), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 47: Electric Shackles -- GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(A), NrnSht-Dam%(48), UnbCns-Dam%(48), Dvs-Hold%(48), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Dvs-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 49: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Assassination 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: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(7), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(9) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(9), EndMod-I(11) Level 50: Barrier Core Epiphany Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Assault Radial Embodiment Level 50: Banished Pantheon Radial Superior Ally Level 1: Quick Form Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion ------------

The character creation bars are completely useless. Do not ever rely on those for accurate information. Regarding the comparison with Blasters, feel free to check a number of threads in the Sentinel boards on the topic. I disagree that their primary should equal a Blaster's, but it definitely needs to be closer. If you're looking for a ranged character that does great damage and has armor, check out Arachnos Soldiers and Widows. A Crab or Fortunata can put out damage in the same ballpark as a Blaster (still a bit lower) but with mez protection and ver good defenses. Edit: For comparison here are the real damage scalars: - Defenders - 0.65 - Sentinels - 0.95 - Crabs and Forts - 1.0 - Blasters - 1.125

The development team has said that they are revisiting Sentinels in the near future. They are due for a buff and a revamp to their inherent powers. The reason that they are underpowered in practice is because they were originally created with the idea that Opportunity would be used optimally and as often as possible. On paper, when used perfectly, Sentinels can match Scrapper damage. But that assumes perfect usage of Opportunity. By comparison, Scrappers hit optimal damage with way less effort. The end result is Sentinels don't do nearly enough damage because Opportunity is awkward to take advantage of and the -20% resist on the main target is usually wasted outside of AV fights because the target dies so fast.

Option A) : Pop more purples and kite harder Option B) : Don't kite or tank at all and instead just have everyone circle the towers together, pop a bunch of Destinies (Barriers and Rebirths) and just burn the towers as fast as possible. I often find that Option B works really well when there's no "tank" up to the task, but you have multiple defensive Destinies available. Two Barriers and a Rebirth+Regen are almost always enough to keep a team up through the Red damage tower at the very least, and after that, his KB and damage are neutered. If someone gets unlucky and dies through 75% resist, 400% regen and 150% defense, then use them as Vengeance fodder and rez them when things thin out a bit (or let them burn their Return to Battle P2W). The "Tank and Kite" method seems like a holdover from the pre-Incarnate days. Now that we're all gods, it's not the only option.

@beradical awesome analysis. ...Now if I was a jerk, I'd throw a wrench in and mention how much damage a procced out Electric Shackles can do, while also being a solid hold... Edit: Also regarding BL or TS out of Hide, I find the best option is to react to the situation. If you LR into the mob (ideally targetting the most central boss) and notice you have an Lt or two close by, hit TS. If you LR in and get lucky on procs and see that you wiped out everything close to the boss, hit BL for the wider coverage. Then, usually I'd just use the other of the two because either I used BL and the Lts are closing in, or I used TS and might as well hit BL to mop up. Then its usually AS>CI>Zapp on the targetted boss.

I get it, but at the same time, it's a lot like any other uncomfortable situations. It starts by forcing yourself to leave your comfort zone, doing the best you can with it, and then repeating the process until its no longer uncomfortable. For some people the "activation energy" of getting over the hump is higher than others, but for most people, I do not think it is insurmountable. Your first time talking in front of a crowd is harrowing, but by your 10th time it gets easier and by your 30th time, you'll still be nervous but much less than the first time. Try getting a career in a research science and see how quickly many public speaking-phobes get pushed into the deep end of the pool and learn to swim by forced repetition. On the other hand, this game is meant to be a leisurely pasttime, so if leading (or even joining) a team is not enjoyable, then don't do it. There's no reason to make your play experience unenjoyable.

Awesome. 2 additional points/answers to your questions: 1) Hide status isn't granting you much extra defense to most things. Hide grants 5.5% defense base while hidden and 1.875% base while unhidden. You only lose 3.5% base which is not what I'd call "massive" 2) The thread I linked has numbers for you to check outside the game. Bopper (praised be his name) has put together spreadsheets with all of the damage numbers. In short, TS does 1.96 scale damage to your target and 0.96 scale in a 7 ft radius, with 3.3 s animation and an 18 s recharge; Spring attack does 1.5 scale damage to your main target and 0.5 damage in a 5 foot radius, with a 1.5 s animation and 120 s recharge. On paper, I'd say TS is more useful, especially since it can also crit, while SA can't.

No offense, but that logic doesn't add up and I think you might be confused on how that all works. The whole point of the "doesn't break Hide" is so that the follow up attack can crit. However, just because the tele-nukes don't break Hide, that doesn't mean you don't draw aggro from using them. And if you get hit by the return volley, that does break Hide, and ruins your crit. That's why its best to do Build up>Lightning Rod>Ball Lightning>other AoEs. If you wait and try to sneak in LR>SC>SA and then BL, odds are you're going to get chipped by the return strike and lose your Hide status before you use BL. In simpler terms, which scenario is better: LR>BL(crit)>SC>SA, vs LR>SC>SA>BL(hopefully crit if you haven't been hit already) None of LR, SC or SA can crit either way, so it doesn't matter where in the chain you use them. Let me know of you need a more in depth explanation.

Part of the problem with the combos is that Placate is part of the Empower combo, and generally, Placate is no longer a good power after the Stalker revamps. Now that you can land crit AS outside of Hide and the ATO lets you rehide off of the proc, Placate is a dud.

Awesome info! Also, good god, I forgot how crappy SA is. ~1.5 scalar to one target and ~0.5 in a 5 m radius, on a 120 recharge, but using the psuedopet proc calculation, so you can't even manipulate the upside of it? ....ewww

Banes get 2 Disruptors, 1 PPP pet and the Lore pets. Crabs are the ones that get 6 (2 Disruptors, 1 PPP, 3 Spiderlings + Lore). Still though, the Disruptors can be really nasty and if you're building in enough recharge for perma Disruptors, they have the same duration and recharge as the PPP pets, so you might as well take that too. You're not wrong in that Soldiers make good MMs, minus the commands. I'm still looking for the old live thread where someone did the damage comparison and showed that a Crab's 6 beat a Merc MM's 6 pet DPS. Yes Merc is the worst MM set, but still.

Finally got a chance to take a look at this and it is an amazing resource. Great job as always. On thing that looks to be missing/maybe an error is that Spring Attack doesn't have damage listed under either the power or the psuedo pet down below. It should probably be in the psuedo pet's line, like Shield Charge and Lightning Rod, but it seems to be missing.

I had the same debate myself, thinking "Do I need Thunderstrike when I have Ball Lightning?" and I tried a rebuild without TS. In truth, you don't necessarily need TS. BL is a more flexible AoE, crits from Hide at 50%, is a great followup after procing Hide from the ATO and all that jazz. BL was better than TS at all of those things. But the issue for me was that after burning my LR and popping BL, I just had a hole in my followup where TS would fit great, but I had specced out. LR and BL would drop all of the minions, but then I'd have a boss and a few Lts closing in and no TS to hit them with. So I specced back into it and haven't looked back. Yes, its a small AoE, but with practice, you can hit 3-4 targets once you know how to position yourself. CJ helps a lot as you can do a little hop over to the other side of your target if needed, or hop back slightly to kite the stragglers together a bit to line them up. It takes some practice, but I was once in your shoes and hated TS. Now I'd bever drop it again. Edit: Although, with Spring Attack in there too, maybe you wouldn't miss TS as much. Not sure, haven't played with SA much. DOUBLE EDIT: Drop Spring Attack, unless you really like it for the cool factor. It does less damage than Thunderstrike in a smaller area with 5 times the recharge. See below: Regarding your Zapp slotting, may I recommend proccing it out instead of using the Winter set. I have mine with 5 Apocalypse (no Dam/Rech) + Manticore proc. Also, no need to 3 slot Hasten. 2 lvl50 Rech IOs at +5 give you 95% recharge on the power. The third slot is just bashing up against the ED wall hard.

Looks like a pretty decent setup for a Mace themed build, but I would definitely make room for the Disruptors and Blaster bots. Do you find Web Cocoon useful? When I was last tinkering with a Mace Bane build, I tried to make it useful, proccing it out, but in the end it just felt like a gimped blast where I would do better taking a different Mace attack. Also, I'd be hesitant to skip Shatter Armor. It's got better DPA than everything but Pulverize, is a good proc location (30 base recharge, perma hasten levels of global recharge, with a bit on top can get you 7.5s recharge with 90% proc damage chance) and gives -Res. It would be your best single target attack if you proc it out.

No, it's my fault. I shouldn't ever lead a team unless I'm playing a tank with the medicine pool, TP friend, leadership and double taunt. And I need to make sure I give everyone a compliment at every mission completion, and scold anyone who is not following my lead so closely that they're giving me a rectal exam with their nose. Otherwise I am doomed to be friendless and double secret global ignored by the whole server! It's going to be really tough for me to run 4 full team weekly TFs tonight, like I do literally every Wednesday...

To me, forming your own team is lower stress than joining someone else's. If you have the star, you dictate the difficulty, the content and the pace. It's even lower stress if you play a well rounded character that could hypothetically solo the content you're playing on your own. If I'm leading a mission team and my character could handle it solo at +4/8, then there's no worrying about people playing their roles. If I'm leading a Lady Grey, I'm bringing my own holds. If I'm leading a speed run TF, I'm running something with full stealth that can solo a boss room no problem. I understand social anxiety, etc., but once you're used to assembling teams and running content, especially TFs where you know them from memory, its so much more enjoyable.

Don't bother using what drops or sorting through it. Dump the drops on the market/a vendor and buy the things you commonly use for the temp powers in stacks from the market. It takes longer to sort your drops than it does to just sell everything and rebuy what you need.

This entire forum has devolved into "holier than thou" stuff like that. YOU have to play a specific way, but god help you if you criticize their build or correct anyone on how the game actually works.

Yes please and thank you.

Look back throught the thread. I posted the patch note log for the entirety of the live game. The simple fact is that the OP is delusional.

Or, this whole thread is asking to fix something that doesn't need fixing. Illusion is fine as is. It may not do a ton of damage at lower levels, but its a Controller primary. It really shouldn't do a lot at lower levels. At endgame, its a powerhouse set. Some of the fastest Pylon times out there are Ill/Storm. The set is fine as is and I don't understand how any of you thibk there's anything that needs changing.

No. Why would you ask for a straight up nerf to the power?

They're meant to be a "control" power, taking the spot of an AoE stun in the Illusion set. They're designed purpose is to be spawned into a mob to take the alpha and hold aggro without taking damage. They fill that design perfectly and I feel like anyone asking for a change to their duration or recharge isn't looking at it from the proper perspective. They're not damage pets, although they do great damage. They're a psuedo control. Honestly, they should be left exactly as is.