tidge
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Posts posted by tidge
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Many good points were in the responses, but the walls of text make it hard for me to quote out what I think are the key points:
1) Enhancement sets (with multiple attributes per enhancement) help to reach and/or avoid the point at which Enhancement Diversification would make using non-set pieces a losing game... at least in terms of slot investment. Fewer slots to get similar goals means that there are more slots to go around.
2) Set bonuses *do* add up. Mileage varies on which bonuses to pursue.
For example: I typically find that for non-Tanker/Brute (i.e. low HP) characters, chasing Regeneration doesn't make much sense. In contrast: +MaxHP almost always makes sense. Most characters can benefit from more Recovery, Global Endurance Discounts, and MaxEnd.
Getting global Accuracy bonuses means that when facing those +4 enemies that also happen to debuff you, you aren't near the floor of ToHit chances.
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At low levels, I don't find much of a reason to slot, or activate resistance powers. The percentages simply aren't there to make a difference. I suppose we can quibble about their value above level 15 or so (since the DFB boosts can last beyond that point), but at 10+ there are IO options to boost defense and resistance.
I can believe someone could try to make a sincere case for a DfB/DiB resistance boost... but I think it would be such small potatoes considering the larger picture of
- The levels/time duration at which the boosts stop
- What else is a player doing if they have also planned to run DfB and/or DiB many multiple times?
For players with other characters: selling a single level 50 recipe to a vendor is enough to get a level 1 or 2 rather significant 8-hour boosts from the P2W/START, plus some utility powers.
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Rando comments:
Takeoff is pretty great as part of the Force of Will set's Mighty Leap. It's fine as a joke-y sort of combat move, and it jives well with the Leaping. I almost always get to where I want to be PDQ.
My one complaint about Afterburner is the longish down-time. I rarely get to where I want to be with it toggled on, even with Evasive Manuevers. Look elsewhere for my bad feels about the 4 (+1) toggles in the Flight Pool.
I agree that Double Jump is kind of clunky. It's used exclusively when my Jump isn't quite getting me to where I want to be (or a suitable landing spot is not close by)... so I sort of see the point of the OP. Super Jump was my favorite travel power on Live, so I'm pretty satisfied with the relatively quick Mighty Leap (from Force of Will).
My general suggestion when it comes to Legacy Day 0 power pools (so not just the Travels, but also Presence, Medicine) is this: Like the Fighting pool, there probably should be some inherent boosting of most of the power choices for taking more than one power in the pool. Folks can look elsewhere for my suggestions for Presence and Medicine, but for travel pools I think the most obvious things would be something like boosts to speed/range to the dedicated travel power.
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22 hours ago, Crimsanotic said:
Personally, I think energy aura is amazing.
Fighting is definitely good on EA: more S/L resist and weave offers more defense than maneuvers. Energy cloak also happens to give the same amount of defense as weave. I think 2 slotting LotG is kind of pointless. I would personally use a +3 cyto (or any other variant) as the additional defense (and end reduction) is more valuable than the paltry regeneration set bonus.
I agree with 2-slots of LotG being a generally inferior choice, but I went with it because the build does take damage, so the little bit more Regeneration (even though it is paltry, and sort of past the point of diminishing returns) was an easy lean (because of the Global Recharge slotting). I simply didn't feel like putting Cyto's in this build. Endurance isn't much of an issue with well-used Energy Drain.
I don't have tons of fun in Incarnate content (the Live experience really soured it for me) so I'm generally playing 1-50 content, mostly below 40. It's a common theme with my builds that I
- Don't consider Incarnates
- I want a reasonably complete character suitable for all lower-level content
- I typically consider late power choices for mules and don't consider them as "requirement" powers to make my builds awesome sauce.
One of the things I like best about Energy Aura is that it is a very non-intrusive (graphically, except for idling with Energy Cloak) armor set... so it allows costumes to be shown off.
Re: The Fighting pool and Rune of Protection... much like Hasten, I have come to actively look for ways to avoid making these choices. I'm motivated mostly by being iconoclastic, partially because I don't like giving up flavorful power choices for (generally) passive powers that don't directly affect enemies, and partially because I don't appreciate the (in my view) restrictive build choices I'm left with after pursuing two of those three common choices. I don't mind playing with my characters on the edge of knife. I do still make builds with those powers, but when I choose them it is typically either for theme or to cover an obvious gap and less to make the character moar betta. Not all my characters have to stand toe-to-toe solo against Lord Recluse!
Don't get hung up on Maneuvers, as I wrote above, it's a mule and Infiltration can be used instead to be able to swap in a Winter's Gift slow resistance instead.
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11 hours ago, kelika2 said:
its not about popularity
resist based sets dont get anything
regen types are.. regen types
and support stuff like buffs and debuffs dont benefit at all. a radi def would get more -tohit with the new proposed rewards
Hey... somebody dropped this list of stuff that does next-to-nothing at levels below 10. Imma leave it at the lost-and-found.
Less sarcastically: The Recovery Enhancer is going to do more for the sorts of things on that list used by players at low levels than a +15% would.
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There is no need to add merits to DFB. New players can hop around the starting zone to collect 5 merits.
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1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:
Unfortunately, there's little reason for a Sent to be in melee depending on the powersets involved.
El riesgo siempre vive.
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56 minutes ago, Without_Pause said:
I looked at my EA Sent build, and my Ranged Def is in the 20s. That's going to be a hell of an ask to get that to 45%. Can it be done? Sure, but I would wonder what other sacrifices would need to be made to get Positional Def to work on a Typed Def based set. I can get Positional Def capped on an SR and use the T9 as nothing more than a mule if needed be.
On Energy Aura, I always skip worrying about Positional defenses.. whatever "OH $#!+" defense boosts usually cover everything.
I also wouldn't build a Sentinel to be a "Hover Blaster", that seems like such (way) old school thinking. I think of Sentinels as Scrappers that happen to have ranged attacks, MMV.
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11 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:
This proc In savage leap may also be an error, since I don't think it takes kb sets.
Ah yes, that is a Scirocco's Dervish %Lethal.
Normally I don't recommend going %damage heavy on Scrappers' primaries... but I wasn't thrilled about Savage's damage being so much damage-over-time. The %procs are to 'front load' damage. The pool cone attack Wall of Force is low damage anyway, so that was always going to get %damage for melee. Even though I almost never use Project Will as an attack (despite the slot investment in it) I think that Wall of Force should be the power that is reconsidered, either for alternate slot choices (set bonuses) or as a different power pick (like Hemorrhage, for ATOs).
One of the reasons I think this combination might be better on a Brute is because IIRC Fury boosts the damage-over-time, whereas the Scrapper's CRITICAL is only on the initial hit. My initial Brute thoughts are to drop Wall of Force for Taunt (6x Mocking Beratement). The odd thing (for me anyway) is that the Brute ATOs are kinda meh, IMO... but I'd want to try to boost MaxHP as much as possible, so two 3x Brute's Fury is on the table... but that set has the 5x global recharge bonus. On the negative side, I don't think Energy Aura is a great pick for a Brute, but that is because I don't see a way to easily leverage it to quasi-passively boost +MaxHP.
During leveling, I was boosting Range on Savage Leap, and I rather liked this! With a different choice of secondary (where perhaps fewer picks are necessary) I'd 100% add Combat Teleport to the build as well.
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My Build has some serious issues solo against +1x8 Talons of Vengeance, so maybe the Fighting pool is a good idea! It doesn't quite have enough defense (minus Incarnates) for them in Dark Astoria.
I feel you on slow resists. I may swap out the last LotG for Infiltration to add the 20% unique... but this build has that weird Entropic Aura effect. I can see the timers jumping around!
I often use only a 50+5 Accuracy on heavy %proc attacks. The extra range on the cone is me spoiling myself on this melee character. Same on Weaken Resolve, an Accuracy is generally all that is needed, but I had some Lyso's just sitting around.
I like your comment on Unleash Potential: I either use it to 6-slot a Defense or Healing set, but I have one character that needed neither of my preferred set bonuses (for that power) so I completely franken-slotted it with Shield Walls, D-Sync Reconstruction, a LotG, and a Preventive Medicine Global.
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Of course, Terrify is also a level 22 pick with a lower base accuracy than the level 8 Seeds of Confusion.
I can sort of see what the Live Devs were trying for with Plant Control(*1), as a set... yet it doesn't mean I'm still not shocked that a single power (Seeds) it is superior (effectively, IMO) to both the level 8 Confuse (more targets, same base duration, albeit with lower base accuracy and a higher endurance cost) and the level 26 Mass Confusion. Don't forget that prior to I27p5, the T9 power picks came even later for everybody (level 32 on primaries).
(*1) and I'm not ignoring this was a subscribe-or-buy power set. As noted by @Psyonico, Seeds is 100% mitigation, and also a means of delivering damage (when multiple targets are hit) to clear spawns faster.
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I think it is unlikely that Seeds of Confusion would ever be modified in any meaningful way. It was a solid reason to "buy" Plant Control on live, and I just don't know that anyone can make a cogent argument for actually hitting it with a nerf bat. The set has maintained its status as one of the strongest for so long... I think it is only by looking at the other Control powers and trying to decide if they still make sense (AoE range/radius, accuracy, endurance cost, recharge time, magnitude, duration, etc.) given the context of the entire game.
I don't mean to invoke a discussion of "What is the role of a Controller in ____ content?", but it is hard to look out the (now, long existing) current state of something like AoE damaging powers (the "nukes", which wouldn't be nerfed, I'm sure) and not wonder why the base attributes of the high-tier control powers were not re-examined.
As I wrote above, I'm sensitive about giving the AoE controls inherently shorter recharge times... even if I can absolutely see the appeal to that potential solution. And I think I could argue for it, but I'd rather someone else think through a more rapid-firing AoE control's effect on game balance! I'd prefer to avoid having a powers dev try to spreadsheet a reduction in control durations just because the base recharge changed (which AFAIK something similar goes into 'balance passes' of attacks). I suggest base Accuracy as a quick fix (a benefit with no added drawback) because I think it is easier to see from a "game balance without IOs" perspective that:
- A level 8 power that needs minimal accuracy slotting, when first available, is compared with
- A similar level 26 that needs accuracy slotting (and recharge, at least to approach the utility of Seeds)
The point I'm trying to make is that a low level 8 character using Seeds of Confusion doesn't have to make any slot investments in it (at least not right away), whereas a fresh level 26 with Mass Confusion is going to need at least two slots to approach getting a similar utility as an unenhanced Seeds of Confusion. Eventually the slots start becoming available, but between 8 and 26+ there is a LOT of game content. I also kinda think that "base accuracy" is enough of a 'hidden' stat that improving it on a marquee power would be palatable.
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11 minutes ago, Maelwys said:
Spore Cloud however... that's an anchored AoE. No reason not to have it always up unless you're fighting total trash.
I came to the thread to post exactly this. Spore Cloud is one of the better debuffs IMO. To re-emphasize the 'fighting trash' comment: if the enemies are already having trouble hitting the team, unless there are some big bags of HP involved I probably won't use it that much.
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A few days after the end of ToT and the market price is around 1.3M per aether.
This is me trying to guesstimate demand: When I see players using an obviously non-temp costume, it is pretty much always mini-mode. I suppose some players can be using effects that I don't notice. I know a handful of players that run certain characters always using a specific costume. On my one character that I specifically wanted to have mini-mode, I ended up not liking the way the collision box worked... I think the mechanic is fine, it was simply too disorienting for me.
With the name release, I expect a slight uptick in characters that use costume toggles, but I expect (in my imagination) most of those would be Tier 1 costumes.
On 10/25/2024 at 9:42 PM, Ukase said:Not sure about other servers and how often they do Labyrinth. Probably the same, or less, but who knows. After ToT, these activities might increase. I certainly don't see the supply increasing after ToT ends, unless it's from hoarders dropping their inventory.
I see regular Labyrinth runs on another (less populated) server. As near as I can tell based only on participants, it is a sort of farming exercise for players' characters that would otherwise be 99% engaged with things like ToT/April Fools leagues, periodic Giant Monster Hunts and the like. It seems as if it is mostly something to do while waiting for one of the multiple daily Hamidon raids. No judgement, and no way to tell what if anything makes it to the market from any of those.
I'm still hoarding my Aethers... mostly because I wanted to see how long it would take me to earn over 1500. I'd sold some along the way, burned a few more but otherwise they feel like a nest egg that will never be hatched.
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19 hours ago, Rudra said:
TAoE confuse:
Mass Domination - 240 second recharge
No other TAoE confuses that I saw, just Seeds of Confusion's cone.
Do we all still agree that Seeds of Confusion is the elephant in the room?
Setting aside the level at which Seeds of Confusion can be taken (it isn't a T9!), differences in cast/arcana time, Endurance cost, etc. the base accuracy of 1.0 compared to Mass Confusion's 0.8 really sticks out like a sore (green) thumb. Even Terrify doesn't get a 1.0 base accuracy!
16 hours ago, Trickshooter said:Mass Confusion isn't a bad power; it's still very potent as crowd control. But it's a tier 9 power designed for Issue 0 and it shows.
+1.
I'll repeat/clarify: I'm mostly ok with the balance among the higher-tier AoE controls (when only looking at the higher-tier controls), but as soon as I look at Seeds of Confusion, or the recharge times, base accuracies and (potential) secondary effects of t9 nukes (plus damage, natch), I kinda wonder why the higher tier controls still have such mediocre values.
16 hours ago, Psyonico said:I agree that Mass Confusion could use to be looked at, bare minimum, the accuracy needs to be upped to 1, but it could use a recharge reduction as well, even 180 would be better than the 240 it is now.
With T9 nukes having base accuracies above 1.0, I see no reason to keep the slower-recharging T9 controls to have accuracies below 1.0. I'm not an automatic advocate for reducing recharge times, only because it's hard to know what the effect would be (blah blah game balance). It's clear that the game has an underlying philosophy that all enemies (PvE certainly) in a spawn shouldn't be 100% controlled 100% of the time (using IOs).
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I found Energy Aura to be surprisingly good on Sentinels, but I don't think of it as "easy mode". Bio on a Sentinel looks to be somewhat set-and-forget (compared to other ATs) but I think it probably has more clicks (plus adaptation) than I'd recommend for a no-brainer armor.
I think Super Reflexes, Willpower and Invulnerability are good choices for (mostly) set-and-forget. Super Reflexes has a click that I'd probably eventually put on auto (working on an early level SR Sentinel now), Willpower will need some thinking about slotting of the toggles. Invulnerability's Dull Pain is probably a power that wouldn't necessarily need to be used all that often. I'd still take it, and probably eventually 6-slot it.
FWIW, My #1 Sentinel is (with accolades) is one of the few characters I have that passively sits at the maximum health for its AT. That's the Energy Aura with the (auto) Power Armor.
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I *think* what the request should be (for maximum chance of being implemented) is:
- The "below the knee" of Monstrous Legs should be experimented with as "Boots", since Boots can exist with skirts/shorts, and
- The "Bottom" texture of Skirt/Shorts needs to exist to match whatever ends up as "Boots"
The obvious problem is that the current Monstrous Legs have 'Feet' connect at an angle different from how 'Boots' connect to the upper legs.
EDIT: I recognize that this would not like NOT give the "tippie toes" leg art, but it would probably allow more variety than simply adding one or two skirts/shorts to Monstrous Legs.
In the meantime, the only option I've found to have something like a skirt for Monstrous legs is via the various 'Belt' choices on the 'Upper Body'.
In a similar vein, I find it annoying that 'Monstrous Fur' isn't more available with 'classic tops'; I've had to use 'Chest Details' on top of Monstrous Fur... often I can get a look that kinda works (for me), but the choices always feel weirdly limited.
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14 hours ago, lemming said:
I think what we should have is occasionally when you bop her for the badge, a tentacle/tail/gaping Maw comes out and your screen goes black, and you wake up in the hospital. (Maybe about the same percentage chance that getting the mini pet recipe drop)
But Moe, I've never observed Sally drop her mini-pet recipe!
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On 11/4/2024 at 9:15 AM, Ghost said:
1 DFB run with 2XP gets you to lvl6
Thats a commitment of 10 minutes for your most favorite toon in the whole world that you never play.
I had two (older) level 1 characters with names I was pretty much just sitting on, and after the name release policy I got two names I had wanted for specific concepts that I hadn't yet played. On a whim, I wanted to minimize any stress over potentially "losing" those names; I took each of these four through either blue or red play, with no XP boosts. Three of the four used only minimal P2W/START purchases (1-hour booster buffs, a travel, 3 prestige attacks). I played the tutorial and then did the starter arcs (Hasby, Kalinda and whatever came next). The longest it took me to get a character to level 6 was something like 50 minutes... that was a redside Stalker... but 50 minutes was about what it took for the others that didn't have Day Job/Patrol XP,
A fifth (new, level 1) character for a concept I am somewhat excited to try went through blue-side to level 7 in about 30 minutes, despite spending time to get the Isolator badge in Outbreak. That character did have 2XP, and I was also careful to pace myself and grab Patrol XP from the exploration badges (Atlas Park, Ouroborous, Echo Galaxy City) to maximize XP returns as needed. I only complete Hasby's arc, started the next one but got to level 7 by street sweeping in Echo Galaxy City.
TL;DR: go ahead and play that character a little.
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On 11/4/2024 at 3:13 PM, Spaghetti Betty said:
Not a Tank, but Regen is infamous for being nigh unkillable in a Fight Club scenario. Rad Armor and Bio are also up there, with Rad pulling slightly ahead.
I haven't PvPed with a Tanker since Live (pre-Incarnates), although I have PvPed against Tankers on Homecoming. These experiences are minimal; my Tanker held off an entire team (that I don't think was playing smartly), I slew opposing solo Tankers. My solo Tanker was Invulnerability, and it wasn't a ton of fun to play in Live PvP... but it didn't have anything like the enhancements we can have on Homecoming. There was occasional retreating because incoming fire from ranged attacks would eventually wear it down. On Homecoming, my Tanker slayer was a Stalker...Bio Armor was more than enough of an armor set to stand toe-to-toe with a couple of Tankers (one was Rad) and the damage was enough to get them to retreat (and/or defeat them if they had poor recharge on a key power). I don't know that Bio's tricks would be enough for a Tanker... it would almost certainly do better 1-on-1 against a melee opponent.
My instinct tells me that if a player wants to have a nigh-unkillable (in one-on-one, or maybe one-or-more-than-one) Tanker in PvP, an absolute must will have to be a reliable, fast-recharging self-heal and maximized health. Boosting Regeneration will certainly help (if HP are near max), but mostly because there will be no way to avoid taking damage. Defense values won't count for nothing, but those "(near) softcap" numbers shouldn't mean much against an opponent who has well-slotted their bread & butter attacks with sets. You will want that Scaling Resistance piece for sure!
You'll need "complete" resistance/protection to controls, including knockback. You'll need to have Endurance spending and Recovery under control, because if the wrong toggle drops it will likely be game-over.
From my limited PvP experience on Homecoming, its kinda dull to 1-on-1 with most any AT, because it is pretty much always possible to run away (if the players are prepared to have to do so). Ganging up on a solo player in a PvP zone has no appeal (to me) unless the solo player is explicitly trying to fight more-than-one at once.
The last thing I'd add, and this is just (hopefully informed) speculation: Any PvP Tanker should probably have a build specifically for PVP. The sorts of choices commonly made for PvE (franken-slotting for %damage, skipping/minimizing Taunt) are not going to well-serve a player in PvP. Extra attacks from Epic/Patron/Pool powers are highly unlikely to be valuable (beyond set bonuses from slotting). This is not so much advice to "boost everything", but make wiser choices of powers and slots that will benefit the PvP play.
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Ha! I was using a text form of another character, so thanks for that catch!
I've been building all my new characters in excel, so for a legible text I have to do it manually.
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On 8/2/2024 at 1:37 PM, LKN-351 said:
The name entry and chat entry definitely have different letter usage rules. You can use Kanji in chat but not in character names, and I know I used at least one other written language that has odd characters and it was the same situation.
I THINK I used Russian words in one of my character bios also.
I use Cyrillic in chat, I kinda wish I could also rename pets... but alas, the name entry won't take them.
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How did "someone" delete "someone else's" characters? I'm guessing that this wasn't the original player, but rather someone else with access to the original player's account?(*1) Ok, so maybe there is a huge calamity therein, but there is quite some time between Summer 2023 and November 2024... and I know this will come across as being insensitive... but by waiting until 04 November 2024 it really seems like the name wasn't that important. Even if they couldn't have gotten the character(s) to level 6 (takes me about an hour to solo, not using any XP extras), just logging into the character is enough.
Writing only for myself: I have some named characters I really like, but I can't quite get around to playing them/crafting a build plan for them... if I lose those names, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . A fraction of those I've at least logged in to buy the names a few more days. Some of them I've been motivated to play!
(*1) I'm still somewhat confused, because if the characters had been deleted, then the name(s) would have been available before the name release went into effect. There has to be both a complicated chain of events that leads to both the deletion and subsequent "name release" that I can't help but think of this
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This is the level 50 build. The power selection was identical for leveling up; I can explain how I was slotting during leveling but with some experience I think most folks can figure out what works for them. I don't MIDS, so it is text, which make for easier forum discussion IMO.
SpoilerLevel 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Savage Melee
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Force of Will
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery
Hero Profile:
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Level 1: Maiming Slash
(A) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5
(*) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage (Negative): Level 50
(*) Hecatomb - Damage: Level 50+5
Level 1: Kinetic Shield
(A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 30
(*) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All): Level 50
(*) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance: Level 50+5
(*) Shield Wall - Defense: Level 50+5
Level 2: Shred
(A) Armageddon - Damage: Level 50+5
(*) Armageddon – Chance of Damage (Fire): Level 50
(*) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5
Level 4: Mighty Leap
(A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
(*) Blessing of the Zephyr - Travel/Endurance Reduction
(*) Blessing of the Zephyr - Travel
Level 6: Damping Field
(A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
(*) Gladiator's Armor - Resistance: Level 50+5
(*) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All): Level 50
Level 8 : Vicious Slash
(A) Superior Critical Strikes - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
(*) Superior Critical Strikes - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Superior Critical Strikes – Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Superior Critical Strikes - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Superior Critical Strikes - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Superior Critical Strikes - Recharge/Critical Hit Proc Chance: Level 50
Level 10: Entropic Aura
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50+5
Level 12: Power Shield
(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(*) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
(*) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
Level 14: Project Will
(A) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50+5
(*) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage (Negative): Level 50
(*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance: Level 50+5
(*) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
Level 16: Energy Protection
(A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
(*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
(*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
(*) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Recharge
Level 18: Rending Fury
(A) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Endurance Reduction: Level 50+5
(*) Multi-Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Reduction: Level 50+5
(*) Fury of the Gladiator Chance of -Resistance
(*) Scirocco’s Dervish - Chance of Damage (Lethal)
(*) Eradication - Chance of Damage (Energy)
(*) Explosive Strike - Chance of Damage (Smashing)
Level 20: Blood Thirst
(A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
(*) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance of Build Up
Level 22: Wall of Force
(A) D-Sync Guidance (Accuracy/Range): Level 53
(*) D-Sync Guidance (Accuracy/Range): Level 53
(*) Explosive Strike - Chance of Damage (Smashing)
(*) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage (Energy)
(*) Bombardment - Chance of Damage (Fire)
(*) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage (Lethal)
Level 24: Energize
(A) Preventive Medicine - Heal
(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
(*) Preventive Medicine - Endurance/RechargeTime
(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
(*) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime/Endurance
(*) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
Level 26: Savage Leap
(A) Superior Scrapper’s Strike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
(*) Superior Scrapper’s Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
(*) Superior Scrapper’s Strike - Recharge/Critical Hit Bonus: Level 50
(*) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
(*) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
(*) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance for Lethal Damage
Level 28: Energy Cloak
(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
(*) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
Level 30: Energy Drain
(A) Hami-O Membrane (Defense/Recharge): Level 53
(*) Hami-O Membrane (Defense/Recharge): Level 53
Level 32: Unleash Potential
(A) Reactive Defenses – Defense
(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance
(*) Reactive Defenses - Endurance/Recharge
(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Recharge
(*) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
(*) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
Level 35: Focused Accuracy
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50+5
Level 38: Weaken Resolve
(A) Hami-O Lysosome Exposure (Accuracy, Defense Debuff, ToHit Debuff): Level 53
(*) Achilles’ Heel - Chance for -Resistance
Level 41: Physical Perfection
(A) Power Transfer - %Heal
Level 44: Combat Jumping
(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
Level 47: Overload
(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
Level 49: Maneuvers
(A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
Level 1: Brawl
(A) ???
Level 1: Sprint
(A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50+5
Level 2: Rest
(A) Interrupt Duration IO
Level 2: Swift
(A) Run Speed IO: Level 50+5
Level 2: Hurdle
(A) Jumping IO: Level 50+5
Level 2: Health
(A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
(*) Miracle - +Recovery
Level 2: Stamina
(A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
(*) Performance Shifter - EndMod
(*) Power Transfer - %Heal
I don't think there is much magical about this build; I'm posting it because for a couple of reasons:
- I wanted to see how satisfied I'd be using Savage Melee on a Scrapper
- I wanted to see how satisfied I'd be using a slightly off-brand Armor
Savage Melee is probably "better" (damage-wise) on both/either a Brute or Stalker... IIRC Fury improves the damage-over-time components of Savage Melee, and (from a quick glance, but no real study) I think it would be slightly easier to slot the Stalker's secondary, and the Stalker's ATO %procs would provide more damage than the Scrapper's Criticals (for the primary).
Energy Aura is probably not a top tier secondary, as it has some holes that need attention. A Brute's higher base HP would probably be better... I found that the various holes were most problematic until I could get more %healing and better global recharge values. Generally: The build is weakest in the 15 seconds when Energize is not providing more Regeneration.... I have Energize on Auto, so when facing tougher spawns I will sometimes wait before engaging them.
I skipped Hemorrhage. This build is slow(er) to defeat single hard targets without it, but
- I didn't need it for a decent attack chain,
- I generally prefer the large PBAoE from Rending Flurry (and I put a %-Res piece in that to sort of make up for using it against single targets),
- I didn't see a set bonus I really wanted from another single-target melee attack.
Some comments on Force of Will, since I took all five powers.
The slotting on Mighty Leap is mostly a Quality-of-Life choice with a smidge of typed defense boosts. Pulling two slots from this is possible, and I *think* the Energy Negative/Fire/Cold typed defenses are the same (or slightly better ~ +0.4) if one of those two slots is dedicated to a Defense IO 50+5 in Power Shield.
Wall of Force is IMO important for Melee characters like this. The %procs are pretty reliable, and compliments the damage-over-time... plus knockdown! It requires two earlier pool picks; the build above has
Project Will is chosen for the set bonuses, specifically Psi defense and global recharge. Winter's Bit offers some great 5 and 6 piece bonuses too, but I kinda hate the Psi (and Toxic) hole. I took this before Weaken Resolve, just to have a ranged attack at low levels... but as a practical matter for most (lower level) content, Weaken Resolve is more useful (in my experience)... especially since I can choose to use it and then get all my attacks in afterwards.
Unleash Potential is an emergency measure for effectively soft-capping most defenses, and a good home for the Reactive Defenses set. It is available every 3m45s or so.
I may revisit this primary/secondary combination with a Brute, mostly because I think leveraging the Brute's ATO pieces and inherently higher HP would be interesting. For both the Brute and Stalker I'd try to incorporate Taunt (or Placate), so there is another twist for me!
New to stalking
in Stalker
Posted
I haven't found a Stalker combination that I didn't like.
One thing about building Stalkers that stands out to me: I almost always see a single pick from and Epic/Patron pool at level 35 that can well-supplement whatever I'm wanting to do with the Stalker... but nothing is necessary to make the Stalker play well... as opposed to other ATs where an Epic pool is usually needed for a resistance/defense toggle. Even though there is the overlap between Scrappers/Stalkers at the Epic level, something always makes me think the Stalker has a light edge (in terms of how to leverage Epics/Patrons).