Without_Pause

Play at a lower level than your character currently is.

I vastly exempt down due to TFs. I don't really worry too much about how the build deals with it as I figure common IOs with a build having more slots than usual for that level range will be fine.

A complete code rewrite. The original devs said the code base was a mess, which is really something for the devs themselves to admit to. A complete rebuild from the ground up should make the code base vastly easier to deal with moving forward thus saving time and dev sanity. It would shore up just how poorly this game runs on Intel. I have zero issues in far more modern games. The game in caves and sewers can be a series of screenshots. I don't want to get a PC simply for CoH but some days...

1. End drain works best with more than one player doing it, and/or have -recovery(see Poison). End drain by itself via a single character is underwhelming. End drain on minions and LTs is fine. It's anything higher where issues start to arise. 2. Elec's damage is on the lower side. As Yomo mentions, any damage increase via debuff or buff really would also be true for any other set. I haven't looked at IOs for it, but adding some procs could help, but again, it would also do that for some other sets. 3. It's okay. P.S. Partly because I paired it with Kin, I found Elec/kin controller a far superior version as the defender version was my main on Live. I didn't recreate it here though. I went controller and then axed that at 41 although I might reroll at some point. /elec is simply a lower-mid set although again, I used it as my main so I enjoyed it enough.

I don't have a single character outside of one which even solos at x8. Same for just about anything above +0. If I'm soloing, it is likely through something I want to get quickly done versus doing a build stress test. I'm not here to see if a build can pull off doing +4/x8 through any and everything I can. Outside of fire farming, that just takes too long. Since this is a defender based topic, adding in more Leadership powers can be deemed more useful.

I'm intentionally trying to only have two of a set at 50 for the sake of variety. I had a Claws/ea scrapper going, but canned it after I just accepted I knew what it would be like in the end with having an /ea stalker at 50 as well. If I ever had to start over from the ground up, that might be Without Pause 3.0.

Spirit Tree can be useful for secondaries which don't have a self heal.

I know some stalker players have spoken well of StJ as a pairing with /sr. I haven't tried the pairing, but StJ is one of my favorite melee sets. It's likely second only to Claws for me since I have done Claws to 50 twice.

Some of us take both. 🙂 Note, Tough is the lesser of the two as with defenders having lower HP resistance isn't as useful, but it can use an IO with boosts def which is what you want.

It can chew through a team if it ready for it or built for it. It and Croatoa are great content in that level range and yet you don't see teams running that content outside of rare occasions.

Still softcap def on /shield. I won't protest going Savage, but War Mace would be a good sub for TW.

I would rather get to 8 or so and run Posi. Whenever I could add in a real travel would be when I dumped DFB. Granted, these days I dual box. Outside of that, I might farm the "Bad" maps in AE for as much as I can tolerate.

Dark. Staff can offer a end reduction bonus which plays super nice with Dark. StJ and Savage I would go stalker.

The original version of my namesake here was a Claws/regen scrapper. I did make it a Claws/wp brute this go around. I soloed quite a bit and would use Shockwave for my alpha since it is ranged and has KB. Add in Focus and you can keep things on their butts.

Rad toggles won't get all used on a team going at a decent pace. They do remain on a target for a time even after it dies, which helps, but yeah, I found I rarely used all of them unless it was a EB/AV/GM.

I'll add in Dark for a primary. Why? You get to add in control. You also add in def for all and +res to psy which is Inv's biggest weakness. While Inv has a Dull Pain type of power, Twilight Grasp can fill in nicely if they need extra help. Secondary can be up for grabs pending on if you duo a lot by yourselves or not. If you go lower mob count, then something more single target focused is fine. If you want to join teams, going a bit more AoE is fine. /rad and /beam are some of the few secondaries I would look at as IOs/procs make them a bit more interesting in today's game. My only complaint is them going Energy which a bottom feeder for melee damage although fixes are on their way. Depending on when you stopped, Savage might be worth a look. I personally rolled a Savage/rad, but haven't officially kicked the tires on the build yet. It works in my head though base on previous characters,

My main on live was Kin/elec. In short, you need -recovery to make end drain worth a damn and having more than one player helping can be required in some cases. Damage isn't that great either. I wasn't all that fond of soloing the build even high up. My Rad/sonic was far better.

The issue is FF offers no -res so speed will be an issue. Traps or Time with beam has potential.

This wouldn't be easy, but run events based on AE missions and arcs worth rewarding. Have that content give normal rewards. Make event related badges. Give AE content creators rewards(badges) as well. Until people have a genuine incentive to play in AE they won't unless it is to farm.

They are all of two seconds ahead of brutes. Based on brutes added mitigation, then yeah, those are "sucktacular" times. Also, there's no context for the missions. I've seen what mobs do when given a damage aura on a brute versus scrapper.

Because brutes can still be made to handle the vast majority of content fine as is and still crank out solid damage. I keep deleting scrappers are they are still squishier compared to brutes and rolling them as a brute or stalker depending on the power sets. Also, brutes handle aggro better than scrappers which means brutes don't have to deal with runners as much.

Smashing/Lethal/Energy.

Honestly, stalker. The burst damage feels more blaster or at least blapper than what a scrapper does. Yes, a scrapper can do more AoE, but a stalker to me feels more like going up to a mob and picking out what needs to die asap and being able to pull it off in short order. Some stalker builds pull off decent AoE and then there is Elec/shield and the dual ability to not break Hide. .

My level 41 hardcore blaster who survived numerous possible team wipes on Live would like to have a word with you. Go blaster. To add, I finally found a sentinel I like, Fire/ea, and yes, it can be more careless and it feels a bit like an AT for newbies or one for those who want to play more of a suicidal blaster style with less repercussions, but I would still take a blaster over it in the end. You can make a blaster safer due to smart play. You can't say the same for damage and a sentinel. I have yet to see a team go from point A to B faster than a heavy blaster team when it comes to PUGs.