Without_Pause

The ability to use 2x XP packs to get 50 all the quicker and having a way to farm content to offset any influ loss seems fairly obvious why Spines/fire builds happen. I did the Patron arc with mine and got it to 44. I think I see the end of me using it though. I think instead at some point I'll delete/rename the character so I can use the name for something outside of AE and work in a TW/bio brute who can still do S/L maps while being regular content viable. Hell, if my level 32 Claws/wp brute can solo regular content at +2/x4 with nothing but common IOs, a TW/bio brute will be more than fine. I've done Spines in other builds. I've made it truly look good once. The lack of ST is frustrating. And /fire? (chuckles)

Also note the AT to least take Flucrum is MMs. Let that sink in.

While I like my Dark/dark a lot, it is definitely going to need to work to solo before 32. 38+ and things should pick up nicely.

I rolled a D/d and Psy/d. I might only keep one. My problem is I absolutely love Water and so far have gone /ice and /temp with it so I never devote that much time to /dark. /dark don't do much for Water either or at least in a standout way. Water/dark would be interesting with Water's mitigation and Death Shroud. That's about it for something to lure me.

Highest/lowest average percent taken per primary and secondary would be interesting. Time seems to do quite well so I think it would rank rather high. Some sets are good enough to focus heavily on, and others you use it since it gives you just what you need and you can spend those slots elsewhere.

What level 50 Kin doesn't have Fulcrum Shift? It breaks my brain.

Maybe wait and see if there is enough interest and resources to pull off what you are seeking? I don't anyone else trying this so maybe give it some, I don't know, time.

Since you rolled it, at least try it out. If it isn't working out, try it on a stalker at some point even if you need a different concept. Switched a SJ/sd scrapper to SJ/ea stalker and I don't know when I'll role another scrapper.

SJ on a Stalker loses a single target attack and gains AS. That to me is a significant upgrade. I didn't get far with my SJ/sd scrapper, but absolutely love my SJ/ea stalker who only just stared to slot common IOs. Since melee has to factor in moving around more than ranged attacks sets, burst is far more important than DPS where a ranged player can merely stand there and Tab through mobs. BS should easily be more than fine on a stalker. I would look for a set which gives +recharge as BS is known for being slow.

Interesting enough in that Psy is the most popular attack set for stalkers at level 50 based on the FotM threads. I made a Psy/dark blaster and at least /dark can fill in when Psy is getting resisted.

Hang out in AE.

I work in IT and essentially spend far too much time being on a PC. I use two PCs within a day which use Win 10. I'm tempted to get another memory card for my Raspberry pi and stick a IoT copy of it on there. I have no qualms. I feel like going to Win 7 was the bigger jump.

To be fair, being at max run speed but slow in combat does seem to go away from the idea of a speedster like the Flash. Elec does give you +recharge and /sj does animate as a whole fairly quickly.

I don't really work on builds until it hits 50, and I know I want to keep playing it. There's no point in saying here's what I would take and how I would slot it when I wouldn't do the same in an actual build. I need to know what the build feels like playing it, how I would play it, and build around that. It just seems odd on a blaster with two defensive sets giving you a way to mezz a boss, thematically fit, and yet hardly anyone plays it.

I friend sent me 4 mil as a way to help me starting out.

I don't think the player base on the forums is really representative for all of those who play. I don't think players as a default have a farmer. Just having a level 50 can get you a lot of rewards. Cost of pimping out builds on HC is cheaper or at least easier versus live.

/regen just needs more investment and /wp will be a smoother ride. /regen also has a well known character and others giving it the needed eyeballs. It is tougher to think of a superhero who has willpower versus regen or invulnerability.

I find /wp works better on a brute. SJ works better on a stalker. Between the brute and scrapper, I would go brute since with the combo system you are likely building up to your combos and building fury anyway.

I feel like I'm missing something in Psy/dark not being a thing. There's a way to stack disorients. There's a solid thematic pairing. I went and rolled one and called it Faded Memories as I was axing my Ill/time anyway.

Interesting to see what I was saying a few months ago. SJ/shield stopped getting played and ended up being deleted. Tried Staff on a stalker and it stalled as well. Went SJ/ea on a stalker and it feels like I finally found my stalker. I had gotten a Kin/ea scrapper to 22, and went, "Nope, this idea will be better on a stalker." At some point I might need to find something that fills the scrapper role. Just liking brutes and stalkers more. D/d controller remains and I have grouped my guys in DPS, support, and melee. The controller is my lead support role. D/d blaster has stalled likely to be rerolled although I think the build is quite good. Eventually a Water/ice blaster was made and felt like nearly a perfect build. Current lead DPS build. Claws/wp continues to work well. Finally in my 30s so I can fill in slots better as I had been running on what felt like rather minimal slotting. Lead melee. Highest level characters are Spines/fire(duh) and a Elec/kin controller to whom I loved until later gaming happened. End drain is a still hit or miss depending on if AV is involved. Had one run where every death happened due to being mezzed. Needs work to be worth keeping around. Spines/fire is fun because of the farming aspect. Outside of AE, and I can't imagine playing it or /fa really at all. Time. Well, I made a SG based one for it, so needless to say I rolled four of them and likely keep two, Fire/time corr and controller. Made Ill/time and Time/sonic, but feeling has been kind of "eh" right now. I guess I've been playing enough Fire/AoE based builds to where more single target based ones aren't as exciting.

Meta in gaming and needing healers. A number of the combos are based on classic CoH power gaming, but you can see some which come together for specific reasons, ie theme or because they work well together. Also interesting to see things like the above mentioned Mind control and other powersets work better for specific ATs. /ea for stalkers being one and things like psy melee and SJ being popular since stalkers get a toggle to stun and both melee sets play into that. Psy/ea isn't a natural pairing, and yet there it is as the top stalker pairing. I'm trying to figure out how surprised I'm suppose to be that /regen is still such a force for scrappers. I mean, I get Kat/regen, but I think the redraw would annoy me.

Based on the flavor of the month threads, level 50s for controllers and corrs are dominated by Kin. Part of that is Empathy and the whole healer aspect for defenders since it is the runaway leader there, but even so, there are more Kins playing as corrs or controllers compared to defenders. A big reason why there are more Kin corrs is due to how much better Fire is as a corr. Fire/kin is the #1 pairing for corrs. Kin/fire is #5 for Kin defenders and #25 overall for defenders. Higher damage cap and Scourge simply wins.

Oddly enough I don't think Kin favors defenders. I think it is weakest there. Something like Storm is another matter. There are reasons for playing a blaster over a corr. One, I play less attention to my teammates if I'm playing my blaster. 😀

My main was Kin on live. I essentially ODed on the powerset as I think it is my favorite or at least was on live. I even have a level 41 Elec/kin controller now. I just feel like I'm over Kin. I think /storm works better for Plant as it makes a riskier power set safer in vast part due to Seeds. This is also true for /kin mind you. The tree also patches a whole for /storm since it lacks a self heal. In terms of today's meta, /storm offers more interesting IO options over /kin as well. I had a Earth/storm on live and the thing was a beast even with common IOs. While I know Plant/storm might now the same amount of control*, the idea of sacrificing some of it for even more damage is incredibly tempting. Yes, I rolled one, but it is only like level 10. I don't think a Plant/kin is a bad build. Anything which can do AoE containment and damage cap is alright with me. It is more like Plant/kin is really good. Plant/storm is just...interesting, and I gravitate towards that these days. * I concede the idea that Earth/storm might be more control than needed anyway, but I played on PUGs who felt like they could play stupid knowing I had their back. Team wipes were rare.

A blaster also is only doing more damage for themselves with little mitigation. A corruptor is more about doing team based damage and can have some better tools for mitigation. If all you care about is raw damage, then blasters are better for that.