Auroxis

I get it @Maelwys, but i also linked to a showcase of the build clearing a +4x8 mission with vengeance mobs and an EB with defensive clickies to spare, so it's not like i didn't take tanking into consideration.

I wouldn't go Mace Mastery with Robots/Time, as Protector Bot's shield makes the the +def from Power Boost Farsight superfluous for the most part and Scorpion Shield is overcapping you by quite a bit. You can just go Mu Mastery for the res shield, and +rech and -res procced Thunder Strike instead (so you have all 3 -res procs covered, and force feedback proc makes it easier to build recharge). You can IMO even drop the fighting pool for an easier time with endurance, since you're already softcapped. It's definitely not a losing battle to go heavier with your proc slotting, just requires a bit of tinkering.

Not only does the MM have time to fire off those procced AoE's, but you get to fire the opening volley to thin the herd which makes your pet attacks more focused and efficient. That's why I enjoy playing with procced attacks on MM. Also, you don't necessarily have to proc those fast recharging ones in the primary powerset. In the secondary powerset and power pools there are often excellent proc opportunities (like Whitecap, Explosive Blast, Thunder Strike and more) which not only contribute damage but also inflict -res and grant +rech via procs. Yes you need to find a balance with endurance issues and defensive concerns, but that's part of the building process. Take the build I posted for example. You cast tide pool and command your minions into it, then Whitecap into the pack, fire off the -regen grenade, and then Explosive Blast (which in hindsight should be slotted with KB->KD). Through this you get very high FFB uptime, two -res procs on the pack, and enough damage to kill minions so your pets can focus on the remaining debuffed LT's and bosses.

Here's a build for you to work with. Has positional defenses close to the softcap (protector bots give +19.5%), S/L near hardcap, and some nice FFB and -res procced attacks to keep your PotD perma and DPS high. Mastermind (Robotics - Marine).mbd

Force Field is generally overlooked since it's seen as a vanilla powerset and pairing, but after the buffs to the powerset and certain MM epic power picks it's become quite a strong pairing with bots. You can softcap yourself with bots fairly easily, you have some -res, a proc bomb, and you get CC protection which frees up a Destiny slot for either Rebirth or Ageless. The softcap and CC protection means you can be fairly aggressive with your attacks, as combining your procced-out Force Bomb with more aggressive power picks (like Fold Space and Mu Mastery's Thunder Strike+Electrifying Fences) turns you into less of a stereotypical boring AFK mastermind and more of a sentinel with powerful pets, which shores up the DPS issue with bots. Bots also gives you -regen which FF lacks.

As far as AoE goes, Dark doesn't pair amazingly well with Marine due it putting you in Melee range which isn't great for tight cones like Tenebrous Tentacles and Nightfall. However you still have Blackstar which puts you there, and if you bunch mobs up you can still get some mileage out of a procced Torrent. You can pick up Dark Mastery here for a thematic fit and a way to get more burst AoE with Gauss procced Spirit Drain (Oppressive Gloom should stack with Dark Pit, but I never tested how viable that is). For debuffing, Dark's -ToHit pairs nicely with Marine as you don't have that much +Def on it outside of Barrier Reef. So it shores up that defensive layer nicely. For DPS, Dark is fine with Moonbeam and procced Gloom+Torrent, but isn't anything special outside of that. Marine helps on that front as procced Whitecap + Shifting Tides covers your DPS in teams. Picking up Fire Mastery for procced Char+GFS will help further with DPS, but may be a stretch thematically. Consider getting procced Weaken Resolve to get some more -res for your team in your rotation.

Just keep in mind that even on 4-star content people don't lean into building towards def/res caps because of Barrier.

You can see my Bio/Battle Axe build in action here, it's DPS focused but has well enough defenses for most content. Bio gets a lot of its tankiness from uptime on its self buffs:

On Controller I use 5-piece Ragnarok + Gauss Proc On MM it depends, but generally same as above (Thugs like using the gauss proc in Enforcers) On Corruptor I use 3-piece ATO (end/heal proc), Purple Damage Enhancement (semi frankenslot to maximize damage), and Gauss Proc can go here or in Aim depending on preference (I prefer to skip Aim on my Fire/Marine because between Pool+Whitecap+Inferno cast time I spend enough time setting up a nuke). On Defender i've yet to decide, slotting ATO's in it is good for passive heal/absorb but isn't quite as impactful as the +end corr has, and Gauss Proc consideration is similar to corr (On my Marine/DP I placed it into Dark Epic's Spirit Drain for my Hail of Bullets opener).

To be clear, I slot mine for %damage Enhancement, NOT damage procs. And as I stated, I HAVE tested damage procs, and they work as I stated: Minimal chance of activation, every 10 seconds, just like how damage auras operate. If the damage aura comparison doesn't work for you, think of it like a Rain power ala Rain of Fire and Ice Storm. Except instead of dealing a little bit of damage every fraction of a second, it can deal a moderate amount of damage every fraction of a second, only when triggered by something attacking the target.

Outside of %Damage and Endurance Reduction (I prefer going for set bonuses over frankenslotting here), you can also fit the Gauss Build-Up proc into it since it has a very high chance of giving you the buff every 10 seconds, more-so in teams much like Tactics. On MM it's very similar, but on Defenders and Corruptors it gets interesting as they can slot their team heal/buff ATO's in there to trigger often. Corruptor basically gains another team endurance recovery power with some periodic healing with just 1 slot, and Defender can choose to grant the team more passive AoE healing and Absorb with two ATO placements.

I said this would happen before the Tanker buffs were implemented, but that's all in the past now. IMO any change to Brutes cannot simply be an indirect buff to damage, it has to add an identity which other AT's do not already possess, and/or build further on what advantage a Brute already has (early game, newbie friendly). My suggestion is to add three Fury toggles: 1. Brutal Fury (Same as before, also passively on by default): Up to +200% damage 2. Efficient Fury (The new "early game" Fury, obtained at level 10): Up to +150% damage, +20% Accuracy, +20% Endurance Discount 3. Inspired Fury (The new "late game" Fury, obtained at level 30): Up to +100% damage, chance to proc damage on an enemy within melee range when it's attacked (like Shifting Tides with slightly less radius)

Here's something I cooked up, it's focused on DPS and team support with sufficient defenses. Power Boosted Fortitude sustainable on 4 people. Defender (Empathy - Beam Rifle).mbd

Just turn on the combat log, you'll see it's you dealing the damage. That's part of why Marine is good on Corr, since Shifting Tides utilizes your damage modifier and damage cap. On teams which trigger it and buff your damage often it's a great source of damage.

Damage procs definitely worked when I tested it, but they had a minimal proc rate and only checked once every 10 seconds as mentioned above.

Shifting Tides acts like a damage aura for procs, it rolls them every 10s. So damage procs aren't very good, but buff procs like gauss and def/corr ATO's proc very often since they get more rolls per nearby target.

As far as endurance issues are concerned, you really want the ATO proc in Shifting Tides as it gives +10 Endurance and healing to nearby allies every 10 seconds if more than a few allies are in its range.

Of course not as the image depicted, that's more a head-canon and to make it clear that minimal FX can fit the narrative of stone armor just fine.

Stone Armour can have a minimal FX option while maintaining flavour, a mineral coating over the skin makes just as much sense as bulging rocks over the shoulders. See Gaara for example:

Fire has been great in my experience, not so much because of Bonfire (its damage is lackluster currently) but because of Hot Feet damage and Imps proccing Shifting Tides. procced Whitecap+ procced Flashfire + procced Fissure (earth epic) is good clear also. Endurance is a bit of an issue though. I also tried out Earth, you can proc out Stalagmites just like Flashfire (ATO proc + other procs + rech/acc/stun purp IO) and Earthquake+Tide Pool+Whitecap is nice soft CC early before you get your recharge rolling. Plant is good also, I tested the Shifting Tides interaction with Carrion Creepers and they do proc it a bit. Illusion is a great pairing, IMO the strongest controller combo, because Whitecap gets you that AoE you need which makes for a really strong all-around character as Illusion pumps out the DPS+Shifting Tide procs while Marine keeps you alive and dishes out AoE damage. I wouldn't recommend Ice Control and Electric Control, they are a bit too CC heavy in my opinion and don't offer that much in the way of offense (no good AoE's to proc out).

I'm just trying to keep things relevant, and pointing out obvious stuff like how level shifts work isn't relevant in the slightest.

Getting +1 once you reach 50 is very easy nowadays, so are you implying that running low level AV content at +4 is a common affair?

It's 65% because level shift turns +4's into +3's effectively.

The current state of Sonic Attack isn't great. Put simply, your first attack does -20% and subsequent attacks do an additional -8% up to around 3-4 times. DP also does -20% (albeit single target), but has a much easier time applying -res procs, provides -dmg, and has significantly better DPS.

Offense: Fire/Marine Corr (corr shifting tides makes you deal blaster DPS) Defense: Bio/Axe Tanker (just an all-around powerhouse) Support: Marine/DP Def (-res/-dmg stacking on this is insane, see pylon screenshot)