Frosticus

What are you trying to solo? While I feel a lvl 50 build should be very self sufficient I make ample use of inspirations and even Amplifiers while leveling. A large portion of your sustain comes from spamming the defender ATO procs, which isn't likely at lvl 28. So id suggest not shying away from consumables and get the defender ATO procs slotted in asap, even the base versions trigger very often.

Take the stalker results with a grain of salt. If you look closely at them you'll see some odd stuff like: above recharge cap required to run the claws chain and nearly 400% recharge (so +300% enhancement) to run the Stj chain Neither of which are happening under normal conditions and definitely not with the parameters he laid out. That said the order of rankings look reasonably accurate against a pylon

I'm of the mindset that if you you don't want to leverage venomous gas then TA is likely a much better fit for you.

The two combos i have that might fall under this category are: Stone/EA - stacks fault + disruption for quite a bit of aoe stun. Lots of aoe bounce between fault and tremor Psi/stone/ice - boggle with contagious (90% proc chance) and cupid confuse proc in frigid wind (84% proc chance) gives it a surprising amount of aoe confusion.

I recommend both for Stalkers. Savage Procd out savage leap is something you need to experience yourself. The whole set just pushes you to go faster and faster. Single target is still good, but lethal damage does hit roadblocks. Street For Stalkers this set has great flow. The combo mechanic and real buildup work better for them. Lvl 3 crit on crushing uppercut never gets old. There are attacks the line up numerically (like insight strike GPB), but dont feel as crunchy. Without the-res procs EM blows past it, but the feel of the set is hard to quantify.

I think after recent changes, water is my preferred corr set.

From a gameplay loop and QoL standpoint it fits in AS wonderfully. But don't confuse that with minmaxing as AS is rarely the optimal place to put it. The lockout is a hidden mechanic so presumably most builders aren't aware of it.

Not at all. Fast AS is your best power. More akin to blaze in fireblast. Use it as often as you can.

If you reference stons tests (which everyone seems to hold in high regard), his Stj chain is 8.712 seconds long, which given the hide proc has a 10 sec lockout it ends up forcing an 17.4sec cooldown on the proc because it literally can't fire on the second use of AS. It may be the ideal chain (it requires a nearly impossible 295% rech enhancement in CU after all, which almost all stj builds lack), but that's not because of the hide proc. Do what you like, but remember the hide proc is 5ppm with a 10 sec lockout.

Yes, but only for the duration they are on you. Global bonuses refresh quickly, although it is a bit better than it used to be. The have a 10 sec activate period and last 10.25 sec. You don't know when the refresh tick is so at most it will buff blizzard for ~9 sec at worst it will drop off nearly immediately. As you can see in this clip, my first cast is buffed for ~8 seconds. The second cast it drops after about ~3 seconds. (dunno why the vid isn't uploading fullscreen, but w/e)

Yes and no. I'm just telling you the mechanics of Assassin's Focus and how it can guarantee the critical. Fast AS will be your best dpa attack whether it crits or not. For most sets I use it on cool down, or at least spam it a lot more than others might. As for where you want the ATO hide proc i personally stray from conventional wisdom because: It has a 10 sec lockout meaning assassin strike might be on of the worst places to put it given that it is your best attack . I get why people do, it is easy and makes sense. It is just really poor optimization.

You will rarely use the slow version of AS. Open with crushing uppercut or an aoe depending on the situation. Use fast mode of AS which is ~1.5 sec cast. When you get 3 stacks of Assassin's Focus from regular primary attacks your fast AS with auto crit. If you are on a team 2 stacks will be sufficient.

Regardless of level taken you need some acc in blizzard. It has standard acc (many rains/pseudo pets have boosted acc). And it doesn't receive global bonuses. Without acc it will have a 48% chance to hit +3 enemies. Aim only lasts for like 8.5 sec into the 15 second rain. Amplifier alone won't cut it and no matter how many insp you bring it's unlikely you'll dedicate many of them as yellows

Set is great on stalkers. AFAIK they didn't change leap on tanks to utilize overcap, so it is still an unreal 16 target procd attack.

Tornado and LS both trigger ffb when you summon the power, so in that regard they can do it very reliably. Tornado isn't particularly great at any other procs ime, but if for some reason you have the extra slots and endurance then achilies and the pet build up proc are both ok. LS doesn't roll damage procs well; however, it can attack so many times (11 iirc) over the duration that it can result in a lot of proc opportunities if the fight is static. Ultimately if the fight is long and you get multiple nados and LS out the procs can add up Nado 100% needs kb converter. LS benefits from it, but is less important. Regarding scatter that depends on you. Skilled use of gale and hurricane can pack mobs tighter. Enhancing slows to slow cap normal enemies drastically reduces scatter.

Sav has a built in combat teleport with good damage. Reminds me a bit of the mantis blades. Arsenal/sav is one of my favs. You can probably find a fairly recent build in one of the treads I've created.

Second this. I did a grav/poison/psi and it has some much synergy it is just really satisfying. Haven't tried out the pet changes, but presumably being able to direct singy around would make it amazing and potentially no longer need super slow tp target.

Melee gives strong resistance +some regen. I if course have assault radial as well for easier stuff and/or teaming, but for the purposes of a challenge mode like this, melee core can be cycled with rune of protection for a big increase in tankiness.

I enjoy my elec/stone/psi. Fwiw you don't have to pair elec with a sapping armor, thunderous blast and short circuit are more than enough. I think elec is in its best form on sents. Stone armor is great on all the ATs and adds nice fire dot. Psi app brings nice proc'd attacks in probe, dominate and psi Shockwave. All have capped proc rates for 3.5ppms.

Hitting 16 targets with a purple proc is generally > a single target application. The ATO carries 23.2% rech, a +5 acc/rech Purple stun another 41.1% That gives you ~87% proc rate on the 3.5ppms in flashbang. Flashbang has .85 base acc, between the 41% slotted, global acc, whatever tohit you run and maybe some shifting tides it will have no issues ever hitting. As mentioned you have smoke can to handle any controlling that needs to be done. The goal is to quickly kill off as many things as possible, so the duration of the stun is not important as long as it last long enough to contain your epic aoe (and sleep nade if you use it). Smoke can is a top tier control power against 10 enemies or less that you are actively engaging. Poor understanding/documentation of the power has caused some confusion among the player base.

strongly recommend 5 damage procs in flashbang. Proc'd whitecap (needs fury -res and ffback) Proc'd flashbang (5 dam procs, +5 acc/rech) Proc'd epic aoe (annihlation + dam procs) That's good aoe by an AT's standards. I let smoke can do any extra controlling that is needed. Add in the huge safety and control that marine brings and there isn't much that will give you pause.

the only drawback of pairing it with kin is that tricannon will rarely benefit from fulcrum shift. to the thread in general, smoke can is a pretty unique power with a lot going on under the hood. I personally feel it is set defining if you lean into leveraging it.

It might initially seem counterintuitive, but don't actually lead with Assassin Strike. Open with your highest damage normal single target attack or your epic aoe (depending on content). Use assassin strike in fast mode, ideally with 2-3 stacks of focus depending on team size and availability of other good attacks. Slow AS is pretty rarely used these days.

I may have misunderstood the thread. I thought OP was looking to do this challenge style: no insp/amps/temps/lore kinda deal. If they are ok with the above then play whatever, temp summons and lores can probably do it with you being afk.

AVs are what they are. -regen hardly matters against them if you are a high damage build (all pet heavy builds can be). 500 pylon dps will generally kill a 54 AV in 3ish mins. At which point being able to survive the more dangerous ones is more valuable ime. I'd be surprised if Demons and mercs outdamage bots against GMs though. 600% -regen ends up being 90-100% regen (lower lvl GMs have less debuff res) and they regen ~350hp/sec at the top end. GMs spam aoes now, often with buttloads of knockback. Standing close to them (ie demons) can be an issue. At any rate, just what I'd do as a MM. I do have an ill/Marine troller that exceeds 1k pylon dps with no -regen present. It can blow thru some, but not all GMs as their aoe spam will kill off phantasm and my spider and then it starts to stall out as you get stuck in a resummon/buff loop and tank dps.