Hopeling

Is it actually a random toggle, or is it always Against All Odds? If you don't have much overlap with Active Defense, it's pretty easy for it to fall off for a few seconds in between when you're busy attacking. If you get mezzed during those few seconds, a toggle like AAO with a debuff component will get turned off. If it's other toggles, the only reason they'd turn off is because you run out of endurance. AD does not wait for the previous stack to expire, and will double- or even triple-stack if you have enough recharge. But its base recharge is longer than its duration; you need at least 67% recharge in the power to make it perma, preferably more so that you have a bit of overlap. Many /shield builds have Hasten for the same reason many other builds have Hasten: it's a pretty good power with no prerequisites and which only needs 1-3 slots. And yeah, you put one of the two on auto, then use the other manually or do clever tricks with /bind. OwtS is pretty good for a crashless t9, but it's very much optional. Aid Self isn't a bad idea for sets without a self heal, but you can get by with just inspirations and eventually Rebirth Destiny if you want.

Generally, people worry too much about Fury generation. Considering that it goes from 0 to ~75 within a few seconds and then runs into very harsh diminishing returns, it's just not an issue. War Mace is a bit slow overall, but not drastically so, and a slow set will hover at about 88 fury during a fight instead of 89. That's not going to cripple you.

Because we're nerds and like talking about it? :P Personally, I consider the Spidey discussion to be totally separate from the "can there be SS scrappers" discussion at this point. I'm not even convinced Spidey is a scrapper - sometimes he seems a lot more like an SR/ tanker or even a Web Control dominator. But, say, She-Hulk is very obviously Super-Strength, best known for her solo work, starts out at full power instead of having to build up to it, and has never been very good at filling the tank role on a team. It would be hard to come up with a more perfect fit for "SS scrapper". I'm not saying that a character has to have ALL of the powers for the set to be a good fit, but they should have SOME of them, otherwise why would you use that set in the first place? Supes doesn't really get mad outside story-relevant occasions (which are better represented by red inspirations) and rarely does foot stomps, but he definitely has hand claps and THOOM effects, so an SS tanker will at least resemble him. My issue is that Spidey doesn't do ANY of the things that SS does. It seems to me like a purely superficial association based on the name of the set rather than what the set actually does, like saying that Superman should have the Empathy power set because he's good at talking people down from ledges. Of the existing melee sets, MA or StJ are much better fits for how Spidey fights.

Most sets work fine while hovering. It's only an issue for attacks like Foot Stomp which require you to be on/near the ground.

Spidey clearly has super-strength as a power, but so does Iron Man. That doesn't mean he has Super Strength as a power set. Does he perform foot stomps or hand claps? Are his hits routinely written with THOOM sound effects? None of the powers in the Super Strength set particularly resemble the things he actually does.

To my knowledge, Doublehit is actually not based on the base damage of the power, even though the text description suggests that it is. Rather, it is calculated from scratch using the damage formula and a coefficient depending on the specific Hybrid power. Thus, Doublehit is completely indifferent to the actual effect of your attacks, DoT or otherwise. It just cares about their base recharge time and area of effect. If you're using a power that follows the damage formula, this is equivalent to doing that percentage of the power's base damage, but some powers break the formula - in particular, for fire and similar attacks which have a DoT as a secondary effect, the DoT is "extra" damage on top of what the formula would give.

It kind of is though. SS dominated the brute/tanker meta for a very long time, primarily because of Rage. In isolation, SS is reasonably balanced because the set only has one AoE and only one really good ST attack, so even with Rage it's not doing anything too incredible. But when you add in outside powers like a damage aura, Burn, or ancillary attacks, the fact that these all get bonuses from Rage gives a very clear advantage over other primaries. Moreover, the reasoning in the quote just doesn't hold. Everyone seems pretty comfortable saying that other sets with damage buffs, like Claws or /Shield, are better on a scrapper, because scrappers get more out of damage buffs - not only because we have higher base damage, but also because we get larger damage buffs even as a percentage. Taking these two together, any damage buff power is 62.5% more beneficial to a scrapper than to a brute in absolute terms (more than that if you count crits). If Blinding Feint is better for scrappers than brutes, Rage would be too, except to an even greater degree because it's a much larger buff. (Plus, scrappers can take snipes in their epic pools, so they'd really get to take advantage of Rage's large +tohit.) When you take a set that's already overperforming, then hand it to an AT whose modifiers make it much better, it's at least plausible that you're going to have balance issues. I don't know if this would really make Super Strength overpowered on a scrapper, at least not moreso than the sets we've already got. TW pretty clearly overperforms, and yet people still seem happy to play other sets. But SS would definitely be a stronger set on scrappers than it is on brutes, for the same reason Dual Blades is, except moreso. Frankly, with how badly the Rage crash change affects the set, I think Rage needs to be reworked a little anyway, and maybe that rework could make it more palatable for a scrapper port. I also don't know if this is the real rationale behind not porting it: Stone Melee is another classic "brute force" set that didn't get proliferated, and there's no obvious balance concern there. Stalkers didn't get War Mace, again for no clear balance reason - and after getting both Fire sets, it's hard to imagine that thematic concerns were the issue either.

I'll second WM/SD. I liked it better than BS/SD, and I've played both to 50. He's talking about Recovery Serum. Most pets cannot be given orders at all. Mastermind pets and Lore pets are (I think?) the sole exceptions. Summon Backup will indeed die pretty quickly if you call him into a hairy situation.

In WP, the last two powers are optional. Fast Healing isn't transformative, and can be put off until pretty late in the build if needed. In Mace, you can skip Bash. In Elec/, you can skip one of the first two punches and Jacob's Ladder. Confront is of course always skippable. You probably want everything else.

Tech Shield 1 and 2 are still there, along with the Vanguard shield and the Tech Knight shield (not on the paragonwiki page). I don't recall any other tech shield options. What did it look like?

Brute. Enemies like to run from scrapper damage auras because they have no taunt component, and the higher brute resist cap is very relevant for /Elec.

If Rage must have a defense crash - which isn't totally unreasonable; it kind of dominated the meta before shutdown - then it either needs to be a lot smaller, or resistable. If you're something like /SR, -20% unresistable def means basically taking away your entire secondary, which is ridiculous. Rant aside, Rage isn't unusable, but you can't put it on auto anymore. In tough missions you may not get to use it at all, but in a strong team or with multiple brutes/tanks, you can still use it a lot. I don't think that's a *good* place for the set to be, but it's not utterly ruined.

Katana is definitely a straightforward set. The only things you really have to 'worry' about is lining up enemies for Golden Dragonfly (but if you don't, it's still a solid single-target attack), and keeping Divine Avalanche up when you want it - but that's easy if it's simply part of your attack chain. I haven't played Staff. It has three stances, and a combo-ish mechanic, but I'm not sure how fiddly that is in actual play.

I'm going to vote War Mace. There are no power interactions and no fancy mechanics to keep track of. You just hit things, and they fall down, and after doing that a few times they stop getting back up.

I know this doesn't quite answer the question, but it sounds like you may want to play a Dominator with better damage (which can be a pretty decent fraction of the way to Blaster damage), rather than a Blaster with lots of control (which will always be a pale shadow of Dominator control). Some sets and some builds are much better at clearing rooms than others. For example, fire/psi is IIRC a pretty strong dominator combo for damage.

In a similar vein, Irradiated Ground is a damage aura that happens to apply a debuff, not a debuff aura that happens to do damage. Don't slot it with Analyze Weakness; slot it for damage.

Use Energize and Power Sink more...?

A build with high survivability and DPS is called "a brute". It's the archetype's whole schtick. Basically any combination of powersets will do it pretty well. If Rad/Rad sounds appealing, go for it. Those are both good sets.

I didn't say it's a GOOD build, just that it's the one I'm using ;)

Offensive probably doesn't hurt, but TW can kill AVs pretty well even without help, yeah. If the energy damage is an issue, Wedding Band+Kinetic Dampener will cap your resist or close to it.

That's weird. Try this? Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Hymnblade: Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons Secondary Power Set: Willpower Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Crushing Blow -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(36), NmnCnv-Heal(36), GldArm-3defTpProc(37), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(37) Level 2: Titan Sweep -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(11) Level 4: Mind Over Body -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(39), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(39), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 6: Follow Through -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(15) Level 8: Build Momentum -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(37) Level 10: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31), Rct-ResDam%(34), Ksm-ToHit+(36) Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A) Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), NmnCnv-Heal(40), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx(46) Level 18: Rend Armor -- Hct-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hct-Acc/Rchg(19), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Hct-Dam%(21), AchHee-ResDeb%(23) Level 20: Quick Recovery -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(25), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(25), PrfShf-End%(31) Level 22: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 24: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), UnbGrd-Max HP%(50), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(50) Level 26: Whirling Smash -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Arm-Acc/Rchg(27), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Arm-Dam%(29), FrcFdb-Rechg%(31) Level 28: Heightened Senses -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(40), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), LucoftheG-Def(42), LucoftheG-Rchg+(42) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), LucoftheG-Def(43), LucoftheG-Rchg+(43) Level 32: Arc of Destruction -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erd-%Dam(33), Mlt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(34) Level 35: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 38: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45) Level 41: Fast Healing -- Heal-I(A) Level 44: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 47: Confront -- MckBrt-Taunt(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(48), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(48), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(48) Level 49: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(45) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(17), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(17), PrfShf-End%(23) Level 1: Momentum Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1510;702;1404;HEX;| |78DA6594DB4E13511486F774A662CBA18502E58C945399D24AD51B4F21514423342| |9B6528FA943BB8521633B696B944B2FBCF40446DFC0C41BDFC15B8F8FE00B089AA8| |512F4C5DCCFA294D3A817C7BFF7BADBDFE7D6AE2FE5CCB9BF30F6685D276D632CAE| |56C2A57326C5B96DC0963D5CC09FA3C1736EE14562C232F9BA837B017904D484BCA| |58DAAC18856C461A76B150EEAB0DCEC9DBB25096B18C695976F19E2C899664B168C| 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I soloed him for the weekly with my TW/WP. I didn't use Lore pets - not as a deliberate challenge, I'd used them for Baphomet and they weren't back yet, so I just went for it. I did use inspirations, and I think I tossed a couple Envenomed Daggers, but no 'big' temp powers. Focused Accuracy for the -tohit resistance made his Hurricane a non-issue, but popping yellows should be fine too. I didn't have any particular issues surviving; IIRC I popped a couple purples and a bunch of reds, and he died before my tray ran empty. Did you clear his adds away before engaging? Unless you're running on +4 or something, I doubt you need Shivans or other crazy tricks. Using /ah to load up on large insps should be plenty.

I have no idea how doublehit interacts with the Rad Melee attacks. It should be straightforward to test on Justin: take the radial t4, use the power, see how much damage you get from doublehit, and check that against the calculated number as an ST attack and as an area attack. I punched in brute numbers for Rad Melee, and assuming that ST powers are counted as ST, it looks like radial is firmly superior: not only does it have the dual perks of always being at max strength and circumventing the damage cap, it simply adds more damage. IIRC this is the case for a lot of brute sets; the 0.75 damage scale makes damage buffs less valuable point-for-point than they are to other ATs, while Doublehit doesn't care what AT you are.

Yep, good choices for almost any brute. Not a bad plan. What? Why?? It costs 3 power slots, has miniscule uptime, and doesn't even actually boost any defensive stats! If you want a self-res and a click defensive boost, take Resurgence and Strength of Will; they do the job better, give higher uptime and shorter recharge, and cost 2 power picks instead of 3. This is the build I'm using for my TW/WP scrapper. It can't quite translate verbatim to a brute build due to ATOs and the different epic pools, but the same principles apply. He's quite durable, clears crowds plenty well, and has no problems with single targets. | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;541;225;450;HEX;| |78DAF3AD70E159E7DE68CFC0C8E79C93585C1C1F9C5C945850905AC4EA9B989E99C| |C0002EC402C03138FF74DCD494DD50BC92C49CC8B0F4F4D2CC8CF2B96824BBAA4A6| |A5E615A7EA8567E6E414E497A716310806E4E7E7E879E6956516672665E6649654F| |28245DC32D3334A32F3D279A0BC92BCD4E2626E0827072427E45A9099ACE7949358| |951AEF9B585C925A54290174882A10FF1F2020C3C20005FF218E60900789308245F| |E6B61C81A6088186288186388986088F8608804B040AD058A308245380518189821| |22FFDF720165199165DF6388BCC310F980210200E73BF8FF| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

A few builds *need* Hasten. Usually, it's not crucial, but it's a big recharge buff with pretty high uptime for a low cost (1 power, 1-3 slots). Even if it's not the very best power for your build, it may be 23rd-best, and that's still enough to take it for your 23rd power. If you hate the glowy hands or don't want to juggle two auto powers, you'll be fine without it.