Lockpick

I tend to come to the scrapper forum for my melee advice, so was hoping for some input. I want to create a new character that is going to Electric / SD, but I wanted to check on which AT I should make (Scrapper, Stalker, Tank, etc.). Anyone have any thoughts? I used to play Scrappers on Live, but on HC I think I have only leveled one to 50. I like Stalkers and have a couple at 50. I have never played a Tank, so have been curious about the Tank changes. I have only played on Brute to 50, but he is a spines/fire only used for farming. Any help on pros/cons would be appreciated.

On the one hand I agree and the other I don't. I think the AE concept is fantastic because it allows for unlimited content. However, players tend to play for rewards, so there would need to be some compensation for writing and playing the AE content. My idea of the rewards would be to allow AE authors to write their story arcs and if they are selected as Dev Choice the story arc would be propagated to Live content with standard rewards and be eligible for flashback. The author could be rewarded with badges or merits for getting their arcs published to Live content. You might have to put restrictions on the content to prevent farms from being propagated to Live and the Dev team would make the decision whether the arc fits their expectation of what should be Live content. Players that are running the missions could be rewarded with the AE rewards and badges for running different AE missions. Maybe as they get higher badge counts they could also get merits for playing the AE content.

Good point.

What is your favorite build - do you think they compare with one another? I have only played a Huntsman build with a focus on the rifle attacks, although I do have Build-up from the Bane pool. I haven't played the Bane due to the slow attacks or the Crab due to the backpack issue. How do they compare with other damaging/Survival ATs? My defense is very good and he seems to survive okay. The damage seems low to me, but I haven't done deep dive number crunching. Are they underpowered/overpowered/okay at the moment? I would like to see the damage increase on the rifle attacks. What would you like to see changed? As a primary rifle build I would like to see Build Up not draw the Mace. I would like to see the crab backpack issue resolved. I would love to do a 2nd build and play a Crab Soldier. What do you love about them? I like the ability to be able to take one character and have multiple build options with all the options. I like the team utility https://guidescroll.com/2011/07/city-of-heroes-huntsman-arachnos-wolf-spider-guide/ Adding some additional comments: I have been playing my SoA today and I recall why I have been letting him sit idle. His damage seems low compared to other sets and the endurance drain with all the toggles seems high. I would suggest increasing the damage and the specs on Conditioning.

Damn, I got really excited and was about to start respeccing characters. On another note, I decided to do an AE mission today due to the thread on Dev Choice. I was completely surprised to see AE packed with characters running farms. With all the DOOM being presented here I thought there would be a farm strike or something. Nope, looks like farming as usual. Anyway, here is the link if anyone wants to support Dev Choice missions.

Did I miss this somehow?

I want to thank the dev team for all the work they do voluntarily. This patch looks great and you guys are doing a fantastic job. Thank you so much for all your efforts. CoH was my first MMO and I loved playing it. When it first came out it provided a welcome distraction that got me through some hard times. When it went away I was upset with NCSOFT and when HC brought it back my happiness was stratospheric and I was extremely grateful. It has been less than a year and already people have lost their sense of gratitude and seem to feel entitled. It is disheartening for me to see this thread devolve in this manner. It reminds me of 9/11 when everyone pulled together at first and a few years later everyone was back to their partisan bickering. Now we have a virus killing people and the economy is tanking. This game provides a welcome distraction during these trying times and instead of being grateful for the work that the dev team does voluntarily on behalf of the CoH community we have the arguments and bickering. It is unreal to me. Please take a deep breath and think about what is going on in the world now. Try to be understanding and compassionate and give these changes a try. I believe this dev team has earned some goodwill, so why not give the changes a chance? I hope all of you are staying safe and you and your families are staying healthy.

Here is a build I created some time back. This build was trying to recreate one of my characters from Live, but I have not tried to finish it here yet. I used to have Fly on Live, so I know this build is not the same as before. That being said, StJ/SD was a very good build and fun to play. I also had a MA/SD that was great as well. I only skipped Confront and One with the Shield in this build.

I'm not sure what is wrong with this. When I recruit for TFs I will post the count as the team fills, so that people that might be interested know the team is filling up.

I wouldn't mind seeing Executioner's Shot turned into a snipe. I would also like to see Swap Ammo as an inherent and that power replaced with an Aim power.

/jranger

I understand that if you use the 2nd build for a crab then the crab backpack shows up even for the other builds. I'm willing to do that and create the 2nd build, but was looking for a high end build. I did look at the SOA forum, but there were a number of builds, so couldn't figure out what was best. Probably doesn't matter much. I started a new job recently, so haven't been able to play.

Have you solo'ed TFs/AVs/GMs with this combo? I have a SOA Huntsman build I could switch to a Crab, but then I think it messes up my costume. Might be willing to make the sacrifice though. Do you have a build you could share?

I am currently working on an Archery/TA blaster and am pushing for 45%+ Ranged and S/L defense, but I am definitely interested in seeing your build. To get the 45%+ I had to skip Ice Arrow and slot Thunderstrikes, but I am only level 33. I would love to see a proc build that works for this combo.

This should be in the Brute forum. The Help and Support forum is for bugs and game issues. You'll get more feedback if you move it (probably).

interesting topic. I usually take Return to Battle. It sound like Renewal of Light might be the better choice. Isn't the recharge on these powers the same?

I would say defense, recharge, and recovery are the key attributes to boost. You will get damage from slotting your attacks. On Blasters I typically try to soft-cap either Ranged or S/L defense and in most instances have been able to soft-cap both. I then build for recharge to lower Hasten and I will look for opportunities to add in recovery. In some instances I may try to build for resistance, but not very often.

How does this work exactly? Do you get the mission as a hero, set it as active, enter / exit mission, change alignment to villain, enter and finish mission? Or do you need to clear part of the mission as a hero and part as a villain?

The build looks very strong to me. You have all the core powers from Illusion and Time and your defenses and S/L resistances are soft-capped. It looks like it can be effective in teams and solo. You may want to consider a +BU proc in tactics and I might switch out the Sleep IOs in Blind, but those are the only things I can think of. It looks good enough I might give it a try.

Here is a no fly pool version of the build. This has Combat Jumping instead of Hover and gives some flexibility on the build. At level 41+ you can take any powers you want, but you only have 4 slots to leverage. This can give you one power with 5 slots and the rest with 1 slot or you can mix and match. I have 5 slot Caltops in this version, but might go with Gun Drone or Piercing Beam if I were to make this build.

I meant to reply to this some time ago. I have been playing my DP/MC to try and get all tier 4 incarnates (mission accomplished!) and I ended up using the chain you suggested (Executioner's Shot -> Pistols -> Dual Wield -> Pistols) and it works extremely well as a single target chain. When Hasten is active I think I can occasionally skip the second Pistols, but cannot remember for sure.

I posted my build with commentary earlier in the link below. I provided some commentary so people could get an idea of why I chose what I did. My builds are not uber by any means. This version is a Hover blaster, which may not be for everyone. I never thought I would play one, but it was surprisingly fun. I am not sure if my build changed between the post I made and the final build. The below build was my latest build in Mids, so should be my final build. I have Field Operative unselected, so when it is on you will get a minor bump to defense. Beam / Devices Build

My Beam / Devices Blaster has 45%+ Range/Smashing/Lethal/Energy/Negative defenses, so a Blaster can be built with very strong defense. My DP/Ninjitsu Sentinel was one of my first characters and could survive very well, but when you can get this level of defense on a Blaster I am not sure that there is a reason to play Sentinel. I would be happy to be convinced, but at this point I have shelved all Sentinel characters until there is an update to the class.

I guess I see what your saying. For me I usually have 2 attack chains (single target and AoE) and those are the core powers I use. Others are pretty situational and may or may not be used often.

I think many characters have many powers that can be used. I have been able to manage it by buying a MMO mouse and MMO keyboard that have extra keys keys. My set-up, which I use on every character is as follows: Tray 1 is all my travel powers and click powers that are not attacks (build up, heals, stamina recovery, Hasten, etc.). I align these powers to my MMO Keyboard (keys M1 through M10). Tray 2 is all my secondary attack powers. For Blasters this will usually be 3 to 5 powers plus my Incarnate attack power aligned to my MMO Mouse (I can assign powers from 1 to 10, but only usually go to 5 or 6 because it is harder to reach keys 7 through 10) Tray 3 is my primary powers and operate with the normal 1 through 10 number keys. I generally place the powers in order of my attack chain -or- I place the powers as single target attacks, then place my AoE attacks, and finally my Mez attacks. Tray 4 is my quick travel powers and buff powers like Mutation and Mystic Fortune. I just click these with my mouse. Tray 5 is my resurrect powers, teleport (TT, ATT) powers, and powers like the invention table and reveal. I just click these with my mouse. Tray 6 is my toggle powers. I just click these on / off with my mouse when needed. Tray 7 is my pet powers. I just click these with my mouse. Tray 8 is my temp powers or other powers like Void Skiff. I just click these with my mouse. This works for me because many of the powers overlap with characters, so I am able to use the same set-up for everyone. I use the following: Razer Anansi MMO Gaming Keyboard Razer Naga Chroma - Ergonomic RGB MMO Gaming Mouse