Lockpick

Ah, now I understand where you are coming from and I agree with you. Very nice write-up and I like your suggestions. I would really like changing the dart to a shuriken, what ninja doesn't throw shurikens...

You may be missing out on some very good content. There are some very good missions in AE; they are not all farms.

I'm not sure these comparison align. Storm Kick is a tier 2 power, so would align with Charged Brawl (Electricity) and Energy Punch (Energy). SK and SotW are lower recharge than CB and EP, so the damage should be lower. I do think it looks like the damage for SotW should be boosted at least up to SK. Secondary Tier 2 End Recharge Range Cast Effect Mag Damage Atomic Negatron Slam 10.19 10 7 1.716 KD, -Def Def: -10.5% 109 Dark Smite 10.19 10 7 1.188 For -ToHit ToHit: -5.25% 109 Devices Taser 10.19 10 20 1.188 Stun 3 109 Electricity Charged Brawl 10.19 10 7 1.056 Sleep 3 109 Energy Energy Punch 10.19 10 7 1.056 Stun 2 109 Fire Fire Sword 10.19 10 7 1.584 DoT 124 Ice Frozen Fists 8.53 8 7 1.584 Foe -Rech, -SPD Rech: -10% 91.2 Martial Storm Kick 6.86 6 7 1.32 KB 0.67 86.76 Mental Ninja Sting of the Wasp 6.03 5 7 1.32 Foe -Def Def: -7.5% 64.51 Plant Skewer 10.19 10 7 1.848 Foe -Def Def: -14% 122.1 TA Temporal Dragon's Tail is a tier 3 power, so would align with Havoc Punch (Electricity) and Bone Smasher (Energy). Those 2 powers are single target, so a true comparison would be against other AoEs like FSC and Thorn Burst. DT and TLD are lower damage, but their recharge is lower. Secondary Tier 3 End Recharge Range Cast Effect Mag Damage Atomic Dark Soul Drain 15.6 120 10 2.508 Self + Dmg, +ToHit Dmg 10%, ToHit 2% 55.61 Devices Electricity Havoc Punch 13.82 14 7 1.716 Sleep 3 144.6 Energy Bone Smasher 13.82 14 7 1.716 Stun 3 144.6 Fire Fire Sword Circle 18.51 20 10 2.904 PBAoE 97.05 Ice Ice Sword 10.19 10 7 1.584 Foe -Rech, -SPD Rech: -10% 109 Martial Dragon's Tail 13.52 14 8 1.716 KB 0.67 65.62 Mental Psychic Scream 11.86 12 60 2.804 Foe -Rech Rech: -50% 65.06 Ninja The Lotus Drops 10.19 20 15 2.112 Foe -Rech, Disorient Rech: -50% 68.82 Plant Thorn Burst 16.02 17 15 3.168 Foe -Def Def: -21% 65.96 TA Temporal Thunder Strike is a level 26 power and the powers for NT and MC are utility powers, so not really equivalent IMO.

I usually just play sets I think will be fun and don't normally check the numbers for comparison to min/max, so wasn't looking at these sets in comparison against the AT. However, I just looked at all the tier 1 and 9 powers in Mids and put them in a couple of tables. Tier 1: Ki Push and Power Thrust look equivalent, and Ki Push has lower End and Cast and Higher Mag, so is definitely better than Power Thrust. Immobilizing Dart is clearly lacking and looks to be the worst tier 1. Secondary Tier 1 End Recharge Range Cast Effect Mag Damage Atomic Electron Shackles 5.2 4 50 1.32 Immobilized 3 71.95 Dark Penumbral Grasp 7.8 4 80 1.848 Immobilized 3 62.56 Devices Toxic Web Grenade 7.8 4 50 1.584 Immobilized 3 62.56 Electricity Electric Fence 7.8 4 50 1.32 Immobilized 3 62.56 Energy Power Thrust 6.85 6 7 1.188 KB KB: 16.62 44.49 Fire Ring of Fire 7.8 6 50 1.32 Immobilized 3 96.34 Ice Chillblain 7.8 4 50 1.32 Immobilized 3 62.56 Martial Ki Push 5.2 6 7 1.056 Repel 4 44.49 Mental Subdual 8.53 4 80 1.848 Immobilized 3 62.56 Ninja Immobilizing Dart 5.2 4 50 1.716 Immobilized 3 25.02 Plant Entangle 5.2 4 50 1.452 Immobilized 4 62.56 TA Electrified Net Arrow 5.2 4 80 1.188 Immobilized 3 62.56 Temporal Time Wall 5.2 4 50 1.848 Special: -Spd, - Rech, -Regen Regen: -25% N/A Tier 9: I'm not sure the tier 9 powers are that out of whack. Golden Dragonfly damage looks low, but it can also hit multiple targets and has lower recharge. Secondary Tier 9 End Recharge Range Cast Effect Mag Damage Atomic Positronic Fist 18.51 20 7 2.904 Foe -Def, Disorient Def: - 14% 198 Dark Midnight Grasp 11.95 18 7 2.244 Immobilized 3 180.2 Electricity Shocking Grasp 18.2 15 7 1.188 Held 3 100.1 Energy Total Focus 18.51 20 7 3.432 Stunned 3 198 Martial Eagles Claw 11.85 18 7 2.772 Stunned 3 180.2 Ninja Golden Dragonfly 11.85 12 10 1.98 KB Def: -7% 126.8 I might look at the other tiers and add later.

I thought I would do a comparison between Martial Combat (MC) and Ninja Training (NT) as it may help players who are trying to choose between them. The comparison is based on my experience and opinion and, of course, your opinion and experience may be different. I have always felt Ninja Training was lacking based on just looking at it in Mids, so never really played it. Recently I started a DP/NT Blaster and have been leveling it and was surprised to find it was better than I thought. My experience with MC and NT is with Dual Pistols as a Primary. I am only level 32 on my DP/NT, but I became curious as to how MC and NT stacked against each other, so decided to do the comparison. Once I am level 50 and incarnated out I will revisit this thread and provide updates, but at this point some of the analysis is based on experience of the power outside the set and using the numbers in Mids. I tried to be objective by using the numbers, but the reality is this type of comparison is subjective. Some players may really like the slow in Reaction Time or may really like Burst of Speed and I do not like those powers / effects. That being said, going in I really thought MC was a much better set and I was surprised to find that I scored Ninja Training higher than Martial Combat. Ninja Training = 5 Martial Combat = 4 What does this mean? Nothing really. I was bored and thought I would create this post in the hopes of generating a conversation and hearing other perspectives. At the end of the day I really enjoy playing both my DP/MC and DP/NT, but I feel like these two secondaries could have been combined into one secondary. It would have really been cool is if they had created one secondary with 2 powers at each tier where you could pick the power of your choice. Example: Tier 1: You could choose Ki Push or Immobilizing Dart, but you couldn't take both. Tier 2: You could choose Storm Kick or Sting of the Wasp, but you couldn't take both. Feel free to provide feedback as I am certainly interested in hearing any feedback, Martial Combat: Ninja Training MC vs. NT Comparison

The new Devices is a really good set now. If you haven't tried it you may want to give it a whirl. Field Operative is an extremely good power.

Shinobi Toggle: Self Self +DEF(Melee, Ranged, AoE), +Run Speed, +Jump There doesn't seem to be any +Run Speed, +Jump added to Shinobi in Blaster Ninja Tools. I have checked the Combat Attributes and do not see any +Run Speed or +Jump. The Detailed Information tab on the power also shows no +Run Speed, +Jump. I was expecting the +Run Speed, +Jump to be similar to Shinobi-Iri in Sentinel Ninjitsu.

Nice costume, looks like Wick for sure! I'll take another look at MM. I actually had MM on this character for a while (which caused a costume glitch when I specced out of it), but I found that I had to many active powers, so wasn't using them a lot. I do like the idea of pairing Suppressive Fire with Cryo Freeze Ray because it allows you to hold a Boss. It just seemed to me that MM was a weak pool overall. I originally always built for only Range or only S/L defense, but after being able to build for Range and S/L it seems to make a huge difference in survivability. Pretty sure to get soft-cap Range and S/L you need Scorpion Shield though. On another note, if you can build a Blaster to soft-cap Range and S/L it makes me wonder how valuable Sentinels are. I have a DP/Ninjitsu Sentinel that is very survivable, but the damage on my DP/MC blaster is much better and I would say the survivability is pretty close with soft-cap Range and S/L.

Not really. I think I had read somewhere that the Gun Drone was pretty weak and were easily destroyed and later as I looked at variations I thought as a Hover Blaster I would never use it, which is what is happening with Trip Mine. I did just do a quick look and if I took Gun Drone I would have to drop Trip Mine in my build and would lose the soft-cap S/L defense, so probably not a trade off I would take. It looks like my build has changed a bit from the build I posted, so will add that below. Updated Build:

I did a previous thread about my Beam/Devices blaster and have recently gone back to my DP/MC blaster. I thought I would post the build and commentary, so other players can see a view point on why certain powers were taken and why others were not, so it may help in their build planning. My builds are not for everyone and as always you should play what you like. My DP/MC blaster was my 2nd 50 on HC and is currently Vet Level 8. Using some of the build planning from my Beam/Devices build I wanted to see if I could soft-cap Range and S/L on my DP/MC character (the answer is yes). One of my mains on Live was a DP/Energy and I always wanted to try a Martial Arts secondary. This was my first time playing Martial Combat. I do not power level, so I played solo and task forces to level up my character. I had no backstory for this character that would impact build, so I was free to choose the powers I wanted to meet my goals. My characters are not what I would consider min/max, although I tend to use pretty good sets and can afford to buy the high end sets. My builds tend to focus on decent recharge, a stealth component for stealth missions, good defense, and good offense. This build has gone through numerous revisions to the point that I have used all my free respecs and and one paid for respec (so far), which is a first for me. Hopefully, this build is close to my final build. The Build: The Commentary: Final Thoughts: I have played Dual Pistols on several characters and while I think the set is under powered compared to some others I keep playing it because I like the animations and some concepts require a natural like character. It is a fun set, but may not be the best choice if you want to min/max. I really wanted to like Martial Combat, but some of the powers seem hokey to me and the entire set could likely use a re-tune. That being said, I really enjoy my DP/MC character, so please don't let my critique push you away from the set. The combat powers (Ki Push, SK, ES, and DT) synergize well with DP and the sets look very nice together.

Dang, now I am even less sure what to pick! I initially planned on the +Dam, but wanted to check on the Doublehit and it seems we have a split of opinion as to which is better.

Is there a consensus on whether Radial or Core is better for the Hybrid Assault power? I need one more Empyrean Merit and I can finally finish all my T4 incarnates, so don't want to make a mistake. This is for a Beam/Devices Blaster.

This is good information, thanks! I didn't think about the conversion of Empyrean Merits to Reward Merits. I will say that the time to do Heather Townsend’s arc is different for me on each of my characters. My stalkers take 12 to 15 minutes to do this arc, while my Beam/Devices blaster consistently finishes under 10 minutes.

I don't mean to be rude, but have you played /Devices on HC lately? I have played an AR/Devices and Beam/Devices to 50 and beyond since the updates on HC and I would offer that /Devices is a very good secondary. I don't have familiarity with all the Blaster secondarys, but I have played /EM, /MC, /TA, and /NT. For me, I would argue /Devices and /MC are the top 2 Blaster secondarys.

I had been interested in Beam Blaster for some time. My initial interest was based on the Beam/Time Giant Killer thread I started playing the build and it was going well, but I only got to level 23 and around that time I think the Snipe and Devices changes were implemented. I started an AR/Devices blaster and took him to 50 and then did a few other characters. Recently a new thread popped up that regained my interest in Beam. I decided to start a Beam/Devices character. This time I came up with a backstory for the character as I felt the reason the Beam/Temp blaster didn't move forward was because I didn't have a backstory. The backstory is important because it influenced my build in ways that may be seen as sub-optimal. Backstory The Build: Build Commentary Final Thoughts: I soloed my first TF and AV at level 30 with this build and have just recently hit 50. I am still working on Incarnates, but this build is very fun to play and once I get Incarnates complete I will start hunting AVs and GMs and see how I do. This is the longest write up I have done, but I tend to enjoy threads where people explain why they picked what they picked, so thought I would create this thread to share my build and thoughts. Not many numbers here, but I am not a number cruncher, so hopefully others will chime in if needed. Any feedback is welcome. I know this build can likely be improved, but the concept dictated some of the powers, so not completely a min/max build. This build ended up being much cheaper than I planned because I used Thunderstrikes instead of the Winter and Purple sets I normally use, so there was some benefit.

Where are you seeing this info? I see the description and effects, but do not see these details. Thanks for the update though, because the 5% defense is what I was looking for. Never mind, I see hovering over the total displays it.

Looking for some information on the Incarnate powers that lose effectiveness over time. For Barrier Core Epiphany, Mids, is there a breakdown of when the power starts losing effectiveness along with timing? ParagonWiki does not show the numbers, so thought I would check here. Example: 120s: 90% 100s: X% 80s: X%

I solo'ed my first TF (Moonfire) and AV (Arakhn) today. My BR/Devices Blaster was level 30. I am trying to come up with an end game build, so was hoping some of the pros in this thread would provide feedback. Also, looking for help on the best single target attack chain. I was trying to build for ranged and S/L defense and high recharge. My build has gone through numerous revamps and I am sure it will go through more as I level. I am not a fan of Hover and would prefer Combat Jumping, but needed Fly and Afterburner to add ranged defense.

The suggestion was to have Hide provide endurance and regen, so it would take endurance modification and Heal IOs, so you could put a performance shifter + End in Hide or the Heal procs. A performance shifter + End in Hide and one in Stamina would probably cover most end issues. Sure, I do this now. The point was to make a suggestion so Hide would alleviate the need. Field Operative has End and Regen, so I was suggesting Hide could as well. Exactly! You are one of our resident number crunchers, so I am curious how OP would this make Stalkers. Anyway, it is all a dream. I think Stalkers are performing pretty well as they are, so I guess I shouldn't be greedy.

It might have been better to explain to the player the challenge with DS. I have a low level Gravity Controller that I was doing a Posi on and I had never used DS before. I decided to use it on a spawn to very poor effect. I didn't use it again, but some players may not know how the power should be used properly.

I have a Staff / WP at 50, so have a little experience with this power. Basically, taking this power, you will gain access to the 3 powers and the ability to generate Perfection. Once you generate 3 levels of Perfection you will be able to use another Power (Eye of the Storm or Sky Splitter) for additional effects. Form of the Body: This power is obtained by purchasing Staff Mastery. All Staff Fighting attacks will build a level of Perfection of Body while this toggle is active. Each level will boost the user's damage output slightly. Once the user has built up 3 levels of Perfection of Body and they execute Eye of the Storm, the attack will reduce the target's damage resistance (-7.5%) and will deal additional smashing damage. Executing Sky Splitter with three levels of Perfection of Body will deal additional smashing damage and grant the user a moderate resistance buff (9.98% to all) for a short time. Form of the Mind: This power is obtained by purchasing Staff Mastery. All Staff Fighting attacks will build a level of Perfection of Mind while this toggle is active. Each level will boost the user's recharge rate slightly. Once the user has built up 3 levels of Perfection of Mind and they execute Eye of the Storm, the attack will slow (-12%) the target slightly and will deal additional psychic damage. Executing Sky Splitter with three levels of Perfection of Mind will deal additional psychic damage and grant the user a moderate to hit buff (20%) for a short time. Form of the Soul: This power is obtained by purchasing Staff Mastery. All Staff Fighting attacks will build a level of Perfection of Soul while this toggle is active. Each level will grant the user an Endurance Discount. Once the user has built up 3 levels of Perfection of Soul and they execute Eye of the Storm, the attack will target's defense slightly (-7.5% to all) and will deal additional energy damage. Executing Sky Splitter with three levels of Perfection of Soul will deal additional energy damage and grant the user a moderate regeneration (125%) and recovery buff (83%) for a short time. Each of these toggle powers will allow the user to build up levels of Perfection, which grant the user a stacking short duration buff. Each buff is unique to the active form, and only one form can be active at a time. Perfection can be released by executing Eye of the Storm or Sky Splitter. When either of these attacks are empowered with Perfection they will have additional effects that are unique to each form. This information primarily comes from: https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Staff_Fighting#Staff_Mastery I personally generally just stay in Form of the Mind for the Psionic Damage, but if I run into enemies that resist Psionic I will switch to Body. I haven't really done a bunch of stance dancing in game to determine the values for the other effects, but I just now spent some time looking at Mids and added the values I saw above in the descriptions in bold. Form of the Soul may be very good if your secondary doesn't help with Endurance Recovery. Hopefully some of our number crunchers will see this thread and will add some guidance on the best stance, but they all look pretty decent to me. As a matter of fact they look much better than I thought, so I will start playing around with Soul and maybe move away from Agility to Musculature. I will generally build perfection by using: Mercurial Blow - Precision Strike - Guarded Strike (for the defense bonus) then either EotS or Sky Splitter depending on if I am against a single target or multiple targets. This is not necessarily the best attack chain, but it is easy to run and is effective. If I am just against single target I may run Precise Strike - Serpent's Reach - Precise Strike - Sky Splitter. Anyway, hope this helps. I like Staff as a power set, so hope you enjoy it.

I think Titan Weapons / Bio seems to be the FotM for DPS. TW apparently has the highest DPS and Bio adds more damage. That being said, you may want to peruse this thread:

Would you be willing to share your build?

I know I am not one of the 3 you asked for help, but I am currently playing a DP/SR and have a 50 DP/Ninjitsu. Your build looks pretty solid to me. What is the concern with needing Weave to softcap? A thought or 2: You might want to replace the IO in Afterburner with a Reactive Scaling Defense. You might want to add the Winter's Gift: Slow Resistance to Fly. With Afterburner you will be flying pretty fast, so the standard IO might not be needed. I don't think many people are taking Elude nowadays because of the crash and you generally soft-cap easily with SR. Oldskool made a very strong case for Procs in his write up on DP and I believe he mentioned trying to get most of your defense without using damage sets, so you proc your damage powers. This is one reason I decided to level another Sentinel (added my planned build below) because I wanted t see how the damage fared using procs I am using Thunderstrike (Acc/Dmg, Dmg/End, and Acc/Dmg/End) until I can slot HOs Again, your build looks solid to me, so please take anything I say with a grain of salt as they are merely suggestions, certainly not criticisms.

I started both a Plant / Nature Controller and a Beast / Nature MM. I'll run them both awhile and see which one I like better.