Lockpick

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.

So many concepts... I was thinking about making a Shaman like character, but couldn't decide on the AT / Power Set. I was thinking Plant/Nature Controller with the Sorcery pool. Anyone have any thoughts? These are the powers Shaman has according to the Marvel Wiki: Alter Appearance Astral Projection Mystical Bolts Healing Illusion Casting Cause sleep Elemental/Weather Control: Shaman could affect weather, such as causing a blizzard. He could also use small elements within his pouch, such as creating a stone golem or a fire barrier. Plant Control-Shaman could cause vines to appear and entangle foes Natural Dimensional Nullification: Through the power of nature, he could nullify extra dimensional magics or return an extra dimensional being to its home dimension. Restoration: Using his pouch, Shaman could revert altered beings to their natural state. A special ritual could cure people possessed by the Wendigo. Teleportation Time Travel Flight: He could levitate and fly riding wind. He seemed to be mostly adept at flying vertically. Totems: Shaman could use various totems. Commune with Animals Commune with Spirits: He could request any spirits present in an area to assist him with the Spirit Staff. Telepathy/Empathy: Shaman has mentally linked to his daughter. He could also detect the presence of evil.

Yes, run Smoke and Mirrors instead. 12 merits in about 7:30, so 96 merits per hour. In your hour and 20 minutes of play time you would have 120 merits. Or run the SSA missions that give you 20 merits for about 10 minutes. On the other hand if you want suggestions on running the Task Force faster I would suggest: Investing in the 2 prestige mission teleport powers as that will help a little with the time Running with the notoriety at lowest settings Stealthing the missions you can stealth I can't remember the time it took me to do it, but I didn't have the mission teleports and I came away thinking the time to merit was slow when compared to the other options I mentioned.

I was checking out Hide on a new character the other day. I believe I was seeing the defense in combat was 1.88% with only Hide running. Are you sure it is 3%? I'll go check again when servers are back up. I was checking because Mids seems to over inflate the defense that Hide provides, so when I do my builds I turn Hide off to see what my defense will be. I was trying to figure out what number I could add to my defenses to make sure I soft cap which is why I tested Hide.

I find that on my Stalkers that endurance is painful until the later levels. I was thinking it might be nice if Hide functioned similarly to Field Operative. I don't think Hide should give as much Recovery or Regeneration as Field Operative, but was thinking allowing the ability to slot End or Heal IOs for the passives would help with endurance in the early levels. I also wouldn't mind if it allowed us to slot Resist IOs. How overpowered would this be?

My concept was similar, but I did decide to go with Build-Up. I adjusted my current build to replace Build-Up with Burnout. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Mercenary 2: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Medicine Hero Profile: Level 1: Single Shot -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(5), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Dcm-Build%(46) Level 1: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(13) Level 2: Burst -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 4: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A) Level 6: Pummel -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(7), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(7), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), TchofDth-Dam%(43) Level 8: Heavy Burst -- SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprSpdBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprSpdBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), SprSpdBit-Rchg/Global Toxic(29), AchHee-ResDeb%(33) Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(11), DefBuff-I(11) Level 12: Combat Training: Defensive -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), Ksm-ToHit+(33), Rct-ResDam%(34), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(45) Level 14: Bayonet -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(15), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(15), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), TchofDth-Dam%(43) Level 16: Wide Area Web Grenade -- HO:Endo(A), HO:Endo(17), HO:Endo(17) Level 18: Venom Grenade -- SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDmnofA-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprDmnofA-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprDmnofA-Rchg/DmgFear%(45) Level 20: Frag Grenade -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(42), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(45) Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(50) Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46) Level 26: Burnout -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 28: Surveillance -- HO:Lyso(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(33) Level 30: Cloaking Device -- LucoftheG-Def(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46) Level 32: Mental Training -- Run-I(A) Level 35: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(36), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(36), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(36), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(37), GssSynFr--Build%(37) Level 38: Call Reinforcements -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(39), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(39), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(40), SlbAll-Acc/Rchg(40) Level 41: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(42) Level 44: Injection -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 47: Aid Self -- DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx(A), DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(48), DctWnd-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48), DctWnd-Heal(48), DctWnd-Rchg(50) Level 49: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A) 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: Conditioning Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13), Pnc-Heal/+End(29), Prv-Absorb%(34) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21) Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon Level 50: Pyronic Core Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Cimeroran Core Superior Ally Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment ------------ ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1613;739;1478;HEX;| |78DA65945B4F135110C7CFB60BB51728482F5C4B5BA85C4A0B4563E213414512A1D| 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I've got a great name for a Sonic character, but have never played Sonic before. I'm looking for a character that can solo, high DPS, and strong survivability. Any thoughts on the AT / power set combinations I should be evaluating?

Thank you! It is always cool to learn about new functionality. I saw another issue I thought I would bring up. When I make builds using Soul Mastery as the Epic pool, I cannot reverse the choice and select another option and Soul Mastery is locked. Example: I have a Stalker where I selected Soul Mastery: Moonbeam and Shadow Meld. I was able to softcap, so didn't need Shadow Meld. I deselected Moonbeam and Shadow Meld, but cannot select another Epic pool.

It does help! Thanks for your insight. I've been looking at Rad Armor for awhile, but all the builds I create do not look great. I have the same challenge with Bio, which everyone says is great. Oh well, now to find a name and a concept...

Getting ready to start a new character and I am thinking I want to try a Kinetic Melee. I may do SD as my secondary. Any thoughts on which AT fits best with Kinetic Melee? Also, any suggestion on a synergistic secondary? I don't have to do SD.

I have played StJ/SR to 50 and incarnates. It is a very strong build with high DPS and high defense. I have not played SD on HC, but my main on Live was a StJ/SD Scrapper. I think between SD and SR that SD brings more to a team due to Grant Cover and Shield Charge. I have no experience with Ice. I have played a few times with a StJ/Inv Stalker who took Provoke and he was able to tank pretty successfully on a 4/8 ITF.