Frostweaver

BS has sick front-loaded DPA. Bio has a damage bonus. BS/Bio means taking out a +4 spawn and halfway killing it's boss on a single attack chain. Parry is fast, deals effectively with bio's lack of built-in defense, and is a great attack to slot your chance for buildup into. Disembowel does insane damage critting out of hide, and headsplitter does insane damage, period.

Naww, I just always talk this way. 'painfully, almost offensively sincere' does not work so well in text medium. And yes, I have run it back to back many many times.

well, look, you can run a fire farm brute or scrapper, or a farming (gods I wish I knew how they did it) blaster and earn about 100 million inf per hour. Using that inf, you can get ten super packs and average at LEAST 50 merits per ten packs opened. Plus you get ATO's, or you can spring for winter packs, get less merits, but get winter IO's that average 20 million inf as well as scads of other items that would normally cost you buku merits. You will ALSO average a purple an hour, which is worth about a hundred merits. especially if you use the recipe, build the IO, and then use maybe 2 mil in converters to make it into the one YOU want. Total cost? maybe 4 mil, total value? 20 mil or more depending on whether or not you need it more than you want to sell it. To do this, you need a fire farmer... I built my fire farmer SOLO to level 50 in less than 8 experience doubler hours, worked her up to being able to solo +4/8 content (while gulping insp) in the NEXT 8 played hours, and over the next 8 hours I completely finished her high-efficiency, EXTREMELY expensive and utterly health and end neutral build.... After that I could turn off all but reds, all recipes but very rares and pvp, and pretty soon hit vet 100 and turned off all exp too. anyone can do it. I consider merit 'baseline' to be about 200k per merit. 100 merits can buy a recipe worth 20mil. In a very real way, Fire farmers earn the equivalent of six HUNDRED merits per hour. The folks in charge KNOW about this... heck, they turned off burn flee specifically to make it easy. You think, compared to that, 50 merits an hour is too good to be true? It's GOOD because stalkers can stealth and assassinate bosses at the end. Because Stalkers cannot fire farm. So it's a fantastic alternative to being forced into building a fire farmer... but it is definitely NOT too good to be true 😛

Ideally, you want a primary that can get a big crit out of hide, a fast attack to build assassination, and then a critted AS to deal with bosses quickly and with a minimum of fuss. I figure just about every primary can do it, although I wouldn't want to mess around with claws or rad. Remember that this is not about being a bad mofo, You run the things at -1/0 to maximize speed... the payoff is the merits at the end. As far as secondaries are concerned, I think just about anything would work.

I would pair it with 'don't pick rad as a primary for stalkers because it's secondary effect doesn't work with stalker playstyles'. But that's my opinion. based on running rad to 50 with a brute (where it's god) and a stalker (Where it's the devil that always makes you wish you were playing something that didn't suck) Rad is an aoe-centric set, and to port it to stalkers they stripped out the best part of the aoe... the ability to reliably contaminate groups with fusion+Atom Smasher, and and then take advantage of explosion bleed. also, no irradiate ground, one of the best parts of the set, that will contminate targets while you deal with the rest. What they left was a set with a heal that seldom works, a 'big crit hitter' with a disgusting cooldown, and one of the worst melee cones in the game. Yes, the big crit, devastating blow, is probably the nicest crit out of hide outside of AS, but that's it... no secondary big hitter, a couple generic lower level attacks, and some -defense that you have to hit with to make it go off. Dark is very similar but works immeasurably better. Rad MIGHT make a good PVP set, but that's about it. But that;s just my opinion.

I don't get the savage leap hate, I LOVE leaping into a crew, getting 3 blood, and then unloading with rending flurry. Especially against groups like Malta, DE, and sky raiders, where if you don't start laying the smackdown on the group NOW, someone's gonna pop out a gun turret or something. Sure, it's a lot more scrappery than most stalkers, but then, isn't the whole powerset more scrappery than most stalkers? You have THREE Aoe's in the set. You can still play games with placate crits and autocrits and buildup procs and the like. You just enjoy mixing it with the crowd a bit more. And spring attacks is picky, short range, and with a horrible cooldown. There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with savage leap, especially for engaging new groups and dealing with annoying architecture. It just doesn't quite fit into some people's playstyles. Get it, learn it, if you like it, great... if you don't, respec out. For fun, hit an enemy with moonbeam crit at medium range and then immediately jump into their face laying down some smackdaon followed by an AS crit. Quality entertainment that eats bosses AND their crew.

Rad/ can potentially be faster than spines, but like spines, in order to get max speed, you have to actually pay ATTENTION to your attack chain. First rule, ALWAYS fire off atom smasher right after you hit fusion. That will irradiate pretty much every single mob around you that you connect with. Atom Smasher's damage is okay, and like burn you drop it whenever it pops, but if have to wait a second or two to get off fusion before atom smasher, it's worth it for the secondary effect. Radiation contamination- Now, from what I have seen, contamination damage is 20% of the attack's damage in an explosion. That means (as far as I know) an 8 foot radius around the target, up to 5 targets. When you follow up after the atom smasher, you do an average of 80% of it's damage to targets around the primary target. After a fusioned atom smasher, pretty much any target you randomly picked is extremely likely to be contaminated. You can often get off a radioactive smash and then a radiation siphon, OR a devastating blow, in between atom smashers and burns. This makes up for the lack of a decent cone like spines, except that against bosses, MY devastating blow does almost a thousand damage and recharges in 5 seconds, as well as putting down -15% defense for the next hit. When you are down to a boss or two and too far from the next spawn, you drop the 'leftover' bosses with your ST attack chain. And, of course, once you get your defense up, you can set your burn on auto and afk farm while you type on the forums, like I am doing. Speed is gonna be the same for any fire armor brute. S/L farms might rarely require a hint of attention, but not often Here's my build, as it stands: Now, I will admit that it could probably be tweaked a little, but the build has served me well for 87 Veteran levels, through fire farming, MSR, ITF's, Lambdas, Stealthing ouro arcs, Katie Hannons, s/l farming, and lots of TF's.

whups, ignore that build. I accidentally replaced tremor with hurl boulder.

Did you mean perma-meltdown? I am not sure that's actually possible. That's some sick resists, there. Stone Tanker eat your heart out. My current build that I am working with is not really ouro-friendly, although I always Ouro with a pet blaster, but is designed with a lot more defense, and can eat Fire and S/L farms with milk. I might have to rearrange some levels to make it more exemp-friendly. This build is almost complete (missing a couple of winter enhancements, the AH has been dry lately even though I have almost a bil)

So... 45 seconds on Particle shielding would probably be good? I really have no idea how much of an actual damage bonus it gives.

SS scrapper? Every single Vampire.

I am confused. How does a taunt aura affect a high-density fire farm like Bloody Rainbow? Generally my brute is completely target-saturated at all times.... What does the lack do? Make them stand back and throw more fireballs? Run out of your burn patch? I was considering a claws/fire scrapper because of the better recharge on spin, and the higher base damage makes follow-up, gaussian's chance for buildup, reds, and crits/crit procs potential clear speeds considerably higher than a brute on +4/8 fire farms....but if there's going to be some weird non-paper time-waster like mobs running like crazy chickens every time I drop a burn, Is it a wasted effort?

wow. so much interest.

So, post incarnate content has made some big changes. Soloing AV's and farms was nice, but I decided to retool a bit to share the bounty with others on trials and the like. Most importantly, I ditched the fighting pool in favor of recall friend and a more tooled-out leadership pool, and dropped in healing beacon with the best recharge I can afford. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Controller Primary Power Set: Illusion Control Secondary Power Set: Traps Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Teleportation Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- EntChs-Acc/Dmg:35(A), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx:35(7), EntChs-Dmg/Rchg:35(9), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(9), EntChs-Heal%:35(11), Dcm-Build%:40(25) Level 1: Web Grenade -- GrvAnc-Immob:50(A), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg:50(5), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(40), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg:50(42), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx:50(42) Level 2: Blind -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold:30(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg:30(11), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold:30(13), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(15), Lck-%Hold:50(15), Dvs-Hold%:50(17) Level 4: Triage Beacon -- Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx:50(A), Prv-Absorb%:50(36), Prv-Heal/Rchg:50(36), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg:50(37), Prv-Heal/EndRdx:50(37), Prv-Heal:50(37) Level 6: Flash -- SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear:50(A), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg:50(33), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx:50(34), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%:50(36) Level 8: Superior Invisibility -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(46) Level 10: Acid Mortar -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg:40(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx:40(13), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(27), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg:40(27), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(31), AchHee-ResDeb%:20(43) Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A) Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I:50(A) Level 16: Force Field Generator -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A), DefBuff-I:30(17) Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg:50(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg:50(25), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), RechRdx-I:50(33) Level 20: Poison Trap -- UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold:50(A), UnbCns-Hold:50(21), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg:50(21), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(23), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg:50(23) Level 22: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I:50(A) Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A) Level 26: Recall Friend -- EndRdx-I:50(A) Level 28: Seeker Drones -- Apc-Dam%:50(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg:50(29), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(29), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(31), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(31) Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A) Level 32: Phantasm -- ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg:50(42), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg:50(43), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(43), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:50(46), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets):50(50) Level 35: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RgnTss-Regen+:30(45), RechRdx-I:50(45) Level 38: Trip Mine -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Arm-Acc/Rchg:50(39), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), Arm-Dam%:50(40) Level 41: Frozen Armor -- LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(A), GldArm-3defTpProc:30(45), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(46) Level 44: Ice Storm -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(48), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), Rgn-Knock%:50(50) Level 47: Tactics -- RctRtc-Pcptn:20(A) Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Containment 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 -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+:40(A), Pnc-Heal/+End:50(3), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:50(3) Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A) Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%:50(A), PrfShf-EndMod:50(5), EndMod-I:50(7) Level 1: Swift -- Run-I:50(A) Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 50: Pyronic Radial Final Judgement Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Clockwork Core Superior Ally Level 50: Clarion Radial Epiphany Level 50: Support Core Embodiment ------------ any way I could improve this for team content without losing the ability to thrash AV's/GM's and rip through farms? I am a little concerned about losing the fighting pool, since I lose s/l resist, but I don't actually get attacked that often with SI and Perma-Pa so I felt it was a tradeoff I could afford.

I would like to second the motion for Ill/Traps. Only controller I know that can not only solo GM's, but it ALSO has the sick aoe needed to solo fire farms. Trip mine plus containment, poison trap plus containment, toss in some contained Caltrops or an ice storm and you are looking at damage numbers close to a spines/fire brute. I'd run a safe fire farm like... outdoor map instead of caves or rainbow, though... The uncontrolled multispawn can kill you right quick, since each of your phantom army, your phantasm, decoy, and each trap can technically aggro an entire spawn. When they die, those spawns are on YOU while your PA still deals with their own spawns, and you can only flash 13, and then another spawn aggroes and turns you into a briquette.

It looks good. Feel like making a second one for cross referencing set bonuses? It would take a lot of the effort out of experimenting in Pines to find out what sets you need to both maximize damage/softcap defenses and perma-hasten.

I don't miss the Hollows PUGS

We shall see.

You had better remove that post. sharing PM quotes in public boards is a strictly prohibited violation of privacy.

Probably, except that pretty much every defense set that has s/l gives you melee defense at the same time. But that rule is what a lot of at primaries and secondaries actually work on.

" You know, you could just try what I suggested: either don't respond (that includes making a big public deal of it like this), or just say something like "I no longer wish to continue this discussion, please do not message me again". I tried that with the very first message, didn't work. And frankly, I don't care about them responding me in in thread, That's legit. It bothers me when they take a thread to private messages inappropriately. This question is not in the 'suggestions' forum, it is a legitimate question on how this board works. I wish to know how to block PM's from someone. Don't make it about you. Oh, and Thanks, Pax. 'ignore messages' works perfectly. I didn't want to ignore their threads, just personal messages. They might have something valuable to add. They are not stupid, simply socially inept.

On the boards, not in-game

How do you prevent someone from sending you PM's on this Forum? I don't enjoy getting the GM's involved in this sort of thing. Their Egos are inflated enough as it is.

I would like to point out something very interesting about brute vs. Tanker Damage numbers. Now bear in mind, this is coming from the point of view of fire farming, where the incoming damage IS predictable, and there is nothing like defense debuffs to worry about. I built a rad/fire brute for farming, specifically so I could afford stuff on 50+ characters to optimize them for incarnate content. working on the theory that a rad melee could potentially outdamage a spines melee on a farm with bleed damage and without the delays for lining up cones. This theory has proven true, but the amount of WORK involved with constant ST attacks, and target switching, turned out to slow things down almost as much as setting up cones... in general, the two sets are fairly equitable. The sustained survival values for the build appeared to be 90% fire (easy) and 30% fire defense (with heals and constantly popping inspirations) 38% defense (if you use your heal) and 42% (without) Clear times for rainbow were around 4 minutes 45 seconds to 5 minutes 15 seconds (The variances were for how much you have to run around after groups and how easily you can taunt for an ongoing stream of baddies) Well, I decided I wanted someone that could PL my main account characters for some toons I just couldn't stand to run through lowbie content AGAIN. But since I already had a rad/fire brute, I decided to go with a fire/rad tanker with a nearly identical build. I noticed some very interesting things... some I expected, some I didn't. Obviously, the sustain based on higher tanker values were considerably lower. the heal and inspirations still needed 30% for sustainability, but base heal defense sustainability was only 34%.... I assume because regen bonuses on a MUCH higher HP increase your regen rate to compensate. The interesting part was where DAMAGE was concerned. I expected the brute's fury to stay high, and with damage adds, I tended to hover around 225% but with the tanker, the slightly base damage made the damage a lot more 'bouncy' with regards to the effect of the two build-ups. This effect became even more pronounced when I turned off all inspirations but damage, and I noticed that the Tanker's clear speed was very closely approaching that of the brute... 5 minutes to 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Obviously the tanker doesn't have the damage cap of the brute, but solo you seldom approach the damage cap anyway. That makes me wonder at the accepted wisdom that 'brutes always hugely outdamage tankers on teams'. I know that in a situation where you rub against the cap constantly, like with a couple of fulcrum shifters on the team, That is absolutely true... but in normal pick-up teams is that really always going to be the case? And how much of that damage difference is tied to the ATO's, which I specifically replaced in this case to make the tests more fair?

" Precedent suggests that every character, regardless of origin or player-imagined power level, can - as a matter of game mechanics - reach level 50. Going beyond that is the exclusive province of Incarnates. " No, going beyond that is the exclusive province of people who choose to do the...really really terribly written incarnate quest. Mechanically you can go and get the incarnate powers, without ever bothering to 'link with the well' You can go beat up Marauder, and utterly choose to ignore the bad writing that is inherent in the concept of 'threads', shards, and empyrion merits... what the heck are empyrion merits anyway? What do they look like or taste like? Incarnate is utterly Metagame that the writers tried to CROWBAR into having an in-game explanation The reality is, your character just gets a little bit better. The merits and stuff? That's just one more type of silly salvage to collect, and has nothing whatsoever to do with your character concept.