Easiest Power Set's to play?

[Hrothgan]

Currently rolling a Level 50 SS/Inv Brute, have quite a bit of difficulty with survivability and endurance during solo play - probably mostly to do with the fact I find it quite difficult to play and find it fairly unforgiving. Does anyone know of an archetype and powerset that's fairly simple to play? 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Darlomidge

[Vanden]

Willpower is the most simple-to-play armor set, since it's all toggles and passives. You just turn on your toggles and you're done. It also has Quick Recovery to help with endurance.

[EmmySky]

So far, in low levels, my easiest toon is kin/bio brute.  I have the toggles triple slotted for end red as well as end red in every attack.  She is around lvl 20 now and just a ball of energy (her name is CoffeeBean) running from mob to mob and totally winning.  As you get higher levels and can access higher quality enhancements those end problems either go away or you need to read a guide on slotting and fix whatever may have gone haywire.  Sometimes I pop onto a toon I havent touched in weeks and wonder what blind monkey leveled this thing because slots are all over the place!  

 

Be patient because some of the most fun toons bloom later...in the late 30s and 40s....its a drag getting there but way fun when you do.

[MrAxe]

Willpower. All my wife makes is Willpower toons. She loves it as its the ultimate 'fire and forget' set. Its good to boot.

[DSorrow]

Have to echo Willpower. Pick an offensive set that doesn't have any combo mechanics or such and you can just literally use whatever attack happens to be available and you'll be fine.

[Spotlore]

I like blasting.  Sure I'm squishy and ya have to be good about aggro management, but once ya got that down, just shooting everything is great.  Only one thought when I'm blastin,  "How do I make bigger and more orange numbers?"

[Hrothgan]

1 hour ago, DSorrow said:

Have to echo Willpower. Pick an offensive set that doesn't have any combo mechanics or such and you can just literally use whatever attack happens to be available and you'll be fine.

What offensive would you suggest?

[DSorrow]

Just now, Darlomidge said:

What offensive would you suggest?

Here's a (most likely non-comprehensive) list of offensive sets with combo or other mechanics, so basically pretty much anything not in it:

• Street Justice
• Dual Blades
• Psi Melee
• Savage Melee
• Titan Weapons
• Water Blast

Staff has stances, but I'm pretty sure most players just stick to one of them so it doesn't really count as a mechanic IMO. Then again, I haven't played the set myself so I could be wrong about this. Radiation Melee has the Contaminated mechanic, but it's very passive (similar to crits) so you don't need to pay attention to it. Katana/Broad Sword can leverage the Parry mechanic if you want to keep the buff up, but not using it doesn't gimp either of the sets. Basically you're left with several options to pair with WP and honestly I'd just go with whatever seems cool because none of the sets suck completely (except maybe Energy Melee).

[Without_Pause]

War Mace/wp has to be as easy as any.

[ShardWarrior]

2 hours ago, Darlomidge said:

What offensive would you suggest?

I enjoy my SS/WP brute.   Contemplating giving DM/WP a try next.

[Hrothgan]

Thanks for all your input guys! Helped a lot!

[MunkiLord]

For ease, especially in solo play, I think Scrappers are generally better. You'll do more damage and have the same base defense and resistance. Brutes have more HP and higher caps on the secondary. 

[Rathulfr]

And if you want to try a ranged alternative, */WP Sentinels are very forgiving in solo play.  I have an Energy/WP Sentinel at 50+3 that was quite fun to level up.

 

[Twisted Toon]

3 hours ago, DSorrow said:

Here's a (most likely non-comprehensive) list of offensive sets with combo or other mechanics, so basically pretty much anything not in it:

• Street Justice
• Dual Blades
• Psi Melee
• Savage Melee
• Titan Weapons
• Water Blast

Staff has stances, but I'm pretty sure most players just stick to one of them so it doesn't really count as a mechanic IMO. Then again, I haven't played the set myself so I could be wrong about this. Radiation Melee has the Contaminated mechanic, but it's very passive (similar to crits) so you don't need to pay attention to it. Katana/Broad Sword can leverage the Parry mechanic if you want to keep the buff up, but not using it doesn't gimp either of the sets. Basically you're left with several options to pair with WP and honestly I'd just go with whatever seems cool because none of the sets suck completely (except maybe Energy Melee).

With Psychic Melee, you could ignore the Insight mechanic and do just fine. If you want to pay attention to it, then you'd want to time your use of Greater Psyblade for when you have Insight. Other than that, it's just a little added damage to some other powers on occasion. Generally, in the form of a DoT.

[Snakebit]

A Katana/Nin scrapper would be super easy to play and bring plenty to the table on teams. Simple defense setup, good damage output, very little micromanagement.  95% damage mitigation plus a self heal, permahasten, and very manageable end use plus a couple of utility powers. 

[doc_miller]

On 9/20/2019 at 10:52 AM, cejmp said:

A Katana/Nin scrapper would be super easy to play and bring plenty to the table on teams. Simple defense setup, good damage output, very little micromanagement.  95% damage mitigation plus a self heal, permahasten, and very manageable end use plus a couple of utility powers. 

I'm only going to object to this because of my irrational dislike of clicky status protection.

 

And to amend what DSorrow said, Staff does have a combo mechanic other than the stances, in that 2 powers gain extra stats when you use them with 3 stacks of Perfection of Body/Mind/Soul.

[Shred Monkey]

2 hours ago, doc_miller said:

I'm only going to object to this because of my irrational dislike of clicky status protection.

 

And to amend what DSorrow said, Staff does have a combo mechanic other than the stances, in that 2 powers gain extra stats when you use them with 3 stacks of Perfection of Body/Mind/Soul.

Yeah... but cntl-click that status protection to put it on auto and never think about it again.

[Vanden]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

Yeah... but cntl-click that status protection to put it on auto and never think about it again.

Except every time it interrupts my fighting....

[gameboy1234]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:03 AM, Darlomidge said:

Currently rolling a Level 50 SS/Inv Brute, have quite a bit of difficulty with survivability and endurance during solo play - probably mostly to do with the fact I find it quite difficult to play and find it fairly unforgiving. Does anyone know of an archetype and powerset that's fairly simple to play? 

Going out on a limb here a bit but if you're having trouble with survivability on a Brute I think your only hope is a Tanker.  People are suggesting Willpower, I'd recommend WP/Mace as pretty decent damage and ok to play.  (Though I like Shield Defense/Mace, that might be a bit like Invulnerability in its uses and slotting.)

 

Also no set or AT makes you invulnerable.  It's always possible to bite off more than you can chew.  Learn the mobs, learn your own capability, learn to count (and use) the Insp in your tray before doing something stupid, and also learn your teammates, their powers, and how those interact with your abilities.

 

[biostem]

On 9/20/2019 at 4:03 AM, Darlomidge said:

Currently rolling a Level 50 SS/Inv Brute, have quite a bit of difficulty with survivability and endurance during solo play - probably mostly to do with the fact I find it quite difficult to play and find it fairly unforgiving. Does anyone know of an archetype and powerset that's fairly simple to play? 

So, there are a few factors here that aren't known, and need clarification before we can properly address your predicament:

 

1. What difficulty and team size is your notoriety set to?  If you're having trouble soloing on like +4/x8, then that's not too concerning.  If you, however, are having problems with -1/x1, then we'll need to dig into your build and playstyle.

 

2. How are you slotted?  Do you have, for instance, yellow and red SOs?  Are your defensive toggles slotted with 3 DEF or RES enhancements and 1 endurance reduction?  How about stamina?  Do you have it 3-slotted with endurance modification enh's?

 

3. Are you actively using your inspirations?  Even a little purple luck can save your butt, and a few blue "catch a breath" insp's can make or break a fight.

 

That being said, I'm going to go against the trend here a bit, but please hear me out:  Try this combo - claws/bio armor.  I know it sounds weird, but I've found it quite effective.  For claws, your key powers will be follow up and eventually focus/shockwave.  Follow up grants you a nice tohit and damage buff, which can be made to be permanent with minimal effort.  For bio armor, you'll want your basic toggles, (Hardened Carapace, Environmental Modification, and Evolving Armor), plus Inexhaustible and Adaptation.  Now, the key thing with bio armor is that inexhaustible will keep your endurance full and health topped off.  while adaptation will give you 3 mutually exclusive toggles.  These toggles, (in simple terms), boost your damage, increase your survivability, or help with end issues.  Claws, besides the nice self-buff and some ranged attacks, is also fast-recharging and light on end use itself.  All I can say is to give this combo a try!

Edited September 24, 2019 by biostem

[Hrothgan]

6 hours ago, gameboy1234 said:

Going out on a limb here a bit but if you're having trouble with survivability on a Brute I think your only hope is a Tanker.  People are suggesting Willpower, I'd recommend WP/Mace as pretty decent damage and ok to play.  (Though I like Shield Defense/Mace, that might be a bit like Invulnerability in its uses and slotting.)

 

Also no set or AT makes you invulnerable.  It's always possible to bite off more than you can chew.  Learn the mobs, learn your own capability, learn to count (and use) the Insp in your tray before doing something stupid, and also learn your teammates, their powers, and how those interact with your abilities.

 

I think it's more the fact I dont really know how to play the Invul power set. I'm not really sure what powers to use when. I always have Unyielding and Temp Invulnerability toggled on, then after that I'm unsure on what to do. 

 

 

5 hours ago, biostem said:

So, there are a few factors here that aren't known, and need clarification before we can properly address your predicament:

 

1. What difficulty and team size is your notoriety set to?  If you're having trouble soloing on like +4/x8, then that's not too concerning.  If you, however, are having problems with -1/x1, then we'll need to dig into your build and playstyle.

 

2. How are you slotted?  Do you have, for instance, yellow and red SOs?  Are your defensive toggles slotted with 3 DEF or RES enhancements and 1 endurance reduction?  How about stamina?  Do you have it 3-slotted with endurance modification enh's?

 

3. Are you actively using your inspirations?  Even a little purple luck can save your butt, and a few blue "catch a breath" insp's can make or break a fight.

 

That being said, I'm going to go against the trend here a bit, but please hear me out:  Try this combo - claws/bio armor.  I know it sounds weird, but I've found it quite effective.  For claws, your key powers will be follow up and eventually focus/shockwave.  Follow up grants you a nice tohit and damage buff, which can be made to be permanent with minimal effort.  For bio armor, you'll want your basic toggles, (Hardened Carapace, Environmental Modification, and Evolving Armor), plus Inexhaustible and Adaptation.  Now, the key thing with bio armor is that inexhaustible will keep your endurance full and health topped off.  while adaptation will give you 3 mutually exclusive toggles.  These toggles, (in simple terms), boost your damage, increase your survivability, or help with end issues.  Claws, besides the nice self-buff and some ranged attacks, is also fast-recharging and light on end use itself.  All I can say is to give this combo a try!

 

1. I usually play with team size 1 then +1 notoriety when I'm soloing. I've re-done a few of my enhancements and I'm starting to get better survivability now, although as I've stated above, I'm not too sure on how to play the Invul power set which is a big part of the problem.

 

2.  I've tried to follow this build https://web.archive.org/web/20120907034145/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=252633#post252633 - most of my defensive powers are slotted with Level 50 Resistance SO's. I'll provide a screenshot later tonight with all my enhancements as I did deviate a little from the build.

 

3. No I've not really been using inspirations, wasn't sure whether it was a good thing to be relying on inspirations.  

Edited September 24, 2019 by Darlomidge

[biostem]

1 minute ago, Darlomidge said:

3. No I've not really been using inspirations, wasn't sure whether it was a good thing to be relying on inspirations.  

Inspirations are there to be used - they'll give you that little edge you may need, until you get your footing.

 

2 minutes ago, Darlomidge said:

1. I usually play with team size 1 then +1 notoriety. I've re-done a few of my enhancements and I'm starting to get better survivability now, although as I've stated above, I'm not too sure on how to play the Invul power set.

Are you slotting endurance reductions in your defensive toggles and attacks?  Without those, and only just relying on stamina, you'll be sucking wind in no time.  It's also a good idea to get into the habit of *not* firing off those AoE attacks if there's only 1 or 2 enemies.  As an /invuln, you also have a bit of a hole with regard to psychic enemies - so if you;re facing those, that could also explain why you're not fairing so well.  Additionally, without a good amount of defense, you're going to be hit a lot - even if you have high resists, enemy attacks that carry debuffs can really pile up and ruin your day.  Keep at it, or alternatively, give this character some time off, and try something different... maybe you just need a change of perspective for a little bit.

[Hrothgan]

10 minutes ago, biostem said:

Inspirations are there to be used - they'll give you that little edge you may need, until you get your footing.

 

Are you slotting endurance reductions in your defensive toggles and attacks?  Without those, and only just relying on stamina, you'll be sucking wind in no time.  It's also a good idea to get into the habit of *not* firing off those AoE attacks if there's only 1 or 2 enemies.  As an /invuln, you also have a bit of a hole with regard to psychic enemies - so if you;re facing those, that could also explain why you're not fairing so well.  Additionally, without a good amount of defense, you're going to be hit a lot - even if you have high resists, enemy attacks that carry debuffs can really pile up and ruin your day.  Keep at it, or alternatively, give this character some time off, and try something different... maybe you just need a change of perspective for a little bit.

 

In the two toggles that I use all the time, in Unyielding and Temp Invulnerability, I have 1 Endurance Reduction and 3 Resist in each. Then an endurance reduction in each attack  +3 dmg +1 Acc.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Darlomidge

[gameboy1234]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:03 AM, Darlomidge said:

Currently rolling a Level 50 SS/Inv Brute

On my SD/WM tanker, it wasn't too long before I was soloing Carnival missions on +1/+4, and pulling the first group into the second so there'd be more folks to fight.  Not sure how long but it wasn't level 50, might have been in the 20 to 30 range (I know I had Shield Bash by then though, and two AoEs from Mace, so it might have been a bit post 30).

 

Check your total bonuses in the Combat Stats window.  Monitor some of those like to-hit and last chance to hit and global accuracy as you fight.  You sound like you've got a bit to much Damage and Resists slotted, and not enough other effects like Recharge, Accuracy, To-Hit Debuff (I think that goes in Unyielding), etc.  Powers have to hit before they do damage, and that's important. 

 

You haven't mentioned Dull Pain and that confuses me.  Dull Pain should be six slotted before anything else is.  Three Health and three Recharge.  You should have global recharge and concentrate on making Dull Pain permanent.  Hasten is your friend.  (Note I didn't say Dull Pain should be slotted to the exclusion of anything else.  My Inv/SS tanker hasn't even taken it yet, but she's low level and is still filling out her attack chain.  Once you get two or three slots in everything, taunt, a travel power, and a (mostly) full attack chain, then take Dull Pain and Hasten.  Then maybe work on Tough and Weave.  It's all in the long term planning.)

 

What you should be doing: 1. use insp 2. kill stuff.  3. use the insp drops you got from killing stuff.  4. kill stuff 5. go back to 1.

 

 

[gameboy1234]

9 hours ago, Darlomidge said:

In the two toggles that I use all the time, in Unyielding and Temp Invulnerability, I have 1 Endurance Reduction and 3 Resist in each. Then an endurance reduction in each attack  +3 dmg +1 Acc.

I wish I had my old slotting from live, but those are long gone.  You also have two Resist in the passives, right?  And you took all the passives?  Did you skip any powers?  What pool powers do you have?