Best of Both - Blood Widower Fortunado Build

[Clave Dark 5]

On 10/10/2019 at 7:19 AM, Gulbasaur said:

"powexec_location camera:max Translocation"

Wait, is that a macro, or a keybind?  I really should know these things better; I don't seen any mention of a key in it so it's a macro command, right?  I have a thing against keybinds and prefer buttons to drop into a tray.  Assuming that's a macro command, I'd type in something like

 

/macro TP "powexec_location camera:max Translocation"

 

to create the button, right?

[Gulbasaur]

3 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Wait, is that a macro, or a keybind?  I really should know these things better; I don't seen any mention of a key in it so it's a macro command, right?  I have a thing against keybinds and prefer buttons to drop into a tray.  Assuming that's a macro command, I'd type in something like

 

/macro TP "powexec_location camera:max Translocation"

 

to create the button, right?

I'm a clicker too. Same thing, different interface. That will create a button labelled TP that will send you 100yds forward to the centre of the camera.

 

/macro_image "SorceryPool_Translocation" "Translocation" "powexec_location camera:max translocation"

This should give you a little translocation icon that you can click on to teleport (while flying).

 

I'm about to respec to give myself Total Domination, which will be V3 of the build... not sure how it'll go. Anyway...

Edited October 25, 2019 by Gulbasaur

[Clave Dark 5]

Cool, thanks!  Definitely going to drop this on all my Mystic Flight toons.

[Gulbasaur]

Version 3: More AoE, reordering

 

This is basically the last version - main notes are slight reordering of powers so I have an AoE earlier for flashback reasons. Subdue has been swapped out for Total Domination, which is filled with procs to make it more impactful - it has a very long recharge time.

 

Spoiler

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I've really enjoyed playing with this build, and thanks everyone for feedback. It's still absurdly powerful and this is the best I've got without dipping too much into glass cannon or mighty glacier territory. Like all the epic ATs, it's a master of none (though I've solod AVs), but if you're playing an epic AT that's probably what you want.

 

[wrongholecohv]

Thank you for sharing this ❤️

 

I have used it as the path to build mine. Currently at lvl 39 and climbing. Just with basic IO's it's performing nicely, very flexible both solo and with teams.

 

I will start slotting sets when I hit 50.

[Gulbasaur]

6 hours ago, wrongholecohv said:

I have used it as the path to build mine. Currently at lvl 39 and climbing. Just with basic IO's it's performing nicely, very flexible both solo and with teams.

 

The fact that people are using my builds as a guide is nice to know. I think the backbone of it is definitely the power choices more than the IOs and yeah, it definitely does well solo. I've settled down on the third version of the build, which exemplars down a bit better because it has an AoE, which I was really missing. It's still an absurd powerhouse at top level. 

 

For the IOs, I'd focus on getting the really unique ones first. The fear proc in psychic scream is really, really good and the global toxic damage one is fine. It's nice when it goes off with other procs, which happens reasonably often. The one I think I get the most bang for my buck for is definitely the Preventative Medicine one, though. With the scaling damage resistances, it just means that getting injured isn't really a problem. 

 

Glad you're enjoying it!

[Machariel]

Yeah, that conditional Absorb + Scaling Damage Resistance is really sweet. 👌 I'm going to have to start working that into my builds and its especially great on widows.

I'm having a lot of fun with my Widow.  She solos well, she caps defenses on teams, she's got multiple flexible attack chains, access to psi damage on demand (really useful on ITF), and a ton of utility.  Thanks again for the writeup!

[Machariel]

Update: Did Posi 1 and Posi 2 today so I thought I'd share my low-level impressions as well.  Dominate continues to be an absolute MVP when scaled down, deleting even level or +1 minions on one shot and taking massive chunks out of CoT bosses.  Early access to psi damage continues to be useful (goodbye Clockwork 💁‍♀️) and in these conditions I missed having Subdue instead of Mental Blast, but it was still pretty smooth.  It's unlikely you'll have to exemplar lower than this which is nice because it means you'll always have Mask Presence and stealthRecall Friend if you want to speed through TFs (though you're stuck with ninja run).  I couldn't quite carelessly hurl myself at mobs at level 15 without Foresight and Mind Link but for any other content I'll do I'll have those. 

If I respec again I think I'll take Super Speed earlier and put off TT:L or Total Domination. 

 

At the other end of the level spectrum, Psionic Wail is such a powerful nuke that I think we might need to ask the UN about WMDs.  My goodness.

Edited October 26, 2019 by Machariel
oops.

[Gulbasaur]

Awesome! I'm copying your idea and trying Posi 1 and 2 solo at +0x1 on the V3 build. Not glamorous or too challenging, but a fine test run and I actually get to read the clues and stuff solo.

 

The fear proc in Psychic Scream turns it into excellent crowd control, albeit a bit random. When it hits, it's a nice survivability bonus as enemies just stop attacking you. Really glad I moved this attack to earlier - excellent value cone attack and the proc just makes it better. 

 

Dr Vaz spawns as an AV - envenomed dagger was incredibly useful (but I reckon I could have done it without) and I turned on Stephenie Peebles' wedding band for a bit of extra protection. I also used the backup radio, but my backup immediately went off to punch a random zombie and was of no use at all. That power really needs the pet control menu from the Lore pets to be useful.

 

Vaz's AI seems to be programmed to move back to the centre of the raised platform every now and again, which is pretty irritating if you knock him (or he just walks off, as happened a few times - not a huge amount of common sense, even if he does have a doctorate) off as he seems to either fly or teleport back up there (not sure which - he just suddenly wasn't there). The ambushes that spawn can do a bit of damage as they explode, but you can separate them from Vaz very easily and AoE them down. I survived it, chomping down about half my inspirations on the way, mostly due to the ambush mobs. That's my second solo AV done with this character, which is pretty satisfying.

 

Positron 1 (L15):

Spoiler

Only hairy moments were when I faced a lot of enemies at once, which isn't really unusual for the level. My Domination isn't quite the one-shot wonder of yours, but it's still solid. Doc Buzzsaw got me good once, but she fell down quickly enough. I was expecting the Atlas Park final mission to be awful but it was actually a merry romp. Seeing it with such low spawns was interesting. No problems at all.

 

 

Positron 2:

Spoiler

Main difference is significantly higher defence - maybe foresight comes on? Not sure, but either way 20-30% defence at level 16 is tanker-tier. Absolute cakewalk. I realise the difficulty was low, but exemplared, it's very strong and has a solid attack chain with a reasonable degree of control and really, really high defence and resistance for the level.

 

And yes, Psychic Wail is completely disproportionate in how powerful it is. I'm sure nukes used to wipe your endurance out... also also, just checked City of Data and the i25 patch notes, and it looks like Dominate still lacks a positional tag. I'd noticed it was effective against MoG'd paragon protectors, so that's useful to know.

Edited October 26, 2019 by Gulbasaur

[Gulbasaur]

As a final note, I've swapped out the L50 choice of the accuracy bonus with the AoE taunt from the presence pool and slotted it with a psi damage proc. No ragrets. Magetank 4 eva. 

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

[HachiMan2007]

     I am running version 2 of these builds and yes they feel super solid and very fun to play. However I have a question. When you say you soloed +4/x8 was that with a different build then version 2? Don't get me wrong, it's fun but if I go over +2/x3 I struggle big time. Either killing speed or endurance loss., and that usually results not in death, but so low health and endurance I run away and recoup.   Maybe all your incarnates are tier 4? I am only at tier 1 musculature, degenerative and ageless right now.

 

I have followed the build to the letter otherwise. Maybe its my play style? I tend to hit scrapper mode too often and perhaps a widow needs to utilize its confuse and ranged powers more? I often forget about it and the mass confusion is still dreadfully slow recharging so it's only a panic button if a pull another group accidentally.

 

Help me Obi One Gulbasaur, you're my only hope.

 

 

[Gulbasaur]

13 hours ago, HachiMan2007 said:

When you say you soloed +4/x8 was that with a different build then version 2?

Just to clarify, I only do that by accident and I don't regularly do it. +3x5 is my standard solo fare at level 50, just because it takes too long to mow through bosses in groups. I don't particularly enjoy the slog of it. I can and I have but it's too grindy for my tastes.

 

That said, +4AVs are soloable. Grab some envenomed daggers from the P2W vendor and that will help. It's mostly a bragging rights thing but you can definitely do it, it just takes a while. I don't tend to do +4 content unless I'm a group but +3 is the sweet spot for solo at 50 for me.

13 hours ago, HachiMan2007 said:

I tend to hit scrapper mode too often and perhaps a widow needs to utilize its confuse and ranged powers more?

In terms of playstyle...  Don't hold anything back. I think fortunatas work best when they're played hyper-aggressively. Constant pressure. Berserker rage. Control combat as much as you can.

 

If you want a scrapper playstyle, you might prefer a Night Widow build. Don't think sneaky stealth fighter (that's a Night Widow job). You know that scene in Kill Bill where the Bride uses everything at her disposal to utterly destroy a restaurant full of mafia warriors and literally announces her arrival? That kind of energy. MacGonagall when she found out Snape killed Dumbledore. Gandalf holding off the balrog. Wonder Woman crossing the trenches. Hold nothing back.

 

You've got control, you can knock a boss to his feet from the other side of a room and you can make close friends light each other on fire, and that's all before you remember you can shoot knives out of your fists. Use all of it, all of the time. The only thing I sort of hold back are wail and the AoE confuse - I try to alternate between them so I've always got one at my disposal.

 

I normally try to confuse lieutenants, unless there are enemies I know will help me like Ritki Guardians, Cimemoran Surgeons, sappers, Tsoo sorcerers etc. Basically any time you see an annoying enemy, confuse them so they annoy someone else. Confuse is, well, confusing as the xp tax puts people off - confuse speeds up combat so you end up with more xp for your time.  Some bosses, like Fake Nemeses, are annoying enough that it's worth stacking confuse on them and topping it up over a fight.

 

On my build (V3, basically - I constantly fiddle with it but that's basically it), the ranged is where all my control is. Scream does fear, tornado does knockdown, dominate is a hold and all three are good attacks. Use the AoE damage to whittle you enemies down and keep them from attacking you. Use your holds. Use your knockback.

 

Open with your nuke, and if that's on cooldown then use your AoE confuse. Total Domination is a panic button because it's so slow, but it's there. I tend to use it most in teams as it's a handy thing to throw around a teammate who's struggling, but with procs it's a decent enough AoE attack.

 

I only really go into melee when I'm fighting bosses or to finish enemies off when there are only two or three left. I hammer out the AoE as much as I can - the fear proc and knockdown are fantastic. But also, there's no shame in lowering your difficulty - I find I'm always pretty safe, but bosses take a while to hammer through on +4x8 and the gameplay slows right down to the point where it feels too much like work.

 

Lastly, remember it's a game so if you're finding it a slog so solo then you're only cheating yourself. Also, it's 100% possible that if you like melee more then a night widow build would be more your thing, but I don't like them (they feel like stalkers without amped up crit rate) and tastes differ. Also also, don't feel like you have to follow it to the letter - swap things around. The build is good (which is why I posted it), but you might discover something better.

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Gulbasaur

[HachiMan2015]

That's......about as awesome a response as one can get. Thank you. It did help a ton. I need to use scream and nado more. I'm not melee preferred, I just thought I was supposed to be 😜 on this build. More the fool me.

 

Thank you for your detailed answers!!

[Erydanus]

Pretty interesting. I just came back to my fortunado too (note: I was under the Impression that fortunado is the masculine of fortunata even without the tornado) because after hitting 24 I overdid it with the fortunata training and left him without any melee attacks. Too much of a change! The kicker is, I never appreciated the claws attacks until I separately rolled a claws/ninjitsu scrapper. I never played claws in the classic game but did have a 50 Fortunado there and relied on the darts and psi stuff. I think maybe I've always just resented they couldn't be customized and just didn't appreciate follow-up and spin. Well I appreciate them now. So I respecced into a new build to level where I took all the melee attacks and supplemented with the AoE psi attacks, plus scream has a whopping -50% recharge so that's mitigation, and the psinado has knockdown, also mitigation. For leveling I went ahead and took maneuvers because it was easy to get to melee softcap with it though the end drain right now is pretty bad as I haven't gotten end reduction in my attacks yet; with a Miracle I am seeing quick replenishment once I've stopped attacking but I've been deliberately trying to burn through missions to test the build out. The approach seems really good and overall pretty similar to your build. (I actually wanted tk smack for a force feedback but that's what got delayed for pool maneuvers.)

 

One final note on the flight/sorcery flight debate: you can't do fly poses with sorcery flight; if the fly poses are important to someone that might be their dealbreaker.

[Gulbasaur]

39 minutes ago, HachiMan2015 said:

That's......about as awesome a response as one can get. Thank you. It did help a ton. I need to use scream and nado more. I'm not melee preferred, I just thought I was supposed to be 😜 on this build. More the fool me.

 

Thank you for your detailed answers!!

Thanks! To be specific, I think melee is best for single targets (or two or three that you can take out quickly), but you need the AoE to get down to single targets. Hammer everyone with everything you've got. 

15 minutes ago, Erydanus said:

you can't do fly poses with sorcery flight;

Yes you can - I was messing around with it the other day. Might be a new addition? I ended up taking mystic flight because the teleport is mildly useful  but I ninja run and sprint a lot of the time because who doesn't love some unnecessary freerunning? Also, your build sounds pretty fun. I really enjoy the epic archetypes I've played because they can do a bit of everything, so it seems almost foolish not to have a frankenmash of different attack types. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Gulbasaur

[Erydanus]

Fly poses with sorcery??? Whoa I will have to check that out they were definitely not working before. Stealth buff!!

 

Now I'm working on a Huntsman build, I'm trying to figure out if I can take the Fighting Pool completely and use it to fill in so I can get to 50 without going bane or crab, though honestly the bane secondary is hard to pass up on - I might let myself take the secondary and build up but no mace attacks and hand wave it as still being a huntsman >_> .

[Gulbasaur]

6 minutes ago, Erydanus said:

Now I'm working on a Huntsman build, I'm trying to figure out if I can take the Fighting Pool completely and use it to fill in so I can get to 50 without going bane or crab, though honestly the bane secondary is hard to pass up on - I might let myself take the secondary and build up but no mace attacks and hand wave it as still being a huntsman >_> .

I keep giving spiders a long, hard side-glance. Part of me thinks I'd like them, but I also think I should play something that isn't an epic archetype for a bit. Which is silly, because they're the most epic... I like the idea of the crab backpack because it's so crunchy looking. You have to lean into the silliness. Maybe I should just get on with it, really... 

 

I'd be interested in seeing the build when it's ready for public viewing. 

[Erydanus]

I'm in Mids right now and it's not looking like a good concept. For a while I've wanted to roll a character who heavily uses the fighting pool so I could check out cross-punch; since the EATs have great parameters to begin with I thought it might fill a huge gap. I also thought that if I got into tough and weave early in the build when I didn't have a lot of slots I could increase survivability by just stacking the powers even if they weren't fully slotted. Thing is, it's not like the huntsman is short on powers to choose and I'd not be grabbing the fighting pool until up around 30. It seems pointless if I'm doing it at that level. I may still do a huntsman-not-bane for concept reasons, I like the arachnos rifle iirc, but unless I turn out to be a pincushion who needs tough/weave to level with, I probably won't hit the fighting pool.  I'd probably just take leadership - but you never know. I might hate some of the animations.

 

 

[mcdoogss]

7 hours ago, Gulbasaur said:

I keep giving spiders a long, hard side-glance. Part of me thinks I'd like them, but I also think I should play something that isn't an epic archetype for a bit. Which is silly, because they're the most epic... I like the idea of the crab backpack because it's so crunchy looking. You have to lean into the silliness. Maybe I should just get on with it, really... 

 

I'd be interested in seeing the build when it's ready for public viewing. 

Beast run + crab backpack for 50 levels of smiles

[Gulbasaur]

On 11/17/2019 at 12:41 AM, mcdoogss said:

Beast run + crab backpack for 50 levels of smiles

I want to create one with the no-head head part, robot arms and legs and just call it CRABPACK. I will exclusively run sideways. 

[Erydanus]

So @Gulbasaur I tried to do fly poses while using mystic flight this weekend and nopers, it didn't work. Are you sure you were on a mystic flight character doing that??

 

Also to follow up on my comments about my Huntsman, he has been a lot of fun, I think he's bout 18 now.  Turns out I really like the gun animations (both shooting and smacking people with it) and this makes me remember what I was doing with mine on live before shutdown. I was basically playing him like a sentinel, just enjoying the blaster-like shooting front end with the layered defenses of the SOA secondary. Now on the current guy, redraw has been hell any time I used filler powers like Sands of Mu so my idea of mixing in the fighting pool is definitely right out. It's interesting that with the Widows the Fort/NW get the same attacks as the Blood Widow (albeit I think the NW gets redrawless animations making them a bit better?), but for the Soldiers it's like you throw away the gun when you become a bane and take attacks using the mace that parallel the originals. Unfortunately, staying with the gun is choosing to take numerically inferior attacks but that's the price of a Concept(tm) Character. 

[Gulbasaur]

@Erydanus are you doing /emote flypose1 etc? You need the emote part.

 

I started a huntsman too and bopped along a bit. Fun enough... but then I started a warshade which is slightly more fun. I may go back to it!

[DasEnder]

Hey Gulb, I need your help. I'm really liking the Claws Fort concept, but I'm having a little problem with AoE in specific.

 

The melee ST attack chain is clear and easy, but I don't see an AoE attack chain anywhere. At 34, all I've got for AoE is Scream, and that isn't exactly winning awards for damage at this level. I can see that in a few levels comes Psinado, but even then, that's only two AoE attacks used frequently (I don't count Wail, given its cooldown).

 

At this point, I'm just Confusing one, Dominating another, Screaming, then going ST through the mobs. It doesn't seem to be a very efficient way to do things. Can you give me some pointers? I don't wanna shelve this character, I really like a lot about it.

[Erydanus]

@Gulbasaur Yup! Hit R to autorun and tried /em flypose1 /em flypose2 /em flypose3 etc no effect at all.

[Gulbasaur]

I agree, AoE is a problem early on. I originally had none until really late, but eventually I sorted that out on V3. You could always swap Total Domination and Psychic Tornado around so you've got it earlier.

 

I've been doing flashbacks recently, so this is something I'm quite aware of but don't know how to solve, really.

 

Basically, until you get wail on a short recharge or tornado, you rely quite a lot on procs in scream. The fear proc ATO is absolute solid gold because it turns, say, a mob of 6 enemies into 3 and 3 because half of them stand there shaking whole you melee the rest down. Dominate allows you to take out another one. Break groups down into stab-friendly chunks.

 

When you get wail and tornado, your AoE skills sort of take over as you can hammer out a lot of control that also does damage. More if you add procs.

 

So, yeah... That's my honest answer: while levelling use the fear proc and the hold to make groups smaller and easier to digest. If you can't afford the fear proc... Send me a tell in game and I'll send it to you - it's that good.

Edited November 20, 2019 by Gulbasaur