Anti-FotM: What Are Your Hidden Gems?

[Erratic1]

There is an understandable tendency to focus on "best" and "powerful" builds on the forums and in game. Twice this past weekend I noticed requests for "Best Tanker build", which lead to the inevitable discussion of what the person in question meant by "best". However that discussion is not what this thread is about.

 

Of late I have been working on two melee builds which are very much not Flavor of the Month and do not qualify as particularly powerful. They are solid, but will never grab headlines. In combination with the above experience, I thought I would start a thread where people speak about their hidden gems powerset combos. 

 

Unlike "powerful", where it is going to be pretty widely agreed by anyone with experience with the powerset combo that it is indeed ahead of other combos, what qualifies as a hidden gem is going to be more in the eye of the beholder. Even so, let me put forth a criteria for determining what is a hidden gem....

 

Take two reasonably solid powersets and put them together. You likely have a solid performer because both pieces do their job. But a hidden gem emerges when the two sets work in concert to get you better performance than you might have otherwise expected, but not such good performance that you're left wondering why everyone isn't playing it. Or perhaps the hidden gem aspect emerges from working within the confines of of the mechanics of one powerset, thereby alleviating what would otherwise been a problem for the other.

I will get the ball rolling with an example (one of the aforementioned melee builds): Electric Armor/Fiery Melee

If you check the FotM thread where the frequency of powerset combos at level 50 are presented, you will find that for Tankers Electric Armor sneaks into the top 10 most frequently played sets when paird with Electrical Melee. After that, it is not seen again until ranks 37, paired with Titan Weapon (obviously piggy-backing its endurance hunger to Electric Armor's ability to refil an endurance bar), and rank 38, paired with Super Strength. After that there is rank 67 (Radiation Melee), rank 88 (Energy Melee), rank 114 (Dark Melee...I could probably write about the hidden gem nature of this one), and finally, the subject of this example at rank 123 (Fiery Melee). In the realm of players level 3 to 49 Electric Armor/Fiery Melee is even further down, at rank 202.

 

 

Why would one pair Electric Armor with Fiery Melee?

 

If you're not enamored with thermocouples, thematically, it does not necessarily seem like fertile ground unless you happen to think of stars--giant balls of ionized nuclei which generate intense heat. Mechanically, Electric Armor is a very solid resistance set whose only serious weakness comes in the form of Toxic damage. Moreover it comes with both ways to recover endurance and heal--and the heal lowers your endurance costs for 30 seconds by a whopping 59.6%! Add to that a minor boost to Recharge and you're looking at the powerset that was Radiation Armor before there was Radiation Armor. I bet Electric Armor would like to take Radiation Armor down a dark alley and beat it senseless for copying most of Electric Armor's goodies and having resistance to Toxic. Fiery Melee's mechanical pull is setting things on fire for extra damage.

 

 

What is the synergy? 

 

Did I mention you are continuously damaging anything that is near you via Lightning Field, setting things on fire, and endlessly making quicker than normal attacks? And they are going to give Tankers (a) more damage and (b) bigger area of effects?!?!? Muhahahaha!!!!

The powerset combo does not match the iconic, take incredible blows without flinching and backhand opponents through walls even if you do take incredible blows and melt your opponents. It is not stand there and watch things melt for stupidly getting close to you--your damage aura helps put things down but you have to take action if you want to defeat foes in a timely fashion. You do not control your foes and thereby prevent them from attacking you or those around you (though once you've gotten their attention they are not likely to look elsewhere). Electric Armor and Fiery Melee are not two solid powersets that just happen to be solid together but rather they rise in combination to be more than the sum of their parts.

So tell me, what are your hidden gems?
 

[SaintD]

I just started a new BA/SD tank, because when those changes on Beta hit Live and make Tankers double the size of their AoE, this combo is going to be a non-stop cavalcade of utter knockdown lunacy that only boring people won't be laughing maniacally at.

[JCMcBoo]

I am having a ball with my Ice Armor/Dark Melee tanker. The buff/debuff synergy takes my defense over the top and the regen/recovery overlap is amazing!

 

I am also enjoying my SR/Katana tanker. Another good synergy for nigh unassailable defense and a fast attack cycle. I also have a great pirate themed back story that got me a 10 million influence honorable mention in a recent costume contest. 😄

 

[JCMcBoo]

4 hours ago, SaintD said:

I just started a new BA/SD tank, because when those changes on Beta hit Live and make Tankers double the size of their AoE, this combo is going to be a non-stop cavalcade of utter knockdown lunacy that only boring people won't be laughing maniacally at.

Sorry....

 

SD/BA because you're not talking about a brute and Battle Axe armor would just look silly. 😛

 

[Murcielago]

Energy/WM because its strong and pretty

[TacoHammer]

I play Dark/Rad - its super end hungry - but its fun to play. I do not see many out and about. It seems to be able to do most everything, 2 damage auras , 2 additional auras for taunting and mitigation, maybe the best heal in the game and psionic protection built into the Dark Armor set.  

 

lots of fun really powerful if you can get over the end use.

 

 

 

[biostem]

I'm currently enjoying my battle axe/willpower brute.  I've also had good results from a claws/bio armor brute.  I've had pretty good results from a war mace/energy aura brute as well, (I like brutes).  I've also got a 38 necro/trick arrow mastermind that is currently parked, but not a bad combination.

[Odhinn]

Recently got my Bio/Spines tank to 50+1 and slotted out. e has been a real joy to play and far more survivable than I would have imagined.

[oldskool]

I do have the obligatory Willpower/Super Strength but I don't count that as a flavor of the month.  Its more like flavor comic books and all eras. 

I have started work on a Dark Armor/Titan Weapon Tank because of a costume combo I found that matches a concept. 

 

What's the synergy?

 

Well, very little.  Defensive Sweep is a welcome power to add more defense but that is about it.  Knockdowns can be cute too.  There are no to hit debuffs/stuns/fears to stack with Oppressive Gloom/Cloak of Fear making them skippable.

 

Now, both of these do have two mantras in common:

 

"The endurance bar is EVIL and must be punished!"

 

"Your influence gains are EVIL and must be distributed in both sets!"

 

I did not pick these two sets for playing with SOs or necessarily going around doing exemplar content.  Both of these sets love them some IOs and the more expensive the better.  In fact, that was another reason I really want to pursue this character project.  Its all about playing with the invention system to really rig out how I want to approach closing the Energy Resistance gap while simultaneously building in enough endurance management to use some TW attacks. 

 

The character is all about the build challenge and it is stylish AF.  I'm still tweaking my build but I know the paths to take to hit my goals.  Even just messing around leveling it is a beautiful thing, but I wouldn't recommend playing it without some endurance procs.

 

[TungstenShark]

1 hour ago, oldskool said:

I have started work on a Dark Armor/Titan Weapon Tank

I have one of these as well (not yet even level 30) and you are right - this is a combo that's all about the endgame. Both sets are amazing but require heavy investment to truly shine. It's a long-term project for me and I play him occasionally between my other bouts of alt-itis.

[Dakota Sunrise]

My main is a Stone/Titan Tanker. She was originally Stone/Stone back during Live but in this new multiverse, I decided to re-create her with a different Secondary. I've read /Titan is really bad for a Stone Tank. Well, I kind of liked the idea of a huge stone mallet. And if I didn't like it, I could always reroll her.

 

At first, I was worried about the annoyingly frustrating first attack lag. Also, playing /Stone for all those years, I wasn't sure if there was enough mitigation since I opened up with Fault and followed with Tremor to bounce the mobs.

 

Well, there's more than enough bounce in Titan Weapons. Titan Sweep, Whirling Smash, Arc of Destruction, and Follow Through all keep the mobs bouncing. Also, opening with Defensive Sweep in my attack chain means plenty of +Def to Smashing and Melee. So between the +Def and knockdown, not much touches her.

 

I usually run in the various armor but IOsets pretty much negate the -Rech when I need to use Granite. Ageless for more +Rech but I don't find it necessary. She's currently slotted with Rebirth +HP.

 

About the only annoyance is that sloooOooOoooow first attack when chasing down runners. 😛

 

Otherwise, properly built Stone/Titan is no where near as bad as you'd think. 🙂

 

[Erratic1]

8 hours ago, Dakota Sunrise said:

My main is a Stone/Titan Tanker. She was originally Stone/Stone back during Live but in this new multiverse, I decided to re-create her with a different Secondary. I've read /Titan is really bad for a Stone Tank. Well, I kind of liked the idea of a huge stone mallet. And if I didn't like it, I could always reroll her.

 

At first, I was worried about the annoyingly frustrating first attack lag. Also, playing /Stone for all those years, I wasn't sure if there was enough mitigation since I opened up with Fault and followed with Tremor to bounce the mobs.

 

Well, there's more than enough bounce in Titan Weapons. Titan Sweep, Whirling Smash, Arc of Destruction, and Follow Through all keep the mobs bouncing. Also, opening with Defensive Sweep in my attack chain means plenty of +Def to Smashing and Melee. So between the +Def and knockdown, not much touches her.

 

I usually run in the various armor but IOsets pretty much negate the -Rech when I need to use Granite. Ageless for more +Rech but I don't find it necessary. She's currently slotted with Rebirth +HP.

 

About the only annoyance is that sloooOooOoooow first attack when chasing down runners. 😛

 

Otherwise, properly built Stone/Titan is no where near as bad as you'd think. 🙂

 

 

Bravo!

[Ravenprince]

Tried out an Ice/MA last night.  At level 2, you have 27 defense to Smashing/Lethal.  Pop 1 purple and you are practically capped to the most common damage type at level 2!  Smooth sailing level 1-50.

[Heraclea]

On 10/14/2019 at 7:51 PM, Odhinn said:

Recently got my Bio/Spines tank to 50+1 and slotted out. e has been a real joy to play and far more survivable than I would have imagined.

I also have a Bio/Spines tanker that I enjoy a great deal. She probably counts as a Proc Monster because each power that will admit it is Frankenslotted with Pacing of the Turtle Chance for Recharge Slow.   Spines/Bio is a canonical farming Brute, but as a Tanker not so FOTM.

 

I also have a Super Reflexes/Katana tanker.  She's stuck at 28, but it was my intention to level her to take on endgame content like New Dark Astoria, as well as playing story based AE arcs.  My existing tankers (Inv/DM, and Bio/Spines) are whole-game tankers in a way she'll never be, so I just haven't been motivated to finish her. 

 

Radiation/Street Justice is another favorite tanker of mine, and Radiation Armor is one of my favorite armor sets generally. 

[Bill Z Bubba]

I have one tank that gets playtime. SR/FM. Doesn't get hit, AoEs and Evasion's taunt aura + actual taunting allows me to tank very well for teams (regardless of some naysayers incorrect beliefs) and once I got some damage love from incarnate buffs became tolerable when hitting DA at +4/x8 while solo.

[Odhinn]

1 hour ago, Heraclea said:

I also have a Bio/Spines tanker that I enjoy a great deal. She probably counts as a Proc Monster because each power that will admit it is Frankenslotted with Pacing of the Turtle Chance for Recharge Slow.   Spines/Bio is a canonical farming Brute, but as a Tanker not so FOTM.

 

I also have a Super Reflexes/Katana tanker.  She's stuck at 28, but it was my intention to level her to take on endgame content like New Dark Astoria, as well as playing story based AE arcs.  My existing tankers (Inv/DM, and Bio/Spines) are whole-game tankers in a way she'll never be, so I just haven't been motivated to finish her. 

 

Radiation/Street Justice is another favorite tanker of mine, and Radiation Armor is one of my favorite armor sets generally. 

I would love to see your build if you willing to share it. I posted mine in a topic if you would be willing to take a peek as well. Your Invul build helped my Invul/SS main.

[DaSlaya]

Only at level 37 but been having a blast with Dark Armor/ Stone Melee Tank.  I believe this combo was popular back in the day, as it truly makes a lot of sense.  Not to mention that Stone Melee, just hits hard and really just looks like a Tank!   Sure Dark Armor is end hungry and a pain to level, but high resists and decent defense make it so much fun!  I will be that guy that takes Cloak of Fear and Oppressive Gloom, just because.  

 

So you're CoF not fearing the mobs and OG not disorienting?  No problem, knock them down with Fault and Tremor.  Want some fun procs, sure  throw in Glimpse of the Abyss: Chance for Psi dmg in CoF, Avalanche chance to KD proc in Death Shroud, and of course Razzle Dazzle: Chance for Immob and Absolute Amazement: Chance for ToHit Debuff procs.  I also plan to frankenslot Fault with Peroxisome Exposure HO for some dmg (I think that will work).  Oh yeah and of course the Perfect Zinger: Chance for Psi dmg in taunt, cause nothing is more fun than killing that bad guy with one sliver of health left with a Taunt.  Now thats Tanking baby!  This guy is going to end up better and more fun than my 50 Inv/SS Tank.

[VV]

I have a baby Bio/Psi that is level 11. She's a concept build from another game, but has been a lot of fun so far. Have not DFBed her at all, just running low-level missions solo. I don't know about the synergy and have not checked the FotM list, but as far as I know, /Psi is pretty well disrespected, which is another reason I took it. Bio/ sounded really fun, and I like the ability to swap from offensive to defensive focus, seems like that will be good for soloing, where I can up the damage a bit.

[Call Me Awesome]

My all time favorite combination is Invuln/Stone Melee.  It offers top tier protection coupled with decent damage and great control and aggro management.  My namesake was my first level 50 back in issue 3 and by far my most played character logging somewhere around 4,000 hours at shutdown.  It has the durability to easily handle anything in the game if built right, the tools to hold aggro almost as tightly as Ice and the controls to keep mobs on their butts instead of hitting anyone.  It won't out damage a Fire/Fire tank but it will out survive it; it's not quite as tough as an IO'd Granite tank but it's a hell of a lot more mobile.  And it's not the "standard tanker, one each" of Inv/SS that everyone seems to play.

 

I've played several other tankers to 50, Stone/EM (pre-nerf it was borderline adequate, now it's terrible), Fire/Fire (solid throughout on Live), Stone/Fire (great pre-IO, still good at shutdown), Shield/Fire (possibly my 2nd favorite), Ice/Fire (ok performer but didn't really click with me) and a couple of others I'm not remembering right now... I think I had close to 30 characters at level 50 when the game shut down and at least one of every AT but Masterminds.

[skoryy]

Another Rad/StJ here.  Mostly for thematic reasons - think Agent L meets She-Hulk - but also partially for all the -Def.  I have several 50s including my beloved brute, but I keep going back to her just because its just so much fun to plow through mobs to the crunch of Spinning Strike and Crushing Uppercut.  She's going to be utterly fantastic once the buffs go live.

 

My next project is a remake of my main tank from live who's a little more FotM, but SD/SS fits his Six Million Ruble Man concept better.

Edited October 19, 2019 by skoryy

[Crowcus Pocus]

Dark/Rad turned out to be one of the toughest and most satisfying tanks I've played to the date.

• Two auras (my build has a total of 7 procs split between the two)
• Two heals. Dark Regen is used offensively, with 5 procs in it. It will still fill my HP bar with 4 enemies around me. Radiation Siphon is part of my rotation and enough to keep my green bar full under most circunstances
• Plenty of debuffs and proc potential
• Capped resists to everything except Toxic (I left my Energy resists at 83%, pre-incarnates)
• Capped defenses to melee

And the great thing is... it will only get *much* better with the upcoming changes.

[ninja surprise]

My Ice Armor/Stone Melee is a blast to play and I don't remember seeing another out and about. 

[Sura]

3 hours ago, ninja surprise said:

My Ice Armor/Stone Melee is a blast to play and I don't remember seeing another out and about. 

I've not seen another Ice/Elec either.  I would guess there's not many around.  I love the symmetry of the END drain from Energy Absorption on Ice and all the END drain in Elec.  

[Erratic1]

4 hours ago, ninja surprise said:

My Ice Armor/Stone Melee is a blast to play and I don't remember seeing another out and about. 

 

Had one on live, but did not remake. Was a definite blast though.

[Uun]

I've got a SR/Staff I've leveled up to 30. Guarded Spin provides 15% melee/lethal defense for 10 seconds. You can cap to melee before you're even slotted. The endurance discount from Form of the Soul doesn't hurt either. BTW, the taunt aura on SR works just fine.