Need help deciding on next AT

[Bodai]

Hello,

 

So I just finished "re-building" my main which is an MA/SR.  I love playing this character, and the animations.  And my new updated build is really awesome with 60% positional defense and 55% S/L resists.  I was going to start re-building some of my other alts, but then I thought maybe I should try something different.  There are newer powersets I have not tried, as well as powersets available to ATs that were not previously.

 

For context, here are what some of my ALTs were that I remember:

- SS/Invul tanker, this was my previous main, I hear SS/invul was greatly improved since I tried it (I made a brute version as well)

- stone tank, ILL/RAD controller, RAD/RAD defender, Sonic/RAD defender, Fire/Kin controller - loved all of these

- Energy/energy blaster - great fun but no-one will team with me 😞, Ice/ice blaster - very solid with some good lock-down

- dual-pistols and staff fighting - didn't finish these, wasn't really impressed, couldn't get into it

- I have tried a few Stalker builds, but these seem like one-trick ponies to me, otherwise just a variation on scrappers more or less

 

What prompted me to post here is that I saw this on reddit:  https://www.reddit.com/r/Cityofheroes/comments/eiwi50/personal_achievement_for_me_solo_master_of_the/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

 

I have never had a character powerful enough that they could solo and AV or GM, I don't know how many can, probably not many.

Also, Titan Weapons looks like an interesting set to try, looks like lots of AoE's and crowd control

Not so sure about Bio-armor though - even if it is good I am not sure I like the concept.

 

So, I could try Titan weapons.... but then I could do it as a scrapper, tank, brute.  In general, is the DPS higher for a scrapper or a brute?

And then of course what secondary to pair it with?

 

In any case, I would appreciate some suggestions / recommendations of what you would suggest trying and why.

 

Thanks

 

-Bodai

[Bodai]

Oh, by the way.... I was thinking of building a blaster or something that does Psionic damage since in theory not many things are protected from that.

But, most of the posts I have seen about this have been negative.

[boggo2300]

6 minutes ago, Bodai said:

Oh, by the way.... I was thinking of building a blaster or something that does Psionic damage since in theory not many things are protected from that.

But, most of the posts I have seen about this have been negative.

Its very much a niche playstyle, and the exact opposite of the AT you just played 

[Gulbasaur]

I'd like to invite you over to the dark side and suggest one of the epic archetypes, namely fortunata or warshade.

 

Melee, range, control, buffs and survivability. Fortunatas are control scrappers and warshades are blast brutes. I've been soloing AVs on my fortunata for a while now - very little can even hit them and almost nothing can hit them twice.

[Lines]

7 hours ago, Bodai said:

Oh, by the way.... I was thinking of building a blaster or something that does Psionic damage since in theory not many things are protected from that.

But, most of the posts I have seen about this have been negative.

 

Enemy defence and resistance trends are dissimilar to player character defence and resistance trends. For instance. No enemies are weak to toxic, but this tends to be the players' achilles heal.

 

Galaxy Brain did an excellent breakdown of this.

 

 

Negative is the most unresisted and common weakness amongst enemy groups. Psionic is fairly middling. 

 

In all honesty, I wouldn't give it too much thought, though. It's not like a lethal-based powerset is significantly gimping themselves, and I have plenty of fun with my psionic characters.

[Gulbasaur]

There's so little in it that I really would worry about damage types. It really is a matter of hitting an enemy once more every now and again and is only something speed runners will see a difference in.

 

Titan weapons and martial arts regularly top the single target damage lists and they do a lot of smashing damage, which is the second most resisted.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Gulbasaur

[Snarky]

I Brute a lot lol. There are still combos i havent tried because i am fixated on SS/Invul. Which is my current main. There is a design in the Brute forums in a build request tooic by me that has Hyperstrikes design posted. It is ridiculously good

 

i started a dark/elec brute last night. Should be interesting. 
 

i play by concept and that brings me the most fun. I am soloing redside on a Invul/Dark tank zombie concept. I kind of wish it wasnt a tank sometimes (kill alls) but wow do i love the entire concept and story

 

i recently started a Dark/Temp Blaster that i am really enjoying. Built for cones and ranged defense. So grabbing the extra cones from Soul

 

gl in your search. Alt on!!!

[Gulbasaur]

3 hours ago, Snarky said:

I kind of wish it wasnt a tank sometimes (kill alls)

Stock up on damage procs - tankers get decent returns on them as they have a lower damage modifier and procs are static amounts. 

[Sovera]

Claws/Bio Scrapper is the best thing since sliced bread.

 

War mace is nearly as good as Titan Weapons but much easier to maintain and level with. Very safe with all the KD/KUs. Scrapper would be my choice.

 

You won't win prizes with a Sonic/Bio Sentinel but it is *FUN*. By level 12 you're spamming cones like a madlad and sucking HP like a vampire. It just pales at 50 once everyone has nukes and Judgements and there is not much point in spamming cones on 3-4 scattered mobs.

 

 

[Fan Mail]

I used to Brute a lot too but the new fun (for me) is Stalkers.  I had no idea how powerful AND fast they were since the changes.  I solo a lot though so maybe that's not your forte.  

 

I don't have a character that can tear through miscellaneous mobs quicker than my Elec/Shield Stalker.  Just nasty.  Saying miscellaneous mobs because my Spines/Fire Brute Farmer doesn't really count.  THAT is a one trick pony.  

[Heraclea]

Water/WP sentinel may be within your comfort zone but different enough that it will interest you.  You don't have the squishiness problem of a blaster, or the mez issues of a support class.  I ordinarily take tough and weave on armored classes; did not bother with this character because of the many tools available to stay out of melee: big, targeted AoE movement slows filled with procs, and ninja caltrops if they still manage to close.  Satisfying splash effects, too. 

[MTeague]

Plant/Psi Dominator is a force to be reckoned with.  I'm not sure about soloing Giant Monsters.  but LOTS of Psi damage, a -1000% regen debuff so you are your own debuffer, the best AE confusion power in the game, full time pets AND Psuedo pets, and two self-healing options.  It might take to lvl 30-34 or so to fully blossom, but it's a sick combination. 

 

Stalkers are definitely worth a look-see if you haven't tried them since they got buffed at the end of Live.  Assassin's Focus made them super scrappy.  Placate is now entirely skippable.  you just charge into a group and rip faces off.  Very similar play to a Scrapper, but more on focused damage vs hard targets instead of generalized critting.  Depends a bit on your primary tree though. Some like Spines still have good AE capacity. 

 

Traps is a set I constantly see listed as something that can solo GMs and AV's. Thugs/Traps or Bots/Traps Masterminds in particular.  I'm not sure how true that is, but I will say my Thugs/Traps MM just hit 16, and her minions are already damn near immortal at least vs content levelling up.  The downside is Traps is very location-centric.  If you're in a fast moving group it's hard to use them for max effect. But vs the Biggie-Wiggies like GM's and AV's, you can stack everything on them. "There's a Trap for that!"

[Oubliette_Red]

I have often wished both during Legacy and now that there was a Random character generation button for Origin/Arch/Powersets, not just the costume creator. For the times when I just couldn't decide.

[boggo2300]

5 hours ago, Oubliette_Red said:

I have often wished both during Legacy and now that there was a Random character generation button for Origin/Arch/Powersets, not just the costume creator. For the times when I just couldn't decide.

that could be an interesting challenge mode

[Bodai]

Hello, thank you for the suggestions, here is what I gather so far and from who:

 

Gulbasaur:  fortunata or warshade
Sovera:  Claws/Bio Scrapper, War Mace, Titan Weapons
Heraclea:  Water/WP sentinel
MTeague:  Plant/Psi Dominator, try Stalkers again, Thugs/Traps or Bots/Traps Masterminds
 

This will help to start narrowing it down.

 

Seeing allot of mentions of /bio scrappers, especially TW/Bio, although I have not yet found someone claiming to have a build that can solo AVs/GMs with that.

 

-Bodai

 

[siolfir]

7 hours ago, Bodai said:

I have not yet found someone claiming to have a build that can solo AVs/GMs with that

You could try the pylon thread, early on Kaeladin was posting his "general PvE" build that was getting between 500-700 DPS, which is far more than enough. I didn't dig in deeper for others, but I think there was another post that was getting around 800? Sure, a Pylon isn't a great survival test, but Bio isn't really hurting with some set bonuses and if you're killing that fast, you only need to live for around a minute or less for most AVs: I'm pretty sure the Absorb will cover you that long.

[roleki]

On 1/5/2020 at 3:47 AM, Bodai said:

Hello, thank you for the suggestions, here is what I gather so far and from who:

 

Gulbasaur:  fortunata or warshade
Sovera:  Claws/Bio Scrapper, War Mace, Titan Weapons
Heraclea:  Water/WP sentinel
MTeague:  Plant/Psi Dominator, try Stalkers again, Thugs/Traps or Bots/Traps Masterminds
 

This will help to start narrowing it down.

 

Seeing allot of mentions of /bio scrappers, especially TW/Bio, although I have not yet found someone claiming to have a build that can solo AVs/GMs with that.

 

-Bodai

 

While I haven't specifically sought out AVs to solo, I will say my TW/Bio scrapper has fared very well against the AVs we run into in PuGs/TFs.   I've often wound up soloing whatever AV is in front of me, and, aside from stepping in blue lightning because I didn't know what it was, my Tw/Bio has never died. Never.

 

 Just be advised that both TW and Bio are kind of, well, not "technical" but you have to make some choices of how you'll run, and your attack chain isn't always a straight 1,2,3,4 progression, especially if you've factored Defensive Sweep into your survival strategy.

[siolfir]

1 hour ago, roleki said:

Just be advised that both TW and Bio are kind of, well, not "technical" but you have to make some choices of how you'll run, and your attack chain isn't always a straight 1,2,3,4 progression

For a melee AT in this game, that's technical.