Titan Weapon/Bio Armour Guide

[brasilgringo]

6 hours ago, Hew said:

Or, you try a different attack chain. Perish the thought!

but .. but ...

[Lafoote]

Question: Would putting Gaussian's in Tactics rather than Build Momentum increase it's overall uptime?

Edited March 2, 2022 by Lafoote

[aethereal]

6 hours ago, Lafoote said:

Question: Would putting Gaussian's in Tactics rather than Build Momentum increase it's overall uptime?

Depends on whether you team or solo and if you team with masterminds.

 

So build momentum has a 90 second recharge time, it will cap the proc rate of Gaussian's at 90% even with significant local recharge.  If you have 200% total recharge (180% global for permahasten + 20% local), it will recharge every 30 seconds and you can potentially have a 90% chance of Gaussian's every 30 seconds.

 

If you run it in tactics, I'm not doing the math from my phone, but I expect it's around a 10% chance per target (maybe somewhat less -- the floor for proc rate depends on ppm).  It has a chance to proc every 10 seconds.  If you're the only target, you expect roughly a 30% of a proc every 30 seconds, so 1/3rd of the uptime of build momentum.

 

If you're teaming with seven other people, and they're all in range of tactics, then things look a lot better, each ten second round has something like a 50% chance of firing the proc, expected uptime in 30 seconds is 1.5 proc firings.  Even more if there are more than 8 targets for your tactics, with maximum uptime approaching 3 proc firings every 30 seconds if you have a huge number of allies around you.

[Jaegernault]

Gaussian would proc in tactics sure, and on a full team maybe a lot. BUT its an alpha strike tool. You want to choose when it will proc and be able to take advantage of it. TW is slow, you will get 2-3 attacks total from it if momentum is in effect. Buildup is up every 15 seconds on this completed build when in combat. It will almost always proc when solo. 

 

This build was taking out all but the strongest enemy, without any outside tools. Reichman required envenomed daggers due to his excessive health pool, Romulus is faster with them but you can take him down all the same. The build was made to work like that solo, in a team you can move faster and go from Boss/EB to boss/EB constantly, taking the alpha strikes like a pro tank. 

NOTE: Hamidon attacks bypass absorbtion, rendering BIO very weak. its not the builds failure, its just the mechanic and the way he is coded to attack players, going right for your health. 

[aethereal]

3 hours ago, Jaegernault said:

Buildup is up every 15 seconds on this completed build when in combat. It will almost always proc when solo. 

 

You would need 500% recharge to get build momentum's cooldown to 15 seconds.

[WindDemon21]

4 hours ago, Jaegernault said:

Buildup is up every 15 seconds on this completed build when in combat. It will almost always proc when solo.

FYI the recharge cap is 1/5 if a powers base rech so the absolute minimum recharge you can get build up to is 18 seconds...

 

Most builds as well won't complete capped rech if they're going for defense as well (like you should with bio) so even with perma rech proc you're looking at more like 21s.

[Jaegernault]

1 hour ago, WindDemon21 said:

FYI the recharge cap is 1/5 if a powers base rech so the absolute minimum recharge you can get build up to is 18 seconds...

 

Most builds as well won't complete capped rech if they're going for defense as well (like you should with bio) so even with perma rech proc you're looking at more like 21s.

Firstly, starting a post with FYI is a little rude. I wrote this post years ago, I assumed it was dead, it was resurrected yesterday and in the interested of helping someone i dug out my login to reply. I didnt sit there with a stop watch timing the encounters. When Im in combat, I NEVER am in a position waiting for buildup. Ill run into the mob, use the T9 secondary to create my absorb shield, target the biggest guy there, bit buildup, then with momentum, do my AOE, 2 Single targets and usually end with an AOE before buildup ends. Every minion is dead, most lieutenants are dead, and the first boss is dead, with the second one critically low. Thats not Mids, or speculation, thats playing the game and physically watching them go poof. Now with the hostility out the way, 

 

Now, there is no "should" in CoH. Bio isnt a defense build and claiming it is either shows your very specific with what you choose to fight or just dont understand the basic mechanics. Its a hybrid with its unique selling point being Absorb Shield. It relies 100% on recharge bonus as if you can refresh your absorb shield constantly, your actual health is never touched. My main is vet 300+ something despite not being played in almost a year and he hasn't even got the first damage badge as his health pool is never touched in most fights even at +4*8 solo.

 

Saying Bio is a Defense build is like saying Regen is a resistance build. Resistance is very handy but it aint gonna be your primary go to.

 

I say its not a defense build for the following flaw. Little to no defense resistance, this leaves it vulnerable to cascade defense failure, this is especially apparent against Council and on an ITF. 

 

What bio does have in its toolbox right off the bat is 2 very powerful absorb shields, basic defense, decent s/l resistance and some potential for crowd control. With a little work you can cap s/l resistance so most enemy cant 1 shot you if they get a lucky shot. 

 

Think of defense like this, the enemy attacks and has a 1/10 chance to hit on strike 1. On strike 2, his chance is the same, same with 3, 4, 5.. etc. Now it you have 10 of them all taking shots, each one is still that 1/10 chance. while each role is exclusive, the odds quickly fall. Your goal is to keep the number of hits they swing to an ABSOLUTE minimum if your not sporting Defense Resistance. 

 

Now here is something people tend to forget.. Defense is the ability to not be hit. For you not to take a hit, they either miss you or dont fire. We can easily hit 55% defense to everything with no specific defense build in mind. But 2-3 lucky hits and ur in low 30's at best. So we rely on the other version of defense. This being, KD. If they are on their asses they arnt able to attack. The animation for falling over and getting up is a good second or 2 at least. Your PBAoE is Knockdown.

 

So think of this as a rough play through, you run in, fire your absorb shield, you now have a huge shield. You hit buildup, and PBAoE the mob. most of them are hit and immediately fall down. You whack the biggest guys twice before they even stand up, first one is dead, you end the combo with a second PBAoE and repeat on any remaining bosses without necessarily using buildup. each PBAoE is 100% defence to everything knocked over. Thats not a diminishing returns result, thats FACT. They cant shoot you. This simply mechanic allows you to become untouchable to most enemy as very few have sufficient KB protection. 

 

There have been many updates to CoH, and a few attempts to nerf TW/BIO under the guise of its too OP. But every set is OP if used in a way that suits the players style. When I wrote this guide TW/Bio wasn't a common build. Even now, on the odd occasion I play, I dont see many. Yet I barely feel any difference to mine's performance even with so called nerfs to it.

 

Its the same with every game, This guide was simply showing a way to exploit TW/Bio using my playstyle. others who play like or similar to me will find it useful, but its also to give inspiration for altering it to suit others styles. I cant pick up a blasters build from another player and immediately perform as well as them. Its all about adaptation.

 

If this guide inspires someone to look at Bio and in the future when new gear appears think "hey, maybe this would work better in there now" that optimal. I was playing CoH when Rogue islands was a pipe dream. I dont expect this guide to be an APEX build for current meta, and would find it hilarious if no one had made improvements in all these years!

 

 

 

[Lafoote]

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies to my necro-threading.  I appreciate it.  This seems like it's going to be a lot of fun to play.  

[SomeGuy]

Build Up on my tw/bio recharges in about 10s. I also have it setup to guarantee the -res proc for Achilles and fury every time. I also figured out how to make them stack as opposed to refresh. I do 40s times without pets. Also, this is complete BS. 

[brasilgringo]

On 3/2/2022 at 2:21 PM, Jaegernault said:

 I dont expect this guide to be an APEX build for current meta, and would find it hilarious if no one had made improvements in all these years!

 

 

 

Actually I don't think anyone has posted a better all-around build.  Some people have better attack chains, etc., but afaik I've not seen a better all-around build.  Maybe the resurrection of this post will lead some ppl to chip in.

[Vulpoid]

This is my next project.

If anybody has any advice for the first 20 levels or so... i.e. what to pick as you level as opposed to a finished IO masterpiece, I would love it!

The character will be an antique brass wind up toy soldier, being guided/possessed by the dreams of a 6 year old German boy in a coma in a hospital.

[Jaegernault]

Gotta love a good back story! 
 

TW has devastating recharge and animation times, titan sweep is an early game must for killing enemy until you have a full attach chain with recharge reduction.

 

Bio is just take it when needed. Hasten early will help but don’t rush it if you don’t feel safe doing so.

 

When it comes to missions, remember your mainly AoE so I’ll get more exp fighting enemy at -1 but on *8. Once your at 23, make it 0*8 and upgrade the rep as you feel secure. 
 

in combat, especially early on, herd them so your cones cap the target limit and use inspirations to bolster your defence. This is temporary as in later levels you will have powers to do this, but the inspirations help levelling.

 

im currently on holiday in excelsior server so feel free to join me if you see me on, character is Jaegernault. I tend to just fly through missions at +4*8 with anyone who wants a team, since it’s more fun then killing everything solo!

Edited May 25, 2022 by Jaegernault
Typo

[Vulpoid]

6 hours ago, Jaegernault said:

feel free to join me if you see me on, character is Jaegermault

Thank you for your advice!
Is that an M or an N in your character's name? You appear to use both?

[BrandX]

On 11/30/2020 at 4:51 AM, Hew said:

Or, you try a different attack chain. Perish the thought!

 

To be fair, there's plenty of "Oh no!  Not that chain!" even if it works well.  Like using Eviscerate 🙂

[Jaegernault]

4 hours ago, Vulpoid said:

Thank you for your advice!
Is that an M or an N in your character's name? You appear to use both?

Well spotted! It was a typo, character is the same as the username here.

[Saiyajinzoningen]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

 

<uses foul necromancy to raise a well worn thread>

 

Does anyone know off hand if these builds are still viable considering they are pre-TW nerf?

sorry for the inconvenience

[Jaegernault]

9 hours ago, Saiyajinzoningen said:

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!

 

<uses foul necromancy to raise a well worn thread>

 

Does anyone know off hand if these builds are still viable considering they are pre-TW nerf?

sorry for the inconvenience

The Nerf actually didn't apply much too the build. The biggest impact was the range reduction on the PBAoE.

 

I ran a few missions the other week and still went at +4*8 in PI doing random Radio Missions. The new enemy power alterations were more of an issue then the build. I had to actually use all the defensive powers against Malta as they seemed tougher and had new powers. Council seemed to have some tweak's too but nothing that wasn't compensated for.

 

You need to remember that builds are made for a play style. This build is 100% optimal for me. If someone has a similar play style to me it will be the same, If you play differently and favour different powers, it will be a different outcome. There are other Min/Max builds for this combo out there that might get 5-10% more on 1-2 stats, but they sacrifice a lot imo to gain that minor boost. I don't believe in changing builds to fight different enemy, this build is the same for any enemy at any level from Ouroboros.

 

I do still watch this threat if you have any questions, tho its fairly dead most of the time, but feel free to msg me if you want any specific info:)

 

[Saiyajinzoningen]

@Jaegernault

Thank you for your timely response.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Since this threads inception I'm fairly certain your build has been fine tweaked over the years

would it be possible to see what its current iteration looks like?

if that isn't possible, could I see the total values of the build? 

just so I have a ballpark idea of what I should be aiming for

once again, thank you for your time and assistance

[Jaegernault]

The build hasn’t actually changed, I tried updating it with things that appeared but none fit as well. The designer build for Mids is still accurate. 
 

The build relies on 35-38% defence to everything as its baseline. Since it kills most groups in 3-5 seconds there isn’t much retaliation.

 

if your going against enemy that can debuff, using shadow meld puts the defence into the 70% meaning you are essentially untouchable for the duration. Buy the time it wears off you’ve already full charged your absorb shield and most likely killed everything. By the time you get to the next group it’s recharged.

 

last I checked there weren’t any superiors sets available. Getting recharge up is a high priority as it allows perma haste, makes the attacks fast and lets you almost attack the absorb shield.

 

the cost of the build is situational. When I build it, it cost about 1 billion, but I used merits for a lot of sets as well as seasonal events. I also had a substantial supply of IO sets saved up. If people are being mean with pricing your looking at 2-3 billion for everything, getting it to a functional level your about 800m

[Last Vanguard]

I currently run Jaegs build on Excelsior as Last Vanguard. Very pricey build, but seeing that wall of orange and red numbers after hits...worth every penny! And I love jaunting around! Long live this thread!

Edited May 13 by Last Vanguard

[Jaegernault]

5 hours ago, Last Vanguard said:

I currently run Jaegs build on Excelsior as Last Vanguard. Very pricey build, but seeing that wall of orange and red numbers after hits...worth every penny! And I love jaunting around! Long live this thread!

 Great to hear, if your fast you can actually start an attack after jaunts teleport and then use it again before the animation ends so it looks like your moving soo fast they can’t see you! Alas for jaunts 3 teleport cooldown rule 

[Chrona Blaze]

On 5/14/2024 at 1:04 AM, Jaegernault said:

 Great to hear, if your fast you can actually start an attack after jaunts teleport and then use it again before the animation ends so it looks like your moving soo fast they can’t see you! Alas for jaunts 3 teleport cooldown rule 

I'm still learning it! It reminds me of combat teleport. I have a dp/sr sentinel that would combat port into a mob, kill many and use fold space to bring back the runners.

 

I'm slowly adapting to your play style of offensive bio mode. Not quite there yet. I still test the mobs out in defense toggle before I commit to offense haha

[Jaegernault]

9 minutes ago, Chrona Blaze said:

I'm still learning it! It reminds me of combat teleport. I have a dp/sr sentinel that would combat port into a mob, kill many and use fold space to bring back the runners.

 

I'm slowly adapting to your play style of offensive bio mode. Not quite there yet. I still test the mobs out in defence toggle before I commit to offense haha

 

When I first started playing back in the Glory Days when it was a monthly subscription, the kings where Fire Kinetics Controllers. They would clear mobs of +4*8 enemy in 2-3 seconds by targeting the the boss in each mob and letting AoE to all the damage. They could only do this if they fully committed to the attack, as they needed FS immediately and then needed a tough target for transference (transference on a  dead target could be fatal)

 

I always kept that style of play as survival is based on 3 core mechanics, Defence, Resistance and Regeneration.

 

Regeneration: you heal faster then your hit, hard to do against +4*8 without some serious recharge. Long as you heal faster then your hit your golden.

 

Resistance: You take all the damage but mitigate it, up to 75% of incoming damage can be ignored. essentially you can last 4 times longer then normal, couple with regeneration and you can give the Regen time to keep you full all the time.

 

Defence: Defence is just you not getting hit, but when you are hit, it can REALLY Hurt. Defence is Soft-cap and Hard-cap, Soft-cap is your aim, anything above 45% Defence will make mobs your level miss you 95% of the time without external buffs. Hard-cap is impossible to reach solo without eating inspirations but is essentially an absorbing defence shield to soak up debuffs and To-hit buffs enemy have. Bio is a blend of all 3, not great at any straight off, but has potential in all 3.

 

The build sits almost at the softcap as its idle, in combat you should be looking at 70% defence to everything which means your taking 5% of the incoming damage in an ideal world. Bad luck is a thing though so you will usually get hit hit hot by multiple Alpha strikes unless your very unlucky. I've had GW at lvl 54 miss me 6 times in a row. The odd time you get hit your armour either has an absorb shield on you or plain regenerates your health like you have instant regeneration. 

 

Just like the Fire Kin controllers of old, it wont work unless your neck deep in it, all the buffs need bodies, dead ones will work but live ones are much better. Run in, pop your T9 Bio and soak up a huge Absorb shield then whale on them.  if they are really lucky, you have a second absorb shield to use, if that isnt enough you have a PBAoE heal to use that works on living and dead. 

 

TW has a ton of Knockdown, I like to think of it like this, every time they are knocked over, you have 100% defence to anything from that enemy for about 2 seconds as they cant fight on their backs. Ramming a sword through their chest will make that permanent, and TW has KD in almost every attack, which also makes it suitable for some cheeky force feedback +100% recharge. This means the more you attach, the faster your powers recharge. There are few enemy that can overpower the system. notable ones are Canaries, PPD and Banished Parthenon if several masks are able to toggle you at once. Best defence to them, crush em fast!

 

 

[SomeGuy]

6 hours ago, Jaegernault said:

I always kept that style of play as survival is based on 3 core mechanics, Defence, Resistance and Regeneration.

 

 

 

Good write up. Except the bolded part. You want more HP, not more HP/s. More HP means more HP/s anyways, and you can't regen what is dead. If you have 100 HP with 1000hp/s, but get hit for 101, that HP/s doesn't matter cause you're dead. Have 102 HP with 10HP/s but get hit for 101, you are alive.

 

Def>Resistance>HP>>>>>HP/s.

 

Regen is priority LAST when it comes to survival.

Edited May 16 by SomeGuy

[Jaegernault]

Normally yes, but absorb shields can’t be regenerated over time, only restarted. So if you have a 1500 shield and take 2000 damage, only 500 of that went through. 
 

it’s also too easy to hit the HP cap. Unless they massively altered it. The build is was almost at that cap for a scrapper already, incarnates I believe hit the cap.

 

interesting side note, not all enemy recognise the absorb shield in the newer power sets. Hamidon for instance will kill you and leave the shield at 100%. The giant walker you fight in that lvl 40 TF, can’t remember its name now, but it’s attacks lower your max HP by a percentage, last time I did I it I have 100% health but 1hp. It was quite funny.