Titan Weapon/Bio Armour Guide

[Glowman]

@Jaegernaultif I wanted to work in SJ for thematic purposes, what might I switch around?

[Jaegernault]

I personally found I never turned on combat jumping as I use ninja run in combat pre-experimental. With experimental I ran speed of sound for super fast combat.  I'd need to look at my build to see if SJ could be used but with travel suppression it's not my first choice:D

[Jaegernault]

Try something like this. you loose a drop of accuracy but virtually unnoticeable. I took out hasten as it was the lowest priority. Its not a complete build as you will have your own quirks you like using but might give you some ideas

 

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1545&c=709&a=1418&f=HEX&dc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

[xl8]

Spoiler

On 6/19/2020 at 4:14 AM, Jaegernault said:

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1577&c=730&a=1460&f=HEX&dc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

 

Nice build and thanks for taking the time to share your findings.
I'd swap your two scrapper sets around so that the 3 second chance to crit is available for Arc of Destruction, but otherwise super solid.

[Jaegernault]

I found that the proc was per target and it almost always fires on AoD. I didnt have titan sweep and I wanted the PBAoE to get crits. AoD also had like a 3 second cool down so it's like a machine gun going off. I've successfully dribbled  rommy on an ITF till death once he loses his status nictus

[Glowman]

@Jaegernaultthank you for your response! Follow up question: In your experimental build, does speed of sound play a role other than going fast? Seems like it might be a fine swap for super jump, unless I'm missing something? I want to understand its role before changing it, however.

[Argent Aegis]

I am curious about Speed of Sound as well.  Since my build is based around your first build, I do not have a travel power.  I have thought many times how much I would like to use your BU>Parasitic Aura>Whirling Smash opener if I could just teleport into the middle of the group using Jaunt and if this would make Shadow Meld not as necessary (free up slots or even replace with another power).  

 

Also - you mentioned dribbling Rommie to death.  Do you use anything extra (daggers, Incarnate powers, etc) to get around the regen on AV/GM's?  I ask because I am trying to figure out what incarnates I should go forward with.  I have stood toe to toe with Scrapyard solo with my T1s (no Lore yet) and held my own (and even bounced him a few times - which was sweet), but it was a stalemate as I could not out damage his regen, and with his minions running in fueling my heal and GC, he could not out damage me (nice way to get those "damage taken" badges though).  I didn't use or have anything -regen at the time.  Diamagnetic has a -regen aspect, and I was eyeballing that for AV/GM solo fights, so that was why I am asking.  I am currently using Cardiac and expect to go Musculature once Ageless is tiered up, but what is your opinion on Resilient with its' +Absorb, + Dam Res, & + To hit aspect?  Would that benefit PA and Ablative damage absorbs or will it just be overkill on a limited time buff?  

 

[Jaegernault]

I use speed of sound for moving round maps fast as endurance isnt an issue. I use jaunt, as you say, to move between mobs that are close together, or to teleport behind surgeons on the ITF. You can set upa  teleport and cue an attack so you literally materialise hitting something. Animation time is the biggest weakness of the build, anything that cuts it down is great.

 

Shadow meld is 100% needed if you like running +4*8 ignoring the enemy type. I took down Ghost Widow solo at lvl 54 in under a minute and they couldn't land a hit.

 

Your dead on with the -regen. I use the I carnage power that adds it to every attack and keep 300 envenomed daggers. I can kill most avs and GMs without the daggers but a few just regen too fast otherwise.

 

 I'd love to say you can enhance the absorb power but its capped at your base hp. That's why Parasitic aura doesn't have any heal enhancements. It hits the 1300 cap already. Ablative catapace is the same, not worth the sacrafice. Musculature gives you far more in raw damage, if it ain't alive it cant drain your shield! 

 

[Argent Aegis]

Thanks again Jaegernault,

 

I will play around with my build some to try to get Speed of Sound in while keeping Shadow Meld (it really is a very good power - just wish I can keep the look as part of my costume).  Maybe this will be the excuse I need to try the test server again (the last time I tried using my Blaster, the lag was so bad it was almost unplayable).  I like the speed/jaunt idea, need to play around with some key binds/macros for targeting and then try Diamagnetic.  

 

I want to meet up with Scrapyard again and have a rematch, or at least work on the next damage given and taken badges.  I've been able to solo AV's on a lower difficulty setting but never have I taken down a GM solo with any of my alts.  It's on my bucket list.

[Argent Aegis]

Tried to solo Scrapyard again - no go yet.  Got the health to move a little & bounced him a number of times (that never seems to get any less fun), but just couldn't do enough damage output to take make any significant headway.  Stalemate again.  I guess I need to get all my T4 incarnates, add in envenomed blades, a Longbow lore pet and maybe even a signature summons next time.  Kind of feels like cheating doing that though since I want to be more reliant on my build and ability...but maybe I am just fooling myself about taking down a GM.  Eventually my antics drew the attention of some other players and Crapyard (yeah, the rivalry has devolved into grade school name calling) went down in short order.

 

That being said I am still really surprised at the damage output of the build.  Example - I found myself bored one evening recently, and decided to try the Abandoned Sewer trial solo (set at normal difficulty since I'm not suicidal),  just because it was the weekly and in all my years playing Live and HC, I have never even seen the trial.  Please note...I was under no illusions that I would succeed at this, but I wanted to see how far I could get in the 90 minutes allowed (spoiler for those TL:DR people - I did not succeed).  I did however find myself amazed that I was able to get through to the Hydra, clear the Tentacles and Rikti and actually defeat all the Kraken Hatchlings (which to those who don't know are classified as Monsters) all in about an hour.  However, being one person, at crunch time I could not make the health of the Hydra head budge much, even with the trial's temp powers.  Then the force fields would re-engage and I would have to clear Rikti and try again just to get the same results. 

 

So the conclusion of this lengthy dissertation (sorry to all the non-TL:DR people) is that the build is so survivable that I was able to withstand and mitigate damage from Rikti, toxic from all tentacles.  damage from the krakens, one embarrassing fall down the silo, and that crazy psy attack of the Hydra Head while dishing out enough damage to clear out Monster class mobs and big groups of Rikti.  I'm not trying to brag or anything since I am sure many other players could do all this and better, I just wanted to rave about the builds provided and how much AWESOME this powerset is. 

 

Now I just need to figure out what I am missing to take down a damn GM.  I just don't know how others have done it.  I really want to check that off my list. 

[Olly]

38 minutes ago, Argent Aegis said:

Now I just need to figure out what I am missing to take down a damn GM.  I just don't know how others have done it.  I really want to check that off my list. 

 

Hero-side GM's aren't that much trouble. Load up on -regen temps and incarnate powers. My solo GM list:

Adamastor
Jurassik
Eochai
Jack in Irons
Babbage
Council Goliath War Walker (this one was harder than the rest)

Edited August 12, 2020 by Olly
Took out Lusca -- not done yet

[Argent Aegis]

1 hour ago, Olly said:

 

Hero-side GM's aren't that much trouble. Load up on -regen temps and incarnate powers. My solo GM list:

 

Are there other -regen temps besides the daggers?  Just curious if I am missing out on/forgotten something.

[Jaegernault]

Banished parthenon lore pets at T4 will double your DPS if not more. If your fighting a big fella who isnt nudging, summon them and they will fold like a wet blanket.

 

-regen primarily comes from envenomed daggers for this build. For GMs you can also take the incarnate interface that adds it to all attacks, it's not massive but helps. Remember also that DNA siphon is -regen. I use it more as an attack then a survival tool since my health is never taking a hit, as evident by the fact I've yet to get the first damage taken badge.... absorb shields dont count alas. 

 

Get your incarnate to T4, get the daggers and scrap yard is easy. Personally I found jurasika hardest. He seemed to have a high regen. I recently did a Miss Liberty TF with a team of 3 and we wrecked all the villain patrons, even ghost widow was weak. That being said, recluse was STILL tough as nails, tho it took him 3 hits to kill me, didnt help the flier came to say high and hit me at the same time too! 

[Argent Aegis]

I forgot about DNA siphon for the -regen!!  Like you I rarely need to use it (although I have gotten the first damage taken badge, but that was more by intent as I was trading blows with Scrapyard during our first match for about twenty minutes - just because I could).  I haven't chosen my Lore yet.  Was leaning towards the Longbow since one of those has a -regen, but the Banished Pantheon is good too.  I was just trying to see if I could do it first without pets.

 

So back to saving the world to earn those incarnates.  I just got my +2 level shift recently, so Lore is up next.  I do have T3 Diamagnetic and that -regen is nice, probably part of the reason I was able to take down those Kraken Hatchlings a little faster than expected. 

 

As always, thanks for the input Jaegernault. 

[Olly]

I took longbow instead of Banished Pantheon. Not sure which one is better overall, I just went for the big numbers on the spreadsheet. Cryonic (-recharge) or Void (-dmg) against tough guys. Envenomed daggers are very helpful. iirc the Positron ranged pet also has a -regen debuff attack. 

[Argent Aegis]

So chalk it up to the big "DUH" of forgetting that DNA siphon has a -regen.  I soloed Kraken in Perez with just me and daggers, no pets.  Only used 2 damage insp since I was running low on time in RL.

 

Thanks for the memory nudge.

[Sovera]

On 8/12/2020 at 10:14 PM, Argent Aegis said:

So chalk it up to the big "DUH" of forgetting that DNA siphon has a -regen.  I soloed Kraken in Perez with just me and daggers, no pets.  Only used 2 damage insp since I was running low on time in RL.

 

Thanks for the memory nudge.

It's just 150% though. The -regen from the incarnates mentioned above is also apparently negligible to the point anything else will be better.

 

Not all GMs are equal and Kraken is a low level one, you might find even without daggers you would be able to kill it (each dagger is costing one attack after all).

[Argent Aegis]

1 hour ago, Sovera said:

It's just 150% though. The -regen from the incarnates mentioned above is also apparently negligible to the point anything else will be better.

 

Not all GMs are equal and Kraken is a low level one, you might find even without daggers you would be able to kill it (each dagger is costing one attack after all).

This true, Kraken went down easier than I expected.  However since then I have soled Jack & Eochai, two DE monsters (don't remember the names but one was the crystal and the other stone) on Monster Island, and....Scrapyard.  The DE monsters were done separately but Jack & Eochai where fought at the same time since they both spawned at that one spot in north Croatoa.  Eochai was defeated first, then Jack.  On all, I used the T3 Diamagnetic, daggers, and DNA Siphon but still no pets.  The stone DE took me the longest.  Jack sent me to the hospital once when I lost sight of my endurance and de-toggled right before he hit me with his terrorize.  But that was on me for being distracted at the time.  Overall, I felt that I spent less time on taking out each GM than I did taking down the stone DE monster.  Since I have attempted to take down Scrapyard before and even with Diamagnetic and daggers it was a stalemate, the extra little from DNA siphon seemed to tip the balance and he went down in short order.

 

I am under no illusions that I will probably find that there will be GM's and AV's that will be more difficult and possibly impossible for my current method/build and I am sure that having someone floor the regen with a -500% or -1000% debuff would do it sooo much faster, but the -regens I currently have definitely had in impact.  I am going to try to find Deathsurge or Jurassik next and try them.

 

No matter what though, this is a cool power combination and loads of fun.  I have never had an AT that would throw up orange numbers like this one.  So satisfying to momentarily lose sight of the group you are fighting due to all the orange Critical messages and damage numbers.  This build is also the first one that I have been able to solo a GM with and I have been able to do things that I haven't been able to do before.

 

My altitis has and will strike again (testing the waters of the Dom pool now), but I know that I will always find myself taking this guy back out for the the joy of bouncing packs of mobs behind walls of orange text and numbers....and the occasional GM/AV take down. 

 

[Jaegernault]

The incarnate -regen is rather naff if you have alternatives. Ther reactive is only 2.5% res debuff too. 

 

For impact I find the -hp the best for general purpose. Its effect is short but it quickens the deaths of minions to elite bosses and the effect scales regen down on larger targets. It's all down to style tho. I always use ion judgement as it's a room cleaner for all the minions eating my Argo cap!

[aethereal]

By sheer happenstance today I finished a Numina TF solo on an ice/bio stalker.  Which means fighting Jurassik.  I had intended to use envenomed daggers, but I hadn't checked how many uses I had left...  and it was one.

 

So I did the fight, at level 40 obviously, with difficulty set to +4, using DNA Siphon as my sole source of -regen.  It worked.  It was slow, but it worked.

[Jaegernault]

Oh its seldome faster solo, but the fact you managed it solo is the prize!

 

I think of it like this, if I can solo it, then i know i can team with anyone and still manage it on equal or faster times. Also means you can just enjoy playing without being so on the ball.

 

I have an ice/bio stalker too, ice melee is great AoE for the type and with a call of the sandman in the ice foot stomp it's a self heal!

[WindDemon21]

On 1/30/2020 at 4:16 AM, Jaegernault said:

Genetic contamination was a tougher call. Its not there for the damage as even at full power its ticks of 30 damage to red enemy. Its enhanced for the set bonuses and specifically the knockdown proc.

GC is there to kill off the remaining slivers of health sometimes left over.

 

My question, is i was planning to skip crushing blow, using def-sweep/titan sweep, rend, and follow through for ST. How critical is crushing blow?

 

Debated between scrap and brute too, but am I correct that the cast times are exactly 1s in momentum? would mean 3 attacks in the crit strikes proc duration.

[Jaegernault]

When I hit something it seldom has a sliver left haha. On mine ive got a a fair amount of overkill, Level 54 minions take 2 hits, as do the lieutenants, thanks to the overkill. Bosses take 3 usually depending on their heals or innate resistances. Good example is the Behemoths in CoT, they use healing flames when they hit about 30% health. They always cast it on a corpse as that last 30% is 1 hit with overkill.

 

Defensive sweep looks great with the 5 hit cap and early on its a must as you need the AoE and defense, same with Titan Sweep. once you unlock Arc of Destruction its a superior version of Defensive sweep so can act as a ST OR AoE combo builder. I found through testing that when I use Arc of Destruction > Whirling Smash > Rend Armour > Follow Through > Crushing Blow,

 

All the minions and lieutenants are dead, the boss im targeting is dead on follow through, dead on Rend Armour if it crits., which it often does with Arc of Destruction's crit chance, at which point follow through goes to the second boss.

 

At that point Arc of Destruction is recharged, often with Buildup for another cycle, this time just;

 

Arc of Destruction > Rend Armour > Follow Through, again if a crit lands it doesn't take the whole chain.

 

Crushing blow is only really needed if you dont need to use Whirling Smash, for instance against a single target like a GM or AV, changing the chain to Arc of Destruction > Rend Armour > Follow Through > Crushing Blow.

 

When your level 32 you dont need the AoE from those 2 early attacks, Crusting Blow isnt critical to most cases except soloing AV's, and its also a good place of a set since you need the filler for the chain.

 

Its again personal preference tho, everything ive written is based on my play-style and how ive optimized it for how I engage in combat. May not flow for others as easily, and need some adapting.

 

I had the same dilemma between scrappers and brutes, tanks just didn't get a chance when I wrote this tho now id place them even with brutes for usage with the new damage and hitcap.

 

Brutes initially look like they rock, the Fury makes the TW attacks tear bosses appart early on. But as you level up fury stops becomming as effective and the ATO procs for brutes are rather pathetic.

 

Scrappers start a little flimsy, a lucky crit will do mega damage but they arnt regular. As you level you will catch up to the brute, once you get sets you pass them even on same set builds and once you get ATO's your going pass them like a boy racer overtaking a 90 year old granny using a Zimmerframe. Brutes can still be godly using this build but their damage will be far less, their defense will be far less, they wont get much extra on HP and wont benefit from resistance cap increases.

 

Now, if brutes were altered to use a system like domination where if they get above 90% fury they can click something to lock it there with a x2 multiplier for 60 seconds then have it reset to 0, that would work as you could sustain the higer damage and not feel like a junky looking for a high when fighting, and other sets dont even need this.. TW doesnt leave you in combat long enough to gain much fury as basically, you kill stuff too fast. To get to the insta kill threshold on a brute you would need to take a nap in each mob before attacking them, a scrapper will clear that same mob in 5-6 seconds and be running to the next. Solo it works well as you get all the argo, in a team you may feel sluggish.

[Argent Aegis]

11 hours ago, Jaegernault said:

Now, if brutes were altered to use a system like domination where if they get above 90% fury they can click something to lock it there with a x2 multiplier for 60 seconds then have it reset to 0, that would work as you could sustain the higer damage and not feel like a junky looking for a high when fighting, and other sets dont even need this.. TW doesnt leave you in combat long enough to gain much fury as basically, you kill stuff too fast. To get to the insta kill threshold on a brute you would need to take a nap in each mob before attacking them, a scrapper will clear that same mob in 5-6 seconds and be running to the next. Solo it works well as you get all the argo, in a team you may feel sluggish.

I have played brutes many times and absolutely love the archetype.  To be honest, I was exploring TW/Bio on a brute before Jaegernault and his guide pointed me in the direction of using a Scrapper for this powerset.  It is a very valid point about challenges trying to build fury when the KD and big orange numbers are preventing sustained fights where you can really build and sustain fury.  It's one of the reasons Rad or Spines/Fire armor brutes are the go to for farming.  There isn't a lot of inherent mitigation preventing attacks, (although I think spines has a -rchg effect), so the AOE's are chewing up the mobs as they are continually attacking a high defense and resist brute, generating fury.  If it was TW, many of the mobs will be flopping around and not attacking when using some of the set's key attacks, so fury will build but not as efficiently as with some other sets.  Once Scrappers get past that awkward teen stage things start gelling.  Get the ATO's and other IO's in place and watch the wall of orange that fills your screen. 

 

Now the fury system worked like domination on Dominators....that would change everything.  Brutes would chase recharge to make perma-fury.  Geez.....that sounds sweet.  Probably game breaking, but dang...what a wild ride that would be.

 

[Argent Aegis]

On 8/20/2020 at 1:37 AM, WindDemon21 said:

GC is there to kill off the remaining slivers of health sometimes left over.

 

My question, is i was planning to skip crushing blow, using def-sweep/titan sweep, rend, and follow through for ST. How critical is crushing blow?

 

Debated between scrap and brute too, but am I correct that the cast times are exactly 1s in momentum? would mean 3 attacks in the crit strikes proc duration.

I have thought, and still occasionally do, about going back to Defensive Sweep instead of CB.  But right now I am hunting GM's so I need the big ST attacks.  I have a few farms that I made for my Rad/Fire that I run my TW/BIo in.  In those farms, I have an Elite in every spawn and extra adds that are triggered at different times.  So I was thinking that I may try another build after I get T4ed out and feel I have proven to myself that I can take down most GM's.  In that build I may take Defensive Sweep since ST will not be as needed as much.  Sometimes I have four bosses lined up and would just love one more cone while Arc is recharging.  The extra defense would be a nice alternative to clicking Shadow Meld, running through the 3 second animation time and breaking momentum.  But that is on a scrapper, so if I was a brute, that would be an additional reason to take DS since they do not have Shadow Meld. 

 

Hmmm....., DS would be available for exemping down to levels where Shadow Meld would not be.  So maybe a trip to the Beta server is needed for me.  I need to consult the forum number crunchers and find out if the DPS/DPA/proc rates of DS and CB warrant a change like that.  I am not confident enough to claim knowing how to calculate Arcanatime and Bopper's Proc chances with any certainty.

 

I now wonder if putting the Scrapper Strike ATO would be better served in Rend Armor or in Crushing Blow (or Defensive Strike).  Again, that is something I will have to use Bopper's tools to figure out. 

 

Sorry about the two long posts.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Argent Aegis