Need Help Deciding Secondary for MA

[Saikochoro]

I have been tinkering around in MIDs for a few days trying to come up with the highest damage whilst still being survivable build for martial arts.

 

I trying to decide between 4 secondaries.  For brevity, instead of posting the full builds for each I will post a snippet of the totals.  Totals do not include incarnates, but do include hasten.  I plan to run musculature alpha no matter which secondary I choose out of the 4.

 

1.  MA / SR - Softcapped positionals.  This has the highest DDR by far.  About 8 seconds short of perma hasten.  Great recovery to endurance usage ratio.  I have 1-2 procs in each attack.  No heal, minimal resistance.
   
    
2.  MA /EA - Soft capped typed defense, except psionic.  Decent DDR.  About 8 seconds short of perma hasten with only 1 enemy around.  Almost all attacks have 1-2 procs. This will have more clicking going on to stay on top of endurance.   This has a good heal and decent resists. 
   
    
3. MA / SD - Soft capped positionals.  Low DDR.  About 10 seconds short of perma hasten.  Not all attacks have procs, but most do have 1-2 procs.  It also has AAO to boost damage. It also provides a nice AoE attack to supplement MA low AoE. Decent recovery, but I could see it getting eaten into with MA fast attack chain.  Decent resists.  No heals.
   
    
4. MA / BIO - Softcapped typed defense except psionic.  No DDR.  Low recharge.  No procs in attacks, but it does have offensive boosting damage.  Decent resists for S/L.  Great healing, abosb, recovery, & regen.
   

 

Super reflexes seems like it will be the most set and forget of them all.   Has the best DDR.  However, when I do get hit it will hurt a lot and will take a while to recover.  EA is pretty great in all respects, but I do have to click the heal and end recovery quite often or else I will be burning the endurance bar fast.  Shield defense I was able to get a good amount of recharge even without a recharge booster in the secondary.   Like SR, no health recovery, but it at least has better resists.  However, its DDR isn't great.  BIO seems like it overall may be the most survivable with the best combination of defense, resist, and heal.  However, it has no DDR and the slotting is tight not allowing for good recharge or procs.

 

So, what do you guys think I should choose?  I think I value damage slightly higher than survivability, but want both.  They all have pros and cons and seem like they would each do well, but wanted to get opinions.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Saikochoro

[Apparition]

I went with MA/EA Scrapper myself.  I really like it.  As for DDR, I plan to get the Ageless Radial Destiny which will make that even better.  Energy Drain makes a nice stun with the Energy Manipulator IO proc slotted in it, and you top off your endurance to boot.

[Saikochoro]

Yeah, EA is definitely a strong contender. The only thing I don’t really like is the recovery to endurance usage ratio. Even though recovery tool would be up often enough and I will eventually get ageless it is a bit annoying to have to click the end tool often or use the heal when I don’t need it to stay on top of endurance consumption. 

[hakurr]

 

i know it was not in your options but what about Invulnerability for a secondary?

[Saikochoro]

Didn’t really consider it as I didn’t think it offered any bonuses to offense (+rech, +dam, etc). I understand that I may offer a lot more survivability. I do want to be survivable, but not too much at the cost of offensive bonuses.

 

I may make an invuln one eventually. I think I’d like to stick to one of the 4 above though. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Saikochoro

[hakurr]

np makes seance did not think of it that way

[StrikerFox]

Offense wise, it's pretty tough to beat SR. It's easy to softcap and perma Hasten. SR helps make attack chains seamless without slotting for recharge. This leaves room to chase +damage and slotting procs. 

[JayboH]

Just go with the healing destiny for SR if you go that route, and you could always go Paralytic Interface to debuff damage on top of that if you are worried about anything beyond that (although I suspect you will go for a damage one no matter what)

[Haijinx]

WP also pairs very well with MA

 

Dragon's Tail is a great gap maker to let your Regen from RTTC to kick in.  

 

 

[Saikochoro]

From the level 50 statistics posted in March it looks like MA / SR is one of the top most popular combos for scrappers. I can definitely see how the slotting is loose to allow for damage shenanigans. 
 

Since it seems popular, I’m guessing a lot of people have experience with it. Does it seem pretty squishy since it relies solely on defense?  I have a couple softcapped blasters that don’t have much resistance and they seem to do fine.

 

Im also curious why SR is so much more popular than energy aura on scrappers when energy seems to have better mitigation as a whole.  Is it thematic reasons? Or is it that much better offensively?

[Apparition]

22 minutes ago, Saikochoro said:

From the level 50 statistics posted in March it looks like MA / SR is one of the top most popular combos for scrappers. I can definitely see how the slotting is loose to allow for damage shenanigans. 
 

Since it seems popular, I’m guessing a lot of people have experience with it. Does it seem pretty squishy since it relies solely on defense?  I have a couple softcapped blasters that don’t have much resistance and they seem to do fine.

 

Im also curious why SR is so much more popular than energy aura on scrappers when energy seems to have better mitigation as a whole.  Is it thematic reasons? Or is it that much better offensively?

 

It's a combination of people not realizing that Energy Aura is actually very good now (it was substantially buffed in Issue 21), and that some people don't like that Energy Cloak hides your costume.  But for me, I'll take Energy Aura over Super Reflexes any day.

[Saikochoro]

38 minutes ago, Apparition said:

 

It's a combination of people not realizing that Energy Aura is actually very good now (it was substantially buffed in Issue 21), and that some people don't like that Energy Cloak hides your costume.  But for me, I'll take Energy Aura over Super Reflexes any day.

Makes sense. I do have a dual blades / energy aura scrapper.  It does seem pretty great. Just wasn’t sure how it compares to SR since I have never played SR. The only thing I don’t like about my DB/EA scrapper is how fast it chews through endurance even with end/recovery procs slotted and endurance reduction in every power. The endurance clicky and heal definitely help. So it definitely is managed, just a little annoying. 

[Redlynne]

Have you ever considered piracy being a SR/MA Tanker rather than a MA/SR Scrapper ...?

[Saikochoro]

23 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

Have you ever considered piracy being a SR/MA Tanker rather than a MA/SR Scrapper ...?

Nice reference 😁. 
 

Maybe eventually. I do like the storm kick +def that tankers get.  However, I am wanting a scrapper first. MA scrapper was my absolute favorite on live and I am wanting to resurrect it. Back then I had Regen as the secondary, but I am wanting a bit more offensive focus secondary this time round. 
 

My next tanker project I was going to do Dark / MA or Rad / MA. Though maybe I will do SR / MA so that it is the scrappers big brother as it were. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Saikochoro

[SeraphimKensai]

I have experience with all the sets, and think you'll likely get the most out of MA/Bio as bio is just that good.

 

 

[Redlynne]

23 minutes ago, Saikochoro said:

but I am wanting a bit more offensive focus secondary this time round.

In that case ... Martial Arts/Shield Defense ...

[Saikochoro]

7 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

In that case ... Martial Arts/Shield Defense ...

Does AAO make up for not being able to slot as many procs and having slightly less recharge?

 

I know shield charge helps with AoE, but I knew that MA is single target centric going in. 
 

Man this is difficult. Maybe I will do all 4. Just don’t have the budget for it yet. 

[Redlynne]

4 minutes ago, Saikochoro said:

Does AAO make up for not being able to slot as many procs and having slightly less recharge?

You tell me ...

 

Max Targets: 10

Radius: 8ft sphere

Damage (All): +12.5% (base) and +6.5% per $Target within the PBAoE = +19% to +77.5% damage buffing (1-10 $Targets)

 

And it's also a Taunt aura ...

[StrikerFox]

Vs a single enemy (AV/GM/pylon etc), SR would out dps SD. With builds min/max for damage and using the same attack chain.

 

Vs a group, which will be 95+% of the time, SD would leave SR in the dust. AAO and SC are just great powers.

[Saikochoro]

So I think I will eventually make all 4 as they all sound fun.  That said, I have decided to go SR for the first one for a couple reason.  I already have a WM/SD and DM/SD scrapper.  Both could use some more investment, but they are fun (especially DM/SD).  So, for now I will leave SD to DM.  I have a DB/EA scrapper that is also fun.  I am still annoyed by its endurance consumption even though I can manage it (nitpicky I know).  I have Bio armor stalkers, sentinels, and brutes and thus need to branch out more.

 

Which leaves me with SR.  It is a set that I have never tried before.  I like that fact that it seems very set and forget and thus low maintenance compared to something like bio armor.  It allow for very lose slotting allowing me to chase procs and recharge and whatnot.  My biggest concern was the lack of secondary mitigation for when defense gets bypassed.  As such, I tinkered with my build a bit more to gain more mitigation at the expense of just a very small amount of recharge and some higher endurance consumption.  I also tossed out a fully proc'd out hold, which I only had in my original build because I had extra slots.  The biggest winner is picking up rune of protection, which will have about 50% uptime.

 

Here are the new totals with rune of protection off.

 

Totals with rune of protection turned on:

 

I still will have to have some greens in my insp tray, but I'm cool with that.  I'm excited to try it out.  Worse case scenario, I respect and give the enhancements to a different toon.  Thanks for the advice.  I may come back at a later time to update once I have more experience with it.

 

Here is the build in case anyone is curious to see it.  Note that I couldn't get mids to allow me to put the last slot on hasten for some reason.  I know I can in the actual game, so that is where the last slot goes.

 

Quote

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Martial Arts
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Storm Kick -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(13)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(3), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(3)
Level 2: Focused Senses -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(5), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(5)
Level 4: Cobra Strike -- SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(15), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(15), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), TchofDth-Dam%(19)
Level 6: Agile -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(7), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(7)
Level 8: Focus Chi -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 10: Arcane Bolt -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(48), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 12: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def(A), Rct-ResDam%(42), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(42)
Level 16: Dodge -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(17)
Level 18: Crippling Axe Kick -- ScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(21), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), GldStr-%Dam(23), TchofDth-Dam%(25)
Level 20: Quickness -- Run-I(A)
Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(25), TtnCtn-ResDam(43), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(43), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(46), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(27), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(27)
Level 28: Lucky -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29)
Level 30: Dragon's Tail -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(31), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Arm-Acc/Rchg(31), Arm-Dam%(34), Obl-%Dam(36)
Level 32: Eagles Claw -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(33), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Hct-Acc/Rchg(33), Hct-Dam%(34), TchofDth-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Evasion -- LucoftheG-Def(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(36)
Level 38: Moonbeam -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(39), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Apc-Acc/Rchg(39), Apc-Dam%(40), GldJvl-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A)
Level 44: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), TtnCtn-ResDam(45), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(45), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(46), TtnCtn-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit 
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(37), Pnc-Heal/+End(37)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(37), EndMod-I(40)
Level 38: Quick Form 
------------

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Saikochoro

[StrikerFox]

The left over slot is level 42 while Hasten is a level 47 power. Can auto arrange the slots by clicking the below:

 

 

The build has too many LotG and is above 5 bonus cap. Click View Active Sets. Anything in red means you're not receiving the bonus:

 

 

 

[Saikochoro]

Thanks!  Honestly forgot about the 5 bonus limit.  Here is the fixed totals and build.  I was able to sneak a little more resistance.

 

Totals with rune of protection on:

 

With rune of protection on:

 

Quote

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Martial Arts
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Storm Kick -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(7)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(7), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(9)
Level 2: Focused Senses -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(9), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(11)
Level 4: Cobra Strike -- SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(17), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(17), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), TchofDth-Dam%(19)
Level 6: Agile -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(21), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(21)
Level 8: Focus Chi -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 10: Arcane Bolt -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(25), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 12: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- Rct-Def(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(29)
Level 16: Dodge -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(31)
Level 18: Crippling Axe Kick -- ScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(31), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), GldStr-%Dam(33), TchofDth-Dam%(33)
Level 20: Quickness -- Run-I(A)
Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(34), TtnCtn-ResDam(34), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(34), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(36), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 26: Weave -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(36), Rct-Def/Rchg(37), Rct-ResDam%(37)
Level 28: Lucky -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(39)
Level 30: Dragon's Tail -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Acc/Rchg(40), Arm-Dam%(40), Obl-%Dam(40)
Level 32: Eagles Claw -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(42), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Hct-Acc/Rchg(42), Hct-Dam%(43), TchofDth-Dam%(43)
Level 35: Evasion -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(43), Rct-Def/Rchg(45)
Level 38: Moonbeam -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(45), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Apc-Acc/Rchg(46), Apc-Dam%(46), GldJvl-Dam%(46)
Level 41: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A)
Level 44: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), TtnCtn-ResDam(48), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(48), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(50), TtnCtn-EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit 
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(11), Pnc-Heal/+End(13)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(13), EndMod-I(15)
Level 38: Quick Form 
------------

 

 

 

[Lazarus]

Might I suggest you also consider NINJITSU.

 

Easy to soft cap and with stealth you ALWAYS open a fight with a 100% crit on first attack, making better use of EAGLE CLAW

then normally would get.