Any guide for the various powers?

[JnEricsonx]

I always liked reading guides where people rated the various powers within a set.   Probably will make coming back to this AT a bit easier as I don't remember too well how I set up chars from damn near 3 presidential terms ago.

[Seigmoraig]

There are ton of guides around this forum for both the VEATs and their different specs. Not knowing which you are asking about specifically, just look around, there are a bunch on the first page here

 

having played both I would start here

Fortunata
https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/11319-best-of-both-blood-widower-fortunado-build/

 

General Build thread, Specifically Omega-202's Soldier build listed here
https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/11463-arachnos-soldier-widow-build-list/?tab=comments#comment-112258

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Seigmoraig

[JnEricsonx]

More just guides about the various powers each being discussed.  Way back in the day I remember reading a guide on the different powersets, and each power in said set was mentioned, rated, etc.

[Gulbasaur]

The old forums had a guide to guides abou the VEATS, one of which sounds like what you want. You can access them on the Internet Archive. I know the widows ones are quite good, but I have no idea about the soldiers.

 

Link here.

[tidge]

I don't have the stamina to write anything like a 'complete guide' to VEAT powers, mostly because even within a single VEAT there are many different ways to play them! A power that works well for one play style (or build) may not work well in another. For example, the Arachnos Soldier VEAT stirs up a lot of strong messaging around different opinions on AoE/Single-Target/Pets/Debuffs/Buffs (to name a few).

 

Here are a couple of thoughts I have on Fortunata powers that I don't think are particularly controversial, YMMV:

 

Mind Link: The optimal slotting for Recharge (assuming that you don't already have 5 LotG Global +Recharge pieces in other powers) and Defense is 3 slots:

1. Adjusted Targeting Recharge
2. Luck of the Gambler: Def/Global Recharge
3. Luck of the Gambler: Def/Recharge

It is possible to get higher values of both Defense and Recharge with more slots, or by replacing #3 with a boosted Shield Wall piece, but the point of diminishing returns kicks in. Many folks shoot for 'perma' Mind Link, but my experience has been that since Fortunata (positional) defenses can already be made quite high that it is not as important to have Mind Link perma for yourself; teammates may feel otherwise, but since they will still need to be somewhat close to you to get the benefit I'm less motivated to make it 'perma' specifically for teammates.

 

Dominate: I believe the general consensus is that of all the Fortunata powers, this is the one that should be slotted with %Damage procs, for the following reason(s):

1. As a Ranged Damage set with a Hold component, it can take 2 different Very Rare (puple) Procs. Very Rare %Damage procs have a higher proc rate and do 50% more damage than non-Very Rare procs.
2. The inherent damage is Psi, which is uneven against a variety of enemies.
3. The inherent damage is (by my calculation) only slightly better than the %damage from non-Purple  procs, so if you eschew any recharge in Dominate, you should be able to reliably get more damage from the procs (against neutral resistance enemies).

Personally, I have Dominate 6-slotted with 4xBasilisk's Gaze (all of the /Hold pieces) for Global Recharge and 2 Procs (Apocalypse and Unbreakable Constraint). I find the Hold to be an important piece of my Fortunata's 'control' strategy, and I appreciate the Global recharge bonus from the set.

 

Some thoughts on Confuse and Aura of Confusion:

 

The Very Rare Coercive Persuasion %Contagious Confusion is better used in the single-target Confuse. The PBAoE Aura of Confusion has a radius of 25 feet, so it will already be hitting most mobs in a spawn.

 

Confuse set %Damage procs (Cacophany, Malaise's Illusions) are better in the PBAoE. Scoring damage against the mobs in a PBAoE will make you eligible for Inf, Exp and drops even if you let the mobs defeat each other. You can also destroy property in Mayhem missions with it :).

 

Here are my thoughts on Leadership and Build Up type powers (e.g. Aim), which I think are applicable to all VEAT:

 

You should be aware that slotting the Gaussian's %Build Up proc in a toggle power like Tactical Training: Leadership will have an increased chance to fire due to your pets and teammates (assuming they are close to you).

 

You should also be aware that most powers like Aim have a long enough inherent recharge (typically 90 seconds) that the Gaussian's %Build Up proc will have a (clamped) 90% chance of triggering upon activation. This is an incredible boost (for 5 seconds). The recharge time is long enough that you can invest in a lot of recharge (from IOs) or simply 6-slot the set to get the recharge time down to 21-ish seconds and still have the same chance to proc the (extra) Build Up. This means that if you were auto-firing Aim, one-half of the time you are getting the benefit of the inherent Aim boost and one-quarter of the time you are getting the enhanced Build Up. I don't necessarily suggest auto-firing Aim on all VEAT, but there are a few cases where it could be a valid choice.

 

Some comments on three-slotting Defensive powers: generally, VEAT (especially Widows) have the opportunity to slot many Defense sets. All players should plan to slot the global %Resistance Shield Wall piece. IF a Defense power is going to have three (or more) slots in it AND one of those slots is going to have a LoTG Def/ Gloabl Recharge piece in it AND the second slot is holding the Shield Wall global, it is a better choice to slot a boosted piece from the Shield Wall set rather than the LotG set... unless you specifically want the 4- or 5-piece set bonuses from LotG.