Just started a Katana/Super Reflexes, how should I plan the build?

[Oginth]

And any powers recommendation?

[Duck-Smokes-Quack]

Katana

• best single target DPS chain is GD>GC>SD>GC and repeat which needs lots of recharge (which is great because /SR gives you +20% rech speed which helps a lot)
• Skip Divine Avalanche (/SR doesnt need the extra Def), Sting of the wasp (worse than Gamblers cut in everyway) and the taunt (no need on scrapper i find)

Super Reflexes

• Take ALL powers apart from Elude (Elude is worthless, best thing about it is the animation)

Pool Powers

• Hasten (for the high recharge needed for Katana attack chain)
• Tough + Weave (Weave is a must to help get /SR to the oh so important Defence cap - as a side note if you dont already know with /SR you want 45% defence minumium in Melee/Ranged/AoE - its the whole point of the se)
  Tough im sure someone people will disagree with me but for a set with no native resists (apart from the scaling as youre dying) tough helps a lot
• AID SELF - seriously for me its a MUST have on /SR (unless you have DM/ as a primary) it really is imporant

Epic Powers

• My main is a MA/SR which is actually VERY similar to KA/SR - I find that with the high recharge attack chain I absolute chew through endurance so I took Body Mastery for Conserve power and physical perfection (my conserve power is up 1/2 the time, but i dont actually "need" it - dont have to slow down my attacks when its on CD, its just a 1 slot wonder to get physcial perfection unlocked
  I really dont like building relying on incarnates - so i fixed my end problems without needing Cardiac, which allowed me to take Musculture for MOAR DAMAGE
  *Note MA/ is way more of an end hog than KA/ so you may be fine without Body Mastery perhaps im not sure

 

I adapted my MA/SR to a KA/SR for you to take a look at and consider. Now im looking I cant actually believe how similar MA/ and KA/ are  - even in terms of slotting, i never realsied 


Anyway heres the build! hope i helped

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[Krazie Ivan]

imo,

Sting/Gambler and/or Flashing (depending on +Rech in the build), BU, Lotus, Soaring, Golden

all but Elude

with evenly built Resists in the 35-55% range, a self-Heal and/or good Regen, and Absorb proc/s, it can be insanely durable. it's almost like old-school /Regen in MoG in-that you'll be scraping along at 10-15% HP and still not die... it's HP-based +Res is that good. takes some gettin use to tho for sure. try building up E/N/F/C Res, run Tough (other S/L Res bonuses will come easily). make sure you're softcapped to Melee/AoE/Range (icap isn't even hard to hit). slot whatever +Heal +Regen +Absorb you can fit. peeps use to take Aid Self, but i think it works against SR's HP-based Res mechanic now, while small Heals/Regen/Absorb work with it.

[Duck-Smokes-Quack]

1 hour ago, Krazie Ivan said:

imo,

Sting/Gambler and/or Flashing (depending on +Rech in the build), BU, Lotus, Soaring, Golden

all but Elude

with evenly built Resists in the 35-55% range, a self-Heal and/or good Regen, and Absorb proc/s, it can be insanely durable. it's almost like old-school /Regen in MoG in-that you'll be scraping along at 10-15% HP and still not die... it's HP-based +Res is that good. takes some gettin use to tho for sure. try building up E/N/F/C Res, run Tough (other S/L Res bonuses will come easily). make sure you're softcapped to Melee/AoE/Range (icap isn't even hard to hit). slot whatever +Heal +Regen +Absorb you can fit. peeps use to take Aid Self, but i think it works against SR's HP-based Res mechanic now, while small Heals/Regen/Absorb work with it.

Care to share a build?

I like the sound of all those +res! but whenever I have tried to do it it realy hinders other aspects of the builds (particularly MA/ and KA/ very fast attack chains)


I also disagree about Aid Self 😜 but each to their own

[Krazie Ivan]

48 minutes ago, Duck-Smokes-Quack said:

like the sound of all those +res! but...
...also disagree about Aid Self 

yeah, it's not an intuitive or easy way to build SR, but it does tip the mechanics of the game in your favor if you can pull it off. gotta be able to cap Res early (by already having large amounts before the +Res mechanic adds to it, as HP drops) to forgo the heal... otherwise it doesn't work, and you'll need to depend on the heal. Accolades & +HP bonuses also go a long way, as does Rune/M.Core alternating for damage taken earlier in the HP bar. but the net effect is a char that will even survive FAR longer than if you had AidSelf, because you're taking so much less dmg the more hurt you become. & although the heal isn't recharging faster as your HP drops...the heal procs & regen & absorb are all making seemingly larger contributions to your comparatively small pool of HP.

another perspective might be that the DPS from high +Rech for MA or Kat chain is slightly hindered by the long animation of, and necessity of using, AidSelf. and you can still push global Rech over 130%+ (Haste included), which i know is more than enough for MA (my MA/Reg/Soul only has 3 ST chain, & Tail if i need the AoE).

the one downfall of course is solo vs large incarnate mobs, where icap can play a bigger roll depending on the mob type. +Rech isn't much of a trade-off, but 59% Def or 35-55% Res to SLENFC is... i won't pretend all 3 are possible, as my icap/155% Rech builds only get 20-40% SLENFC Res. 

sticking with AidSelf isn't wrong by any means, i'm just noting there's a way around taking it if one would rather not.
🙂

[Duck-Smokes-Quack]

1 hour ago, Krazie Ivan said:

yeah, it's not an intuitive or easy way to build SR, but it does tip the mechanics of the game in your favor if you can pull it off. gotta be able to cap Res early (by already having large amounts before the +Res mechanic adds to it, as HP drops) to forgo the heal... otherwise it doesn't work, and you'll need to depend on the heal. Accolades & +HP bonuses also go a long way, as does Rune/M.Core alternating for damage taken earlier in the HP bar. but the net effect is a char that will even survive FAR longer than if you had AidSelf, because you're taking so much less dmg the more hurt you become. & although the heal isn't recharging faster as your HP drops...the heal procs & regen & absorb are all making seemingly larger contributions to your comparatively small pool of HP.

another perspective might be that the DPS from high +Rech for MA or Kat chain is slightly hindered by the long animation of, and necessity of using, AidSelf. and you can still push global Rech over 130%+ (Haste included), which i know is more than enough for MA (my MA/Reg/Soul only has 3 ST chain, & Tail if i need the AoE).

the one downfall of course is solo vs large incarnate mobs, where icap can play a bigger roll depending on the mob type. +Rech isn't much of a trade-off, but 59% Def or 35-55% Res to SLENFC is... i won't pretend all 3 are possible, as my icap/155% Rech builds only get 20-40% SLENFC Res. 

sticking with AidSelf isn't wrong by any means, i'm just noting there's a way around taking it if one would rather not.
🙂

would still really love to see the build if you dont mind sharing?


I guess using Rune is kind of cheating 😅 just swapping one mguffin (Aid self) for another (Rune) both with the same goal as trying to make /SR tougher - in an ideal world we would solve both issues giving SR a heal and res, but the game really doesnt work that way. The overwhelming majority of IOs give pitiful +res bonuss and so its always a challenge to get those numbers up.

 

I have always personally seen how difficult it is to build for +res & with how hard it is to build for any meaingful levels of regen on SR that i couldnt imagine not going with the Aid Self route.
Especially with how much investment it takes to get Rune of Prot in the first place with 3 x power picks (1 travel power, and a choice between a bad ST ranged attack or an ally buff that doesnt help you)

 

 

[Oginth]

14 hours ago, Duck-Smokes-Quack said:

-snip-

Thanks for your input, and sharing a build.

 

14 hours ago, Krazie Ivan said:

-snip-

Thanks as well!

[Krazie Ivan]

 

20 hours ago, Duck-Smokes-Quack said:

-- using Rune is kind of cheating 😅 

-- we would solve both issues giving SR a heal and res, but the game really doesnt work that way ... ...  how hard it is to build for any meaingful levels of regen on SR

-- how much investment it takes to get Rune of Prot in the first place with 3 x power picks (1 travel power, and a choice between a bad ST ranged attack or an ally buff that doesnt help you)

-- naaah ....it's an avail power pick like any other! 🙂 

-- basically, that's what i'm proposing, but on a smaller scale (no big Res or Heal/Regen powers added to buff SR further - set doesn't need any help). hit SLENFC Res caps at ~45% of your HP bar, and the incoming dmg slows to the point that the small Heals/Regen can usually keep up. if a fight looks to be rough/long, take the alpha at Res caps by alternating Rune/M.Core on top of your 40-45% SLENFC Res and buy yourself more time. plus, they are super helpful vs the rare Psi/Tox mobs that either pump out too much dmg and/or are coded to ignore your positional Def.

-- with a low-investment primary like Kat or MA or others, plenty of room for Mules! Absorb proc, additional Slow Res or KB protection, and they have nice Res bonuses at 2 slots if you have some left.

[Crater Kate]

I'm going to hard disagree on Aid Self, actually. I find this gets recommended a lot for SR, and maybe that was true in the live game, but these days the power is almost always more trouble than it's worth, I've found.

 

The point of a heal is to keep you in combat longer. But an interruptible heal like Aid Self is really *only* useful either out of combat (in which case, Rest is inherent) or vs a very small volume of incoming fire, as even a scratch cancels the thing. On SR, if you're vs. that few attacks, you're either fighting a scary big threat, in which case the heal's not going to stop them from 1-2 punching you (the only situation where a single target will even kill you), or you're fighting a small number of idiots, in which case you're in smooth sailing territory. Relying on Aid Self and slotting Aid Self to work when you need it, for your defense to hold up for the actually ~very~ long activation time... it is extremely, extremely inconsistent, in my experience. I generally have more success just chasing Power Transfer procs, Regen uniques, and just slotting more +Max HP and Regen set bonuses. Those always work even when in the fight and keep you chugging much more reliably, IMHO.

Edited July 14, 2020 by Crater Kate