Introduction to Arachnos Widows - Night/Blood/Fortunata

[KaizenSoze]

Version .1

This initial draft reflects my bias towards Night and Blood Widows. I have almost no play experience with Ranged Fortunatas.

Please, feel free to argue with me and point where I was too harsh on certain powers. Or just plain wrong. Hopefully, after a few

revisions this will be worth making into a sticky post.

The format for this guide is taken from the Stalker Guide written by @Croax

 

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Introduction to Arachnos Widow - Night/Blood/Fortunata

 

Index

 

Introduction

Getting Started - Important for beginners

Costumes

Arachnos inherent power

Strengths

Weaknesses

Primaries

  Widow Training

  Night Widow Training

  Fortunata Training

Secondaries

  Teamwork

  Widow Teamwork

  Fortunata Teamwork

ATOs

Build Suggestions

Misc Notes

 

Introduction

  Widows are my favorite AT in the whole game. They are incredibly flexible. You want a melee with a nuke, a controller with damage, support with good damage, light stalker with good AOE, even a light tank at high levels. This guide will give you an overview of the AT with strengths and weaknesses. Of course, this guide is strongly colored by my opinions and any feedback. A lot of this information is pulled from the Paragon Wiki: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Arachnos_Widow

  Keep in mind when talking about builds that all character can have three builds. You could have a Night/Blood/Fortunata build on the same character: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Multiple_Builds

 

Getting Started - Important for beginners

  This is an important section for beginners, because you can only start your character on the villain side. There is no away around this in the current game. You can start leveling in Mercy Island, but on most servers the red side population is very low.  I suggest, carefully make your way to the ferry and head to Port Oaks. You might die once or twice. It happens. There is a door to Pocket D near the ferry in Port Oaks that can be easily reached. Other options are super base teleports.

 

  In Pocket D find, Null the Gull, literally a gull sitting on a truck near the main dance area. Null can change your alignment to hero. Then, you can go to Atlas Park and start leveling.

 

  Once you level to 24, you will be required to respec and pick either Night Widow Training/Widow Teamwork or Fortunata Training/Fortunata Teamwork. At least, neither side requires an ugly backpack.

 

Costumes

Gender note, there is no requirement that Widows be female.

A note about costumes, your first costume slot will be taken up by the mandatory widow costume, which allows minimal changes to the costume sets. Your second costume slot can be anything you want.

Also, there are some special rules for Arachnos. According to the Paragon wiki, you get extra costume slots to make up for the restriction on the first one. There are some quirks. See: https://archive.paragonwiki.com/wiki/Costumes#Soldiers_of_Arachnos

I could not find the mission in Ouroboros. Here's how I did it at level 50.

On Mercy Island find the contact, Alan Desslock. He will provide you with two missions.

Complete those and he will introduce you Brick Johnson in Port Oaks.

Brick Johnson's second mission is, Pose as a Hero to trap Lt. Fossil, this will give you the extra slot.

Note, you cannot see the new slot and you'll get no message telling you it exists. Read the wiki for details.

 

 

 

Strengths

  Moderate high melee damage

  Moderate ranged damage

  Moderate controls

  High damage PBAOE

  High defense

  85% resistance cap

  Easy to cap psi resists

  Group defense/to hit/damage buffs

  Melee damage scale 1.0

  Ranged damage scale 1.0

 

Weaknesses

  Endurance issue due to lots of toggles and fast firing powers

   Low defense debuff resistance, 27% max

   Hard to reach high resists, except psi  -  See power: Foresight

   Low hit points for a melee - Accolades + Unbreakable Guard 7.5% = 1283 hp

   Expensive for a max build - lots of purples and winter sets

   Most damage is lethal or psi. Slightly tedious when fighting robots.

   No weapon redraw option, not a huge problem, but you’ll notice it

Inherent is weak

   

AT inherent power

Conditioning, provides a slight increase to regeneration and recovery. Honestly, it’s not a great power as one of the biggest pains to leveling is still endurance. Also, widows have low hit points, so the regeneration is not noticeable.

Edited February 11 by KaizenSoze

[KaizenSoze]

Powers

 

Warning a lot of opinion below

M = Mandatory

O = Optional

S = Skip

 

Primaries   

 Widow Training

    Poison Dart

      O - moderate damage full slotted. Only for pure ranged builds.

    Swipe

      M - fast melee attack - good spot for Spider's Bite ATOs

    Strike

      O/M  - moderate melee attack - optional for some Fortunata, mandatory for Night Widows 

    Dart Burst

      O  - narrow ranged cone. Pure ranged builds only.

    Follow Up

      M - Damage, plus to hit and global damage buff, which can stack on itself self once

             Night Widows have to pick either Follow up or Build up, while Fortunata are not restricted 

    Spin

      M - Great Melee PBAOE - Good spot for, Dominion of Arachnos, ATOs

    Lunge

      M - Strong melee attack. Lead from stealth with this attack for a large crit until you get slash if you're playing a Night Widow

    Confront

      S - Single target provoke, one of the least taken powers in the whole game!

 

  Night Widow Training

   Mental Blast

     O - Low damage, taken only to hit mobs like Paragon Protectors or Cyclopes. Very skippable.

    Build Up

     M - Damage/To Hit buff. Must pick either this power or Follow Up. Follow up is available most of the time, but this provides a larger buff

    Smoke Grenade

     O - Useful in two situations, clicking items with dangerous mobs nearby or helping pull part of a group or one one group out a crowed room. Note, the -toHit is not resisted.

    Slash

     M - High damage melee attack. Lead with this from stealth on single targets.

    Eviscerate

     O - 90 deg melee cone, longish animation. Hard to hit more than two mobs. But it’s your only other Night Widow AOE. Requires practice.

    Psychic Scream

     O - Low damage with a long cast time. But takes procs and another good spot for Dominion of Arachnos to fear groups.

 

  Fortunata Training

    Mental Blast

     S/O - Fortunata’s have much better ranged attacks, but for a ranged Fortunata you might need it for an attack chain

    Telekinetic Blast

     O - Moderate ranged damage, knockback, possible Force Feedback recharge. I have heard it’s useful in PvP. Can be slotted up to mag 20 KB.

    Subdue

     M - High ranged damage, the immobilize is just a bonus  

    Aim

     M - Fortunatas get both Follow up and Aim. Take both.

    Psychic Scream

     O - Low damage with a long cast time. But takes procs and another good spot for Dominion of Arachnos to fear groups.

    Dominate

     M - Mag 3 hold, but can be proc’ed into a high damage attack with a good chance to hold bosses

    Psionic Tornado

     O - Moderate Ranged AOE. Long cast time, but can be decent damage with procs and takes force feedback for recharge. A good AOE pre Psychic Wail.

    Scramble Thoughts

     O - Mag 4 stun, but with very low damage and a very long cast time.

    Total Domination

     O - Mag 3 AOE hold, long recharge.

    Psychic Wail

     M - Very high PBAOE damage. Follow->Aim->Psychic Wail massive damage plus a mag 3 stun. Must take otherwise why are you playing a Fortunta!

 

Secondaries

  Teamwork

    Combat Training: Defensive

      M - Good melee defense. It provides the same scaling resists as Foresight, but does not take resist enhancements.

     Combat Training: Offensive

      O/M - Can only slot accuracy IOs, not to hit. After discussion, I maligned this power unnecessarily. It's very useful early on 2-3 accuracy pieces save you accuracy slots in your attacks. Most will drop it by 50, but it can be very useful early on.

     Tactical Training: Maneuvers

      M - Bread and butter defense toggle

     Indomitable Will

      M - Must have mez resist toggle plus some psi defense

     Tactical Training: Assault

      O - 15% group damage buff, nice to have if you have the room

     Tactical Training: Leadership

      O - Great group buff, 2 slot or 6 slot with Gaussian set. Note, the Gaussian set has some great def bonuses and a build proc. I was slow to appreciate it.

     Foresight

      M - Non-toggle mez protection. Plus, psi resists, scaling resists that increase as your hps drop, positional defense, and a little bit of defense debuff resists, can be slotted to 27% max. You must take this power!

 

  Widow Teamwork

    Mask Presence

       M - Makes you a mini stalker. Your first melee, not ranged,  attack gets a 50% damage bonus, critical, stalkers get 100% bonus. Combined with the Celerity stealth IO in sprint makes you invisible to most mobs.  

     Mental Training

       M - Recharge bonus plus movement bonus. Only takes basic IOs.

     Mind Link

       M - Large group defense bonus, nice to hit, plus psi resists. Not hard to perma on Night Widows, hard to perma on Fortunatas.

     Placate

       O - Allows you a chance to critical again - Skippable but can be useful for AOE crits

     Tactical Training: Vengeance

       O - Personally, I forget to use, by the time I remember I have it the player has rezed

     Elude

       O - 60% positional with defense debuff protection. Endurance crashes at the end. I have heard it’s useful in PvP

 

  Fortunata Teamwork

    Mask Presence

       M - Makes you a mini stalker. Your first melee, not ranged,  attack gets a 50% damage bonus, critical, stalkers get 100% bonus. Combined with the Celerity stealth IO in sprint makes you invisible to most mobs.

     Mind Link

       M - Large group defense bonus, nice to hit, plus psi resists. Not hard to perma on Night Widows, hard to perma on Fortunatas.

     Confuse

       O - Nice to have with Coercive Persuasion proc, but not used often

     Tactical Training: Vengeance

       O - Personally, I forget to use, by the time I remember I have it the player has rezed

     Aura of Confusion

       O - Nice to have with Coercive Persuasion proc, but not used often. Long recharge.

Edited November 19, 2021 by KaizenSoze
smoke nade update

[KaizenSoze]

Build Descriptions

These are terms I like to use, they are not fixed categories, but preferences in how I think builds are designed.

Night Widow - Claws melee - Night Widow Training/Widow Teamwork 

Blood Widow - Hybrid melee/ranged/controller  - Fortunata Training/Fortunata Teamwork

Fortunata -  Controller/ranged   -  Fortunata Training/Fortunata Teamwork

 

Build Guidelines

  Since, you have very little defense debuff resistance, 27% max. You need to have greater than 45% positional defense in the end. It’s not that hard to get there with IO sets and enough recharge to make Mind Link perma, but it can be expensive. It is not required that you make Mind Link perma, if you don't mind defense gaps. Fortunatas are noticeably more expensive to build than Widows, because Mind Link has a higher recharge than Night Widows. Purple sets are a must for Fortunatas if you want perma Mind Link. 

  For soloing 4x8, I go for a minimum of 55% positionals. Arachnos have nasty defense debuffs.

  Night widow attack chains are built around either slash or spin from hide for the crits. Eviscerate as AOE filler till spin is up. Use follow up constantly to keep the buff stacked as much as possible.

  Blood Widow’s single target attack chains are the same as Night Widow. If Psychic Wail is up, then Follow Up->Aim->Wail ASAP. I will often use hide to get in the middle of groups and start with Aim->Wail.

  Fortunatas use Psychic Wail just like Blood Widows, but will back out to play at range.

 

ATOs

  Dominion of Arachnos - The -dmg and fear are pulsing and helpful for damage mitigation. Set bonuses are a must.

  Spider's Bite - Your first ATO piece should be the global toxic proc. The set bonuses are also a must.

 

Patron Pools

  Leviathan Mastery - Long cast, expensive AOEs

  Mace Mastery - Shatter armor and Web envelope for PvP

  Mu Mastery - Good ranged attack, AOE immobilize, and damage

  Soul Mastery - Has a very good single ranged attack Gloom. Dark Obliteration as a possible replacement for Psychic Scream or Tornado.

 

Leveling suggestions

Keep toggles to the bare minimum until you get accolades, stamina, and health piece that help recovery

Endurance issues are a normal pain of leveling. Plan for it, slot endurance and endurance reducers.

You are very squishy in the beginning, low hp and low defense, this lasts until better slotting and mind link is up most of the time.

Once, you have endurance and defense slotted well. You can ex-emp down very well till level 15, then you lose your stealth.

The celerity stealth piece is very useful as your normal stealth will not allow you to stand next to mobs. Buy it early if you can.

 

Misc notes

When fully built out you can eat Carnies alive. Your AOE defense blocks most of the end drain and they are weak to lethal. You have high psi resistant against their worst attacks. The only issue is the to hit and damage debuffs which you have to wait out sometimes.

CoT are also easy, as the bosses depend on hit debuffs for protection which your high, to hit, negates that. Dominate hold procs can knock their toggles off.

Malta also are not a major problem. Confuse the sappers, if you’re worried. Use psi attacks on the human bosses, the robots are tedious but not very dangerous.

Arachnos, PPD, and Soldiers of Rularuu are non-incarnate mobs you will run into that are dangerous. They have very high defense debuffs or are very accurate. Usually, this is only a major problems at high diff +3/+4.

ITFs are also fun as long you don’t get melee mobbed with defense debuffs. Or get the attention of too many energy/neg energy attacks. You can finish the cyclopes with psi attacks and 1-2 slot the healers. The Kheldians are weak to psi.

Edited March 15, 2021 by KaizenSoze

[KaizenSoze]

Melee widow leveling build to 23. You might not be able to run both Assault and Leadership full time. If you have end buffs. Let em rip.

Spoiler

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.1.25
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Leveling Melee Build: Level 24 Magic Arachnos Widow
Primary Power Set: Widow Training
Secondary Power Set: Teamwork
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Swipe -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), EndRdx-I(19)
Level 1: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(9), DefBuff-I(17)
Level 2: Strike -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(7), EndRdx-I(19)
Level 4: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(5), Acc-I(5)
Level 6: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(11), DefBuff-I(17)
Level 8: Follow Up -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(11), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(23)
Level 12: Spin -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(13), EndRdx-I(21)
Level 14: Lunge -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(15), EndRdx-I(21)
Level 16: Super Speed -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Tactical Training: Leadership -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Foresight -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 24: [Empty]
Level 26: [Empty]
Level 28: [Empty]
Level 30: [Empty]
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 2: Rest -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(3), EndMod-I(7)
------------
------------

 

 

 

Leveling hybrid range-melee widow build to 23. You might not be able to run both Assault and Leadership full time. If you have end buffs. Let em rip.

Spoiler

Villain Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.1.25
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Hydrid ranged melee: Level 24 Natural Arachnos Widow
Primary Power Set: Widow Training
Secondary Power Set: Teamwork
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Poison Dart -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), EndRdx-I(5)
Level 1: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(7), DefBuff-I(15)
Level 2: Strike -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), EndRdx-I(9)
Level 4: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(5), Acc-I(11)
Level 6: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(7), DefBuff-I(15), DefBuff-I(21)
Level 8: Follow Up -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(9), EndRdx-I(11), Dmg-I(21)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Spin -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(13), EndRdx-I(13), Dmg-I(19)
Level 14: Lunge -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(17), EndRdx-I(17), Dmg-I(19)
Level 16: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Super Speed -- Run-I(A)
Level 20: Tactical Training: Leadership -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Foresight -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 24: [Empty]
Level 26: [Empty]
Level 28: [Empty]
Level 30: [Empty]
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
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 -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 2: Rest -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(23), EndMod-I(23)
------------
------------

 

 

 

 

Full builds. Both Gulbasaur and Tidge have their builds in the thread. Tidge's ranged build is on the last page.

 

Here is my Blood Widow build

 

Pure Night Widow melee build

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by KaizenSoze

[Gulbasaur]

I like how you presented the guide! Very clear and I'm 100% going to rip off the style of it in future. 

19 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

  Dominion of Arachnos - Take it for the set bonuses. The -dmg and fear are not that great.

Blasphemer! Fear is basically a pulsing Hold. For a single slot, it's very potent for whole-team damage mitigation. 

 

19 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

Psychic Scream

     S - Low damage ranged cone with a long cast time. Might as well be zero stars

I actually really like this power - it's very proc-friendly and the Fear ATO proc was made to go in a power like this. Because of the (relative) fragility of widows, a lot of their damage mitigation comes from control and being able to fear 25% of a group of enemies very regularly is a huge boon. I'd say the same thing about the Confuse powers - I'd consider them essential, but that's very much a playstyle thing. Being a controller with tanking capacity is a fortunata's whole shtick so I think it's a good idea to lean into it. 

 

19 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

   Expensive for a max build - lots of purples and winter sets

I'd debate this unless you're chasing recharge, which I think is less mandatory than many people assume - I think I only had one purple IO apart from the ATOs until recently. 

 

Great guide!

Edited September 30, 2020 by Gulbasaur

[KaizenSoze]

2 hours ago, Gulbasaur said:

I like how you presented the guide! Very clear and I'm 100% going to rip off the style of it in future. 

Blasphemer! Fear is basically a pulsing Hold. For a single slot, it's very potent for whole-team damage mitigation. 

 

I actually really like this power - it's very proc-friendly and the Fear ATO proc was made to go in a power like this. Because of the (relative) fragility of widows, a lot of their damage mitigation comes from control and being able to fear 25% of a group of enemies very regularly is a huge boon. I'd say the same thing about the Confuse powers - I'd consider them essential, but that's very much a playstyle thing. Being a controller with tanking capacity is a fortunata's whole shtick so I think it's a good idea to lean into it. 

 

I'd debate this unless you're chasing recharge, which I think is less mandatory than many people assume - I think I only had one purple IO apart from the ATOs until recently. 

 

Great guide!

Thank you for feedback!

 

I updated the guide to take your comments into account.

 

Steal the format, but thank Croax, as I stole it from him.

Edited September 30, 2020 by KaizenSoze

[tidge]

I always like reading about people's takes on the AT, but I think focusing on Night/Blood might clarify the opinion on a few things (like choice of powers). I think this guide did a slight disservice to a two areas which might help it stand out. As written, it appears to be more of a guide for final (or at least late-game) builds.

 

1) The guide explicitly directs players to switch to Blue Side. There is no explanation of why this is recommended, nor is there a description of what is given up. If this is a guide for beginners, everything should be on the table.

 

2) The guide doesn't explain much about play style and choices pre-24. This may not interest everyone, but if the player is new to the class I don't think it is fair to assume power-leveling into the mandatory respec. Power choices at low levels will depend on play style. I have found that pre-level 24 I go heavier on the toggle choices specifically to team. Powers at lower levels are slot-starved, so bonuses from team toggles 'go farther' at low levels.

 

For example: I don't value the ATO %Fear proc (on a Fortunata) as much as @Gulbasaur does; however I find that it is more useful when leveling up than when in a final build. At end-game (and when exemplaring) the %Fear has value as a control, so my $0.02 is this: if going for a (many piece) set bonus from Dominion of Arachnos, take a good look at the build's powers for Enhancement Diversification and (power) recharge for proc-ability before deciding to simply drop any %proc in place.

 

There is nothing wrong with builds for extreme end-game content, but that isn't the whole game. There are also different end-game play choices. My end-game builds very rarely have as many (team) toggles. I want to point out that there are many different types of 'end-game' play styles. For example, when I solo I rarely use Mind Link... for the type of content I run, I use it as the mitigation for the lack of  defense debuff resistance (DDR). If a build can get  Perma-Mind Link, by all means there is no reason to NOT keep it up.

 

One thing that I feel should be always be mentioned for the VEATs is that players have access to multiple builds: It is easy (if expensive) to use the multiple builds to explore different power choices/career paths. You can have both a Widow and a Fortunata, and the 3rd build slot can be used to cover different play styles (solo v. team).

 

[KaizenSoze]

Tidge you're right. I am working on leveling builds this week.

 

Something I could use help with.

 

I'll put on note about why new players should head to the blue side.

 

Also, about the multiple builds.

 

All feedback is appreciated.

[KaizenSoze]

Does anyone know how to get the sticky flag on a post?

[Kazander]

Question, in the guide you have the following:

 

Slash

     M - High damage melee attack. Lead from stealth with this attack for a large crit until you get slash

 

What are we using slash for until we get slash?  is there another power we should swap out or sub in before slash or afterwards?

[Greycat]

I'd argue with "go to blue side and start leveling," personally. Not only because it makes the "redside has fewer people" self-fulfilling, but - well, the E in EAT and VEAT stands for "epic," which in original-developer-speak meant the 1-50 story arcs Khelds and SOA/Widows get. That said, I'm not a fan of the VEAT arcs... but there's one practical reason to wait to switch, even if you don't care about those, if that's what you want to do. The (Port Oakes, 10-ish) arc given by Brick Johnson unlocks another costume slot, for those interested, for you to "disguise yourself as a hero." Early leveling's fast, in any case, so it's not taking *that* long to wait.

 

(And nitpick - misspelled Kheldians in the bit where you're talking about Cim.) 🙂

[KaizenSoze]

1 hour ago, Kazander said:

Question, in the guide you have the following:

 

Slash

     M - High damage melee attack. Lead from stealth with this attack for a large crit until you get slash

 

What are we using slash for until we get slash?  is there another power we should swap out or sub in before slash or afterwards?

I juggled lunge and slash. Fixed now.

[KaizenSoze]

1 hour ago, Greycat said:

I'd argue with "go to blue side and start leveling," personally. Not only because it makes the "redside has fewer people" self-fulfilling, but - well, the E in EAT and VEAT stands for "epic," which in original-developer-speak meant the 1-50 story arcs Khelds and SOA/Widows get. That said, I'm not a fan of the VEAT arcs... but there's one practical reason to wait to switch, even if you don't care about those, if that's what you want to do. The (Port Oakes, 10-ish) arc given by Brick Johnson unlocks another costume slot, for those interested, for you to "disguise yourself as a hero." Early leveling's fast, in any case, so it's not taking *that* long to wait.

 

(And nitpick - misspelled Kheldians in the bit where you're talking about Cim.) 🙂

I was going off personal experience. The red side was a ghost yard when I made my Widow.

 

The extra costume wiki link mentions Brick Johnson. So, that is covered.

 

Fixed the typo.

[Doomrider]

On 9/29/2020 at 6:19 AM, KaizenSoze said:

 

   No defense debuff resistance

 

This isn't technically true. I would reword it to 'Low defense debuff resistance'. With Foresight slotted properly you can get close to 27% DDR. Not a lot, but it's something.

[KaizenSoze]

48 minutes ago, Doomrider said:

This isn't technically true. I would reword it to 'Low defense debuff resistance'. With Foresight slotted properly you can get close to 27% DDR. Not a lot, but it's something.

Doh. How could have I not noticed that!

 

Mids only shows 17%, but it's not listed in the power description, it's only on the status resist page.

 

In game show 27%, which as you said isn't much, but it's more than I thought.

 

The best thing about writing the FAQ. I have already learned a few things I didn't know.

Extra costume slots and DDR are two.

[RobotLove]

On 9/29/2020 at 8:19 AM, KaizenSoze said:

Foresight

      M - Non-toggle mez protection, psi resists. Plus scaling resists that increase as your hps drop.

Also your largest chunk of positional defense (7.5%) outside of Mind Link. TT:Manuvers being 5% for comparison.

 

On 9/29/2020 at 8:20 AM, KaizenSoze said:

Leveling suggestions

Keep toggles to the bare minimum until you get accolades, stamina, and health piece that help recovery

Endurance issues are a normal pain of leveling. Plan for it, slot endurance and endurance reducers.

You are very squishy in the beginning, low hp and low defense, this lasts until better slotting and mind link is up most of the time.

Once, you have endurance and defense slotted well. You can ex-emp down very well till level 15, then you lose your stealth.

The celerity stealth piece is very useful as your normal stealth will not allow you to stand next to mobs. Buy it early if you can.

I would suggest Combat Training: Offensive with 2-3 slots early. Even at DO levels this should give enough global acc to skip yellows in attacks entirely and just slot end redux. Good until the 30s then can be respecced out of for the later game.

 

On 9/29/2020 at 8:20 AM, KaizenSoze said:

Patron Pools - Generally not interesting, unless you like pets or PvP

  Leviathan Mastery - Long cast, expensive AOEs

  Mace Mastery - Shatter armor and Web envelope for PvP.

  Mu Mastery - Decent AOE immobilize and damage

  Soul Mastery - Gloom is a very good ranged negative energy attack.

Dark Obliteration has performed well for me in place of scream or tornado. Better cast time, good damage, good damage type, good debuff, lots of proc potential. Exemping is its only real issue.

Darkest Night can help 'fill the void' as it were if you don't/can't perma-Mind Link. Main drawback is its high end cost.

Soul has a lot of good options beyond Gloom.

Edited September 30, 2020 by RobotLove

[Gulbasaur]

Super late to notice, but CT:Defensive has a secret scaling resistance buff attached to it that duplicates Foresight's buff. It's not mentioned anywhere in game, but it's definitely there if you check your stats.

[KaizenSoze]

1 hour ago, Gulbasaur said:

Super late to notice, but CT:Defensive has a secret scaling resistance buff attached to it that duplicates Foresight's buff. It's not mentioned anywhere in game, but it's definitely there if you check your stats.

Interesting. I will have to test that to see how much resists it provides.

[Gulbasaur]

I am bored, unemployed and avoiding doing anything productive, so I tested it.

 

Edit: CT:D, not CT:O

 

Both are something like 0.4% resists for every 1% under 75%, so that's 0.8% with the two together.

 

Reactive Defences adds 3% plus 0.1% resists for every 1% hit points you lose.

 

I wish I put half the amount of effort I put into answering random queries on the internet as I did my MA thesis.

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Gulbasaur

[KaizenSoze]

Great find. That's a lot of extra resists. I will update the guide.

 

[twozerofoxtrot]

On 9/29/2020 at 10:20 PM, KaizenSoze said:

Arachnos are the only non-incarnate mobs you will run into that are dangerous. They have very high defense buffs. I have seen -33% def at 4x8.

Hi, sorry for the pseudo-necro, but about this line: Have you ever run against 54 PPD? 

 

The are stacked with PBs, which have -def on every attack they use outside of dwarf form, and the dwarves taunt. This is offset by taking Tactical Training: Assault to a large degree, but it can still create frustration on Blood Widows and Fortunatas attempted to disrupt priority targets in a fight. Also all of those attacks are energy, so unless specifically built for it resistance is going to be on the low side. Oh, and sometimes they rez themselves. 

 

The way I usually get around this is the same way I handle them on my Invul/ Tanker: pop Ageless Radial. Although it's got a long recharge, typically the effects within the first half of the duration are enough of a boost to get you through a massive DDR failure.

 

Just to emphasize, again I run into problems with this group even with an Invul Tanker. Meaning Defense stacked up to the 70's in a full dogpile of enemies can still get cascaded into sub-softcap. They are my #1 most hated enemy group across all of my characters.

 

Consider adding them to this line?

[Gulbasaur]

On 3/2/2021 at 4:33 AM, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hi, sorry for the pseudo-necro, but about this line: Have you ever run against 54 PPD? 

I'd say that PDD are almost incarnate tier and I wish there were more mobs like that. I'm one of the "the game gets too easy too easily" people and mechanics that can't by bypassed by just having lots of defence are always welcome.

 

Oddly, fortunatas (and mind controllers) might be the best weapon against Peacebringers - psi damage is their weak point.

[KaizenSoze]

On 3/1/2021 at 11:33 PM, twozerofoxtrot said:

Hi, sorry for the pseudo-necro, but about this line: Have you ever run against 54 PPD? 

 

The are stacked with PBs, which have -def on every attack they use outside of dwarf form, and the dwarves taunt. This is offset by taking Tactical Training: Assault to a large degree, but it can still create frustration on Blood Widows and Fortunatas attempted to disrupt priority targets in a fight. Also all of those attacks are energy, so unless specifically built for it resistance is going to be on the low side. Oh, and sometimes they rez themselves. 

 

The way I usually get around this is the same way I handle them on my Invul/ Tanker: pop Ageless Radial. Although it's got a long recharge, typically the effects within the first half of the duration are enough of a boost to get you through a massive DDR failure.

 

Just to emphasize, again I run into problems with this group even with an Invul Tanker. Meaning Defense stacked up to the 70's in a full dogpile of enemies can still get cascaded into sub-softcap. They are my #1 most hated enemy group across all of my characters.

 

Consider adding them to this line?

I updated to include the three mobs at can give you fits at 54. Archnos, PPD, and Soldiers of Rularuu.

[Heraclea]

From Victory days I seem to remember a slotting trick for Mind Link, where you couldn't slot the power for recharge in a straightforward way, but if you slotted Defense/Recharge buttons from many different defense sets, you could add substantial recharge to the power.  Does this still work? 

[Giovanni Valia]

7 hours ago, Heraclea said:

From Victory days I seem to remember a slotting trick for Mind Link, where you couldn't slot the power for recharge in a straightforward way, but if you slotted Defense/Recharge buttons from many different defense sets, you could add substantial recharge to the power.  Does this still work? 

 

You're probably thinking of Adjusted Targeting: Recharge IO. That will give you the biggest boost to recharge in Mind Link. You can stuff a LoTG, and Shield Wall IOs in with recharge as well. Boosting the IOs will help cover the recharge gap a bit. I'm able to get perma Mind Link this way.