Old School Scrapper Builds

[Neuro-son]

So I used to have a spines/regen scrapper back on live and it was awesome. Since coming back to CoH, iv barely seen any scrapper at all (Mostly brutes and stalkers). I really want to make an old school scrapper that is still reliable in todays CoH. I was thinking of MA/Regen (i know all the problems with regen, but i mostly only play with teams) and im very open to other OG scrapper builds! Happy Scrapping!

[dsrghrom]

My first character 16y ago was a claws/SR scrapper. Still my most played toon by far. My ill/dark controller is second and my ice/fire blaster is on the 3the spot.

[Sakai]

Claws/sr are fun. I've recently developed a fondness for dark armour and imagine I will be pairing it with claws at some point. 

[MoisesG]

i would suggest Claws/Invuln. 

[Bill Z Bubba]

Of course I'll add another claws/sr into the mix but I'd like to also throw out the old school combo of mace/sr. Hits like a truck and you still get plenty of Knock to help SR stay comfy.

[BrandX]

Mace wasn't an original Scrapper set though.

 

If I was going to suggest classic scrapper...

 

Claws/Regen or Spines/Dark.

 

Claws/Regen was my first 50.  Claws/Dark was my very first Scrapper (and hero) made in CoH.  Though I deleted that first one and remade it as Spines/Dark later when a new concept came about.  I may have kept the original Claws/Dark, but I came in during the first Winter Event, so all I knew was sit and wait for giant snowmen.  😛

Edited November 8, 2020 by BrandX

[Deuce Spade]

If you're not worried about taunt auras in your secondary, it would be hard to beat MA/SR for old school scrappers.  Claws has a faster attack sequence that is pretty fun, but those MA attacks hit like a truck.  Katana/Regen (or SR or INV) was pretty popular too.  For "run through and AOE everything" teaming, nothing wrong with your Spines/Regen choice.

[Bill Z Bubba]

6 hours ago, BrandX said:

Mace wasn't an original Scrapper set though.

Tis true. See what aging is doing to my brain?!!?

 

/the booze probably ain't helpin

[Rathulfr]

My OG Scrapper was MA/SR, and took Jump Kick to enhance the concept: a hero named Carioca who is a master of capoeira, a blend martial arts and dance from Brazil.

 

[ninja surprise]

I just made two new Scrappers yesterday, and DFB'd with a bunch of other new Scrapper toons!

 

Another OG scrapper is Dark/Dark. If you're feeling super nostalgic you can try running only one armor at a time!

 

edit: My new scrappers are Psi/Shield and Dual Blades/Invuln, no OG there.  After I got the Psi/Shield to 12 and then went to re-arrange him on the Character Select screen I discovered I had another with the same concept and nearly identical name at level 4 🤫

Edited November 3, 2020 by ninja surprise

[Ruby Rocket]

DM/SR was a good one back in the day.  Claws/Regen was quite popular.  Katana/DA did very very well in PVP before the constant nerfs to Cloak of Fear.  Broadsword/Invulnerable was a heavy hitter too.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Ruby Rocket

[InvaderStych]

17 hours ago, BrandX said:

Spines/Dark.

Played the ba-jeebus out of mine back in the Before Times.  All the AoE, All the time.

 

10 hours ago, ninja surprise said:

Psi/Shield

 

Mine recently hit her 40s.  So much fun.  Psi gets more hate than it deserves.  I've been running power analyzer on things to see what *really* resists Psi, and what doesn't.

 

Did you know that Neuron's and Anti-Matter's Clockwork mobs don't resist Psi?  Most "Bots" have around 60% resist, but not all of them, apparently.  That said, between the tons smashing (ML and TKB + SC if you go /SD) and the -Res proc in ML and they go down like an inappropriate metaphor.

 

All that said, Kat/Rad is the new Kat/Dark.  Sorry @Werner, but I had to say it. 🤣

Edited November 4, 2020 by InvaderStych

[BrandX]

Just now, InvaderStych said:

Played the ba-jeebus out of mine back in the Before Times.  All the AoE, All the time.

 

 

If it had been my main, I probably would've loved it more.  Had my build for sustained ST DPS (as good as Spines could get) with no end issues, and attacking all the time with the AOEs for general stuff.  Was great!  I now wonder if I can remember that build.

[InvaderStych]

1 minute ago, BrandX said:

If it had been my main, I probably would've loved it more. 

I tend to roll through toons, but that one was as close to a "main" as I got after CoV launched.  Part of that was timing.  It hit 50 right when Interface was GAWDMODE and proc'd on every tic of an aura or rain.

 

Yeah, it was an exploit, but it was ludicrous fun while it lasted.

 

Honestly, even after they fixed it, the toon was still a beast.  Which is funny because I am probably better at building now than I was then.

[Krazie Ivan]

On 11/2/2020 at 12:33 PM, Neuro-son said:

...an old school scrapper that is still reliable in todays CoH. I was thinking of MA/Regen (i know all the problems with regen, but i mostly only play with teams)...

normally i don't share my builds anymore, but this is an old one from about 5yrs ago & still fits what your describe here... esp for teams, where there's lots of added +Def handed out to bridge the last 18-ish %. at lower levels, which don't debuff Def nearly as much, the 27% works well. as for the OG sentiment, i think the original char was made somewhere during i2.

Rune & M.Core alternate to nearly cap all Res 5/6ths of the time, i-cap Def with Meld up 15sec - down only 9sec, IH up more than not, 96sec DP Rech, & 80sec MoG Rech. sips End, added +ToHit for late-game, 7sec off perma-Haste. it's a Storm/Cobra/KaK buzzsaw ST attack chain ...which is fantastic for low level play. Moonbeam can be swapped-in later, & great melee mitigation on Tail's fast Rech. these are Standing numbers, w/o any timed clicks or Acco or Incarn  running:
 

[Uun]

When HC launched, I remade my MA/Inv main from live (dating from 2004). Still kicks ass.

[Lex Talion]

All the old schoolness at your finger tips. Pick your poison.

From the wiki:

• Scrappers have been in the game since Issue 0, originally as a City of Heroes archetype. Their original primary powersets were Broad Sword, Claws, Dark Melee, Katana, Martial Arts, and Spines. Their original secondary powersets were Dark Armor, Invulnerability, Regeneration and Super Reflexes.
• Body Mastery, Darkness Mastery and Weapon Mastery were added to the game in Issue 3

 

On 11/3/2020 at 10:43 AM, Deuce Spade said:

If you're not worried about taunt auras in your secondary, it would be hard to beat MA/SR for old school scrappers.

Invulnerability is the only one of the original scrapper secondaries that has a taunt component. But man, do I wish /SR (and Scrapper secondaries in general) had that.

 

[Deuce Spade]

On 11/8/2020 at 4:38 PM, Lex Talion said:

Invulnerability is the only one of the original scrapper secondaries that has a taunt component. But man, do I wish /SR (and Scrapper secondaries in general) had that.

Me too!  It would be such a huge quality of life improvement for the scrapper AT (though they're pretty awesome as is, so I understand if resources were spent elsewhere).

[InvaderStych]

Dmg Auras work as a kludge-taunt sometimes by adding "threat" from dmg, Beta Decay from /Rad may not actually have a taunt, but it does draw attention (debuff threat).  AAO from /SD, I believe has a taunt component as well.  In the current beta some of those powers are getting the ability to slot taunt sets, but not Beta Decay.

 

IIRC at this point the only secondaries where this is an issue are /SR and /Nin.  The latter, arguably, has a thematic reason to not have one.

[Uun]

2 hours ago, InvaderStych said:

Beta Decay from /Rad may not actually have a taunt

It does

[InvaderStych]

11 hours ago, Uun said:

It does

Then the Beta notes excluding it from the list of powers from Brute/Scrapper secondaries that are getting the ability to slot Taunt sets makes even less sense.

 

/scampers over to the Beta section to see if my question to that effect was answered.

[Deuce Spade]

On 11/11/2020 at 8:15 AM, InvaderStych said:

Dmg Auras work as a kludge-taunt sometimes by adding "threat" from dmg, Beta Decay from /Rad may not actually have a taunt, but it does draw attention (debuff threat).  AAO from /SD, I believe has a taunt component as well.  In the current beta some of those powers are getting the ability to slot taunt sets, but not Beta Decay.

 

IIRC at this point the only secondaries where this is an issue are /SR and /Nin.  The latter, arguably, has a thematic reason to not have one.

As Lex Talion pointed out above, they were discussing "old school" secondaries, but there are lots that don't get one.  Damage auras aren't the same as taunt for the same reason regular damage doesn't keep a mob from fleeing.  Scrapper secondaries without a taunt aura include Dark, Elec, Energy, Fire, Ice, Nin, Regen, and SR

[InvaderStych]

3 hours ago, Deuce Spade said:

Damage auras aren't the same as taunt for the same reason regular damage doesn't keep a mob from fleeing.  Scrapper secondaries without a taunt aura include Dark, Elec, Energy, Fire, Ice, Nin, Regen, and SR

 

Thanks, my understanding of Threat/Taunt mechanics is ... superficial ... at best. 😄

[Doomguide2005]

15 minutes ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Thanks, my understanding of Threat/Taunt mechanics is ... superficial ... at best. 😄

To be fair the mechanics certainly weren't well understood on Live ... and I'm pretty sure still not well understood by even the majority of forum regulars (as compared to say the Attack Mechanics).  Though with the code laid bare I'm sure more could become known.  There is a wiki article copied over from Live to the HCwiki you can view titled "Threat" derived from a Live forum post by Castle.

[CFIndustries]

I rebuilt my DB/WP scrapper from Live, was just as much fun as I remember.

 

I am rebuilding my Claws/DA scrapper build from Live. Requires a certain level of masochism but this will be the…fourth? fifth?…time I've played 0–50 with a Claws/DA scrapper. I first did this combo back with the looping DA sounds and no IOs…we were a very rare breed back then…