Energy Melee

[Anon4321]

Just wondering if anyone knows what AT the new Energy Melee is strongest on? I am thinking Brute due to the crit limitations which is why I am asking here first, but I'm not sure if I may be overlooking something. Thanks in advance for any help. 

[Infinitum]

3 hours ago, Anon4321 said:

Just wondering if anyone knows what AT the new Energy Melee is strongest on? I am thinking Brute due to the crit limitations which is why I am asking here first, but I'm not sure if I may be overlooking something. Thanks in advance for any help. 

From my experience it's:

Stalker Scrapper Brute Tanker

 

With each one being very close in performance either way as they go up the ladder.

[Snarky]

I was about to say my research is leading me to starting the first Stalker I have ran since a few low level attempts on live.  Evidently EM tops the Stalker power choices right now.

[Anon4321]

Interesting and thanks for the replies. I am surprised given both Scrappers and Stalkers are losing out on a large portion of their crits with the set. I understand they have higher base damage modifiers, but with other sets it's their full crit bonuses that keep them competitive. Seeing as how Brutes can take full advantage of their fury boost with the set I would naturally think it's strongest for them. Do you happen to have any links to discussions about the differences performance? I am searching but not finding much.

[Snarky]

From the "More than just a Ninja" pinned to top of Stalker AT page

 

Energy Melee:

Energy Melee is back! It hits hard and melts Archvillain like no one else. The best Single Target Damage in all Stalker Primaries with a little mechanic called Energy Focus. Using Total Focus gives you one stack (2 stacks when crit) of Energy Focus. You can spend one Stack to make Energy Transfer fast. You can also spend EF stacks to improve your Cone, yes Stalkers Energy Melee have AoE now! There is also the option to pick up the t1 power to spend EF stacks on a minor regen debuff...it is an easy skip for me. I use EF stacks exclusivly on Energy Transfer. The i27 update was the best that could happen to Energy Melee from worst to obe of the best Stalker Primaries!

[Bopper]

14 hours ago, Anon4321 said:

Just wondering if anyone knows what AT the new Energy Melee is strongest on? I am thinking Brute due to the crit limitations which is why I am asking here first, but I'm not sure if I may be overlooking something. Thanks in advance for any help. 

My opinion is Stalker because of its superior version of Power Crash, having Assassin's Strike, and a fairly controllable avenue to Double Energy Focus from Hide crits.

 

Scrapper, Brute, and Tanker would be a step down from Stalker, but deciding which of those are next best would be a choice of flavor as each has something that makes them stand out:

 

Scrapper gets crits (Double Energy Focus) and has the highest AT damage modifier which pairs greatly with the high scale damage from the set (Total Focus is 3.56 scale, Energy Transfer is 4.56 scale, plus you have solid DPA attacks with Energy Punch and Bone Smasher).

 

Brutes because Fury goes so well with EM's high scale damage. You are right, crit limitations helps make Brutes stand out. 

 

Tankers because of their inherent. You get a larger radius with Whirling Hands (12 feet instead of 8 feet, 16 target cap instead of 10 target cap), plus your Power Crash is basically always in EF mode. Other ATs can hit 5 (up to 10 when spending E.F.), while Tankers already can hit 10 (up to 16 when spending E.F.).

 

---

Now, let's break down Stalker a little bit more. You don't get Whirling Hands (which is slow for meh damage), and you replace that with Assassin's Strike (1s cast time for 2.76 scale damage, or 3s cast time for 7.0 scale damage). When fast AS crits it does 5.52 scale damage which is nearly the same as when ET crits (5.8368). AS is fairly controllable with its crits, so if you think about it, fast AS is similar to having a 2nd fast ET attack. That alone would make Stalker incredibly strong compared to other EM ATs...but wait, there's more.

 

Your Power Crash is on a longer cooldown than other ATs but that also comes with increased damage scale. Your PC will do 1.9518 scale damage compared to the regular 1.2032 scale damage (62.2% stronger AoE attack). That damage scale is the same as Slow version of Arc of Destruction (but animates in 1.8s instead of 2.7s). So sure...your AoE isn't as good as other ATs, but your ST is better than anyone elses and your one AoE attack is a faster animating version of Titan Weapon's T9 attack (same arc and radius, btw). The only Stalker AoE attacks with better DPA than Power Crash (54.8182 DPA | 108.54 base dmg) is Sweeping Strike (65.1084 | 94.5373) and Ablating Strike (61.7891 | 73.4055). That DPA is on par with Scrapper's Whirling Smash (54.7676 | 65.064)... which is impressive given Scrapper's AT modifier.

 

Personally, I like to start a ST attack chain with Slow AS (contains hide proc which should trigger 90% of the time) and I try to re-use Fast AS every 3rd attack in hopes of high crit chance from Assassin's Focus. From the Slow AS starter, I go into the following rotation:

TF (if hide proc's from Slow AS, guaranteed Double E.F.) > Fast ET > EP > Fast AS > ET (likely fast if hide proc'd previously) > EP > TF > Fast ET > Fast AS > EP > ET

 

That's a lot of burst damage, and I can always alternate by not going with Slow AS to start but rather Hidden TF to start to guarantee a Double E.F. if I hit my target. Either way, things die quickly. 

 

For my AoE attack chain, I have a fully synergized Cross Punch ( 1.651 scale damage in 1.67s cast time) and Ball Lightning (1.02 scale damage in 1.07s cast time). I like to start with P.C. from hidden to get those crits:
PC (from hide) > BL > CP > Fast AS > PC > CP > BL > Fast AS 

 

That does pretty well when I get saturated with aggro

Edited February 18, 2021 by Bopper