Scrapper AT - Powerset Advice Requested

[marcussmythe]

Background:

 

A long time ago, when HOs were 50%, ED was a distant dream, Energy Transfer was what it was and not what it is, etc... I had a lvl 50, pure-HO Invuln/EM Tank.  I chose this for the combination of 'tough enough to stand up to Archvillians' and 'able to hit hard enough to put those same Archvillians down.  As an aside, she could tank pretty much anything in the game (though there werent nearly such scary things in the game then as now)

 

Now, its many many rules changes since.  Damage is MUCH harder to come by than it was when 6HOs was +300% Damage and there was no ED, and DEF is MUCH easier to come by with the introduction of sets and bonuses and the powers freed up by inherit fitness.

 

So, I traipsed lightly through brute, and enjoyed my visit there, made a main.  But the siren song of 'moar numbers' calls to me - And Id like to recapture that old unstoppable engine of destruction that was HERO.  Given that survival is easier to find these days, and damage harder, that suggested a scrapper.

 

But what scrapper?

The Spreadsheets Say that Titan Weapons is where it -IS- for damage, but IIRC those self-same spreadsheets are based on an incredible amount of recharge that you wont have, especially not alone.  Also, Im not smart enough to do my own DPS rotation calculations on an on-again-off-again set like TW, so Im just not sure (also not sure about having that big slow stick, just fun-wise)

 

Also, TW doesnt rock it out with Shield, which is notorious for providing massive +DAM, so long as you bring an audience.  But can TW's impressive numbers keep up for not having a perma-buildup out of its secondary?

 

If we look at other secondaries, Bio carries that +25% in Offensive Adaptation, as well as a small DOT and some fun Debuffs.  Radiation has, of course, all sorts of candy in it, from an 'Unstoppable' clone with major +DAM (though limited uptime), coupled with a regen debuff, a recharge buff, a burn patch, a....

 

... man, who let Radiation out of testing without running the numbers...

 

Anyway, just looking for the conventional wisdom on maximizing single-target PvE DPS Push, with 'sufficient' survivial to make that matter.  Id rather not be running around with a Shield or Buster Sword, but if thats where it is, thats where it is.

 

 

[Erratic1]

 

If we look at other secondaries, Bio carries that +25% in Offensive Adaptation, as well as a small DOT and some fun Debuffs.  Radiation has, of course, all sorts of candy in it, from an 'Unstoppable' clone with major +DAM (though limited uptime), coupled with a regen debuff, a recharge buff, a burn patch, a....

 

... man, who let Radiation out of testing without running the numbers...

 

 

 

I have a 40 Radiation/Psi Tanker and a 33 Savage/Bio Scrapper. Both have been quite solid in play, though nowhere near as flashy as something like Shield or Fire.

 

I have not played it, but a Radiation Melee/Shield Scrapper might be interesting. Radiation Melee has a splash damage effect when you hit a target you've contaminated with a single target Radiation attack power. Irradiated Ground lowers foe's defenses, so hitting should not be a problem. Combine with Shield for the damage boost and area damage and you could have a quote potent character.

[seraphimh]

TW is incredibly good damage if you build for recharge. Having momentum up every 20 seconds makes you a beast. Combine that with the crit bonus from sets and you can reliably hit upwards of 1200 damage on arcs of destruction when critting. I went bio armor as secondary and with complete sets, you don't even use endurance in efficiency armor.

 

You also have a ridiculous amount of soft control in the form of knockdowns. I routinely hop into +4 x8 packs and kill without worry because they stay on their backs. Here's my build:

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1496&c=692&a=1384&f=HEX&dc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

[marcussmythe]

TW is incredibly good damage if you build for recharge. Having momentum up every 20 seconds makes you a beast. Combine that with the crit bonus from sets and you can reliably hit upwards of 1200 damage on arcs of destruction when critting. I went bio armor as secondary and with complete sets, you don't even use endurance in efficiency armor.

 

You also have a ridiculous amount of soft control in the form of knockdowns. I routinely hop into +4 x8 packs and kill without worry because they stay on their backs. Here's my build:

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1496&c=692&a=1384&f=HEX&dc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

 

Thank you for this!  I was looking at Titan/Bio - while the Bio Armor damage bonus in offensive cant reach the levels of AAO - its closer than I thought, about 50-55% between the flat 30 and the ‘additonal toxic damage’.

 

And I really want to see what it can do with Titan once Titan starts spending most of its time in Momentum...

[Erratic1]

You couldn't take Shield with Titan Weapons anyway and Bio is a good set.

[marcussmythe]

Right.  And Shield/X is also very appealing - but its been done, and done very impressively.  I wanted to try something different.

[JavaMonk]

I know this is the Scrapper thread but I have to ask; Would you make any significant tweaks if applying that TW/Bio build to a Brute?

[Erratic1]

I am not advocating here, but rather giving another data point for your consideration....

 

Since you are looking at TW and hasten, Beta Decay in Radiation Armor grants recharge based on the number of nearby foes. At max value that should be enought to roughly equal an SO Recharge enhancement. Moreover it also debuffs foe's defense and to-hit--you are more likely to hit them and they are less likely to hit you.

 

You won't see hits as big as with Bio in Offensive Adaptation but you will cycle your powers faster and be able to take on larger groups.

[marcussmythe]

I know this is the Scrapper thread but I have to ask; Would you make any significant tweaks if applying that TW/Bio build to a Brute?

 

Not the above poster - but I'll note that BrutiOs give different bonuses than ScrappiOs, which would change some things.  You also have higher caps to pursue if you choose.

 

A Brute is going to feel the damage loss of defensive adaptation less than the scrapper will, and for the same reason will feel the damage gain of offensive adaptation less.  A Brutes higher caps, applied to a higher base hit points, suggest that a BioBrute is going to tend to have Efficient or Defensive as the 'default stance in mind', with Offensive as a place to visit when they just want a bit more damage.  On a scrapper, due to the massive damage bonuses and the high damage base, Id tend to make my build 'work' around being in Offensive Adaptation and watch the numbers flow.

 

Full disclosure - Ive not tinkered with the Radiation set for scrappers.  I should do that.  My gut says that it will be tougher than the offensive-stance Brute, but that the extra recharge wont make up for the nearly +50% Damage Buff even with an audience. 

[Uun]

Back in the old days I played 5 scrappers to 50 (MA/Inv, Spines/Dark, Claws/Reg, Elec/Shield, Fire/WP) and I'm currently working on a Rad/Rad that's up to 33 and have just started slotting IO sets. Rad primary is good other than the activation time of a lot of the powers is pretty long. The cone is fidgety and hard to line up to get more than one - I can line up shadow maul with no problem but not this one. You don't get a good AoE until 32 (other than the aura). Rad secondary is very good, although you have to play it like Regen and avoid getting overwhelmed by too many mobs. The set has more +regen than straight heals, so you want to avoid letting your health drop too much. Beta decay is awesome, especially that the -DEF is autohit. You can laugh at shield generators and drones. Still debating whether to add Tough - will wait to see how it plays with the IO bonuses.