Katana - Preferred Archetype?

[StriderIV]

Hi heroes (and villains 😉)!

 

I’ve always been interested in Katana. It seems like a fairly quick animating power set which still has some “crunch” to it. Plus, it can lend itself to some really cool concepts ranging from Jedi to Cyborg Ninjas =P

 

That being said, I’ve rolled Tankers, Brutes, Scrappers and Stalkers fairly equally - so I’m not tied down to a specific archetype. Do you have an archetype you prefer to run Katana on, where you feel it may be most optimal?

 

Also, are there any primaries/secondaries you’d recommend to match it with on your preferred archetype? This should be a fun conversation, and I’d love to hear from you all!

[Apparition]

I would pair Katana with a resistance armor set (Radiation Armor, Electric Armor, Dark Armor, or Fiery Aura) on a Brute or Tanker thanks to the +15% melee and lethal defense Divine Avalanche gives.

[StriderIV]

Just now, Apparition said:

I would pair Katana with a resistance armor set (Radiation Armor, Electric Armor, Dark Armor, or Fiery Aura) on a Brute or Tanker thanks to the +15% melee and lethal defense Divine Avalanche gives.

Nice man! I was looking at both Rad Armor and Dark Armor for it. Do you have an opinion on which one you think would work better with it?

 

It seems that Dark may have more bells and whistles, but can be super end heavy. Rad may have an easier time.

[Apparition]

1 minute ago, StriderIV said:

Nice man! I was looking at both Rad Armor and Dark Armor for it. Do you have an opinion on which one you think would work better with it?

 

It seems that Dark may have more bells and whistles, but can be super end heavy. Rad may have an easier time.

 

It depends on what you want to do.  Radiation Armor and Dark Armor are both quite strong.  But yes, Dark Armor is extremely endurance heavy.  However, there are tools to completely mitigate the endurance issue at level 50.  (Cardiac Alpha, Agility Alpha, or Musculature Radial Alpha in combination with Ageless Core Destiny and some decent IO enhancement slotting.)

 

If you want an easier time while leveling, Radiation Armor will be the way to go.  However, if you plan on mostly playing endgame content at level 50, and/or getting to level 50 quickly and then malefactoring down to lower level content, then Dark Armor will also be a great way to go.

[Bill Z Bubba]

12 minutes ago, Apparition said:

I would pair Katana with a resistance armor set (Radiation Armor, Electric Armor, Dark Armor, or Fiery Aura) on a Brute or Tanker thanks to the +15% melee and lethal defense Divine Avalanche gives.

I go the other way. Choose a defense armor so you can skip DA completely as its low DPA kills your overall DPS.

 

That said, my only existing stalker is kat/inv just cuz.

[StriderIV]

9 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I go the other way. Choose a defense armor so you can skip DA completely as its low DPA kills your overall DPS.

 

That said, my only existing stalker is kat/inv just cuz.

Solid counterpoint! Concept beats all, right? 😂

[StriderIV]

15 minutes ago, Apparition said:

 

It depends on what you want to do.  Radiation Armor and Dark Armor are both quite strong.  But yes, Dark Armor is extremely endurance heavy.  However, there are tools to completely mitigate the endurance issue at level 50.  (Cardiac Alpha, Agility Alpha, or Musculature Radial Alpha in combination with Ageless Core Destiny and some decent IO enhancement slotting.)

 

If you want an easier time while leveling, Radiation Armor will be the way to go.  However, if you plan on mostly playing endgame content at level 50, and/or getting to level 50 quickly and then malefactoring down to lower level content, then Dark Armor will also be a great way to go.

This is a great breakdown.

 

End game content, would you say DA would be better for general content, and Rad would be better for AV fighting due to the -regen?

[Apparition]

23 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

This is a great breakdown.

 

End game content, would you say DA would be better for general content, and Rad would be better for AV fighting due to the -regen?

 

I would say that they'd be equally good for general content.  Rad would be better for AV and GM fighting, but Dark Armor would be much better for tanking Hamidon raids if you care about that due to Dark Regeneration.

[StriderIV]

9 minutes ago, Apparition said:

 

I would say that they'd be equally good for general content.  Rad would be better for AV and GM fighting, but Dark Armor would be much better for tanking Hamidon raids if you care about that due to Dark Regeneration.

Thanks Apparition! Great points.

 

Now to just decide on the archetype. If I went Rad, it seems Brutes would do better with the damage buff from Meltdown.

 

That being said... Tankers seem really strong right now after their buffs 😂

[StriderIV]

Obviously, Kat has been seen as a Scrapper set for most of it’s lifetime. Their ATO’s could push them out to the front.

[Doomguide2005]

A Katana/Dark Armor was one of the first scrappers who I saw doing 'stupid scrapper tricks'.  Some guy named @Werner on his Katana/DA in the RWZ soloing +4 mobs of Rikti 😉

[Haijinx]

Blaster

[Doomguide2005]

6 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

Blaster

New power set pairing Katana Launcher/Katana Manipulation

[Haijinx]

Just now, Doomguide2005 said:

New power set pairing Katana Launcher/Katana Manipulation

I imagine Fire/ is really good. 

 

Since you could Shinobi  then Inferno

[StriderIV]

1 hour ago, Doomguide2005 said:

A Katana/Dark Armor was one of the first scrappers who I saw doing 'stupid scrapper tricks'.  Some guy named @Werner on his Katana/DA in the RWZ soloing +4 mobs of Rikti 😉

Haha this actually isn’t the first time I’ve heard about his Kat/DA. @Wernerwe summon thee! Any particular builds/advice you’d share? Do you feel a Scrapper is the optimal archetype for that pairing?

[Machariel]

I would probably play it on a Scrapper, on a solid layered defense set with good resistances.  Rad, Bio, or Dark come to mind but if I were looking to play Regen or Fire I think Katana would be a good pick there as well.

 

Why those Sets?

I think of Divine Avalanche as a power that lets you play your secondary more aggressively, because it gives you the option to quickly softcap your melee defense on demand.  Now, you can and people do just build the character for softcapped defenses without IOs, and there's nothing wrong with that because softcapped defenses are awesome.  But with powers like dark regeneration in the game I can't help but look at those builds and wonder if they couldn't afford to be getting hit more than they do - which implies that there may be a better way to invest those slots. 

 

Powers like DA and Parry are a cool compromise because you can build pretty readily for 30ish defense and throw in a parry once in while to effectively play softcapped.  Get hit with a bunch of defense debuffs and now your secondary can't keep up? No problem, just keep parrying until they wear off.  I feel like this way lets you get the most out of your secondary in that most of the time you just cruise along with your baseline level of mitigation/healing/whatever but then give yourself a free defense spike whenever desired.  Also, it's a free Luck of the Gambler mule, which is more valuable to a resist based set.

 

Why Scrapper?

The Scrapper ATOs are also really good for Katana, I think because of its very fast attack chain.  But the attitude above also feels more "scrappery" than Brute-y to me, because I imagine the character using Parry... to buy time to cut the mob down to a more reasonable level.  In very long fights where I need to keep parry refreshed, I fully sympathize with the 'parry sucks' crowd.

Ninja Blade on Stalkers loses The Lotus Drops for Assassin's Strike, and the Ninja Blade's AS animation is very slow.  It's still a very high DPA attack but it's not that different from the rest of the set.  Also, to the extent that you agree with the above reasoning about Parry, Stalkers are less likely to be attacked in melee because enemies don't cluster around them as well (lower threat + fewer AoEs + no damage or taunt auras).

Tankers in theory might not mind reducing their damage to get cheap melee defense since they can confidently say that they are likely both to be in melee and to be attacked.  I'm not inclined to play Tankers but I can certainly imagine that if I were leveling one up and was having trouble staying alive vs AVs - and that AV was subsequently messing up my teammates - I may be perfectly happy to focus on taunting and leaving a power like parry on autofire and be thankful for being able to softcap my own defense at level 16... even if I respec out of it. 

 

Come to think of it I had a Katana/Dark Stalker towards the end of live who I haven't yet re-created on homecoming.  Maybe I'll remake her as a Dark Armor Scrapper. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Machariel

[the1egend1ives]

6 hours ago, StriderIV said:

Hi heroes (and villains 😉)!

 

I’ve always been interested in Katana. It seems like a fairly quick animating power set which still has some “crunch” to it. Plus, it can lend itself to some really cool concepts ranging from Jedi to Cyborg Ninjas =P

 

That being said, I’ve rolled Tankers, Brutes, Scrappers and Stalkers fairly equally - so I’m not tied down to a specific archetype. Do you have an archetype you prefer to run Katana on, where you feel it may be most optimal?

 

Also, are there any primaries/secondaries you’d recommend to match it with on your preferred archetype? This should be a fun conversation, and I’d love to hear from you all!

I don't have any numbers to present you, but I'd say go with Stalker simply because Katana has the sexiest looking assassin power

[StriderIV]

47 minutes ago, the1egend1ives said:

I don't have any numbers to present you, but I'd say go with Stalker simply because Katana has the sexiest looking assassin power

Always a valid point 😂

[dopeninja]

Kat/Bio Scrappers are stupid fun too. It is one of the "easy mode" characters. Just run in and kill stuff. Move on to the next future pile of bodies.

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, dopeninja said:

Kat/Bio Scrappers are stupid fun too. It is one of the "easy mode" characters. Just run in and kill stuff. Move on to the next future pile of bodies.

Nice! I have rolled a StJ/Bio... I could totally see Bio fitting in great with Kat. I could see StJ having more ST damage, but Kat trades that for the added Defense and better AOE.

[StriderIV]

10 hours ago, Machariel said:

I would probably play it on a Scrapper, on a solid layered defense set with good resistances.  Rad, Bio, or Dark come to mind but if I were looking to play Regen or Fire I think Katana would be a good pick there as well.

 

Why those Sets?

I think of Divine Avalanche as a power that lets you play your secondary more aggressively, because it gives you the option to quickly softcap your melee defense on demand.  Now, you can and people do just build the character for softcapped defenses without IOs, and there's nothing wrong with that because softcapped defenses are awesome.  But with powers like dark regeneration in the game I can't help but look at those builds and wonder if they couldn't afford to be getting hit more than they do - which implies that there may be a better way to invest those slots. 

 

Powers like DA and Parry are a cool compromise because you can build pretty readily for 30ish defense and throw in a parry once in while to effectively play softcapped.  Get hit with a bunch of defense debuffs and now your secondary can't keep up? No problem, just keep parrying until they wear off.  I feel like this way lets you get the most out of your secondary in that most of the time you just cruise along with your baseline level of mitigation/healing/whatever but then give yourself a free defense spike whenever desired.  Also, it's a free Luck of the Gambler mule, which is more valuable to a resist based set.

 

Why Scrapper?

The Scrapper ATOs are also really good for Katana, I think because of its very fast attack chain.  But the attitude above also feels more "scrappery" than Brute-y to me, because I imagine the character using Parry... to buy time to cut the mob down to a more reasonable level.  In very long fights where I need to keep parry refreshed, I fully sympathize with the 'parry sucks' crowd.

Ninja Blade on Stalkers loses The Lotus Drops for Assassin's Strike, and the Ninja Blade's AS animation is very slow.  It's still a very high DPA attack but it's not that different from the rest of the set.  Also, to the extent that you agree with the above reasoning about Parry, Stalkers are less likely to be attacked in melee because enemies don't cluster around them as well (lower threat + fewer AoEs + no damage or taunt auras).

Tankers in theory might not mind reducing their damage to get cheap melee defense since they can confidently say that they are likely both to be in melee and to be attacked.  I'm not inclined to play Tankers but I can certainly imagine that if I were leveling one up and was having trouble staying alive vs AVs - and that AV was subsequently messing up my teammates - I may be perfectly happy to focus on taunting and leaving a power like parry on autofire and be thankful for being able to softcap my own defense at level 16... even if I respec out of it. 

 

Come to think of it I had a Katana/Dark Stalker towards the end of live who I haven't yet re-created on homecoming.  Maybe I'll remake her as a Dark Armor Scrapper. 

You are totally right about Katana looking/feeling right about being on a scrapper. Those 3 secondaries are the EXACT 3 I'm torn between 😂 good to know about the ATO's for a scrapper on Kat. I know some say they skip DA on Katana to have a more optimal attack chain. Is it something you'd say you SHOULD have to fire off when needed?

[Shred Monkey]

14 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Blaster

Don't discount this option.  Fire/Ninja has one of the top ST DPS chains in the game.  Archery/Ninja and DP/Ninja are just plain fun options with great AoE.

 

 

[Riverdusk]

Didn't see anyone else mention it or I missed it, but I tend to lean scrapper for katana just because scrappers get a bonus crit chance with golden dragonfly.  You crit a LOT with that power on a scrapper.  I don't believe any of the other AT's get anything special from the power to make up for not having that.  

 

On the other hand if you are looking at dark armor I'd lean brute/tank because dark armor is one of the sets that scrappers don't get a taunt aura on, and that sweet 90% resist cap potential.

[Apparition]

3 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Didn't see anyone else mention it or I missed it, but I tend to lean scrapper for katana just because scrappers get a bonus crit chance with golden dragonfly.  You crit a LOT with that power on a scrapper.  I don't believe any of the other AT's get anything special from the power to make up for not having that.  

 

On the other hand if you are looking at dark armor I'd lean brute/tank because dark armor is one of the sets that scrappers don't get a taunt aura on, and that sweet 90% resist cap potential.

Yeah, that is why I recommended Brute or Tanker.  I personally would never play a resistance armor set on Scrapper or Stalker as a good chunk of your mitigation goes out the window.

[kelika2]

Brute

Willpower, slotted for ranged def (cheap as fuck, eradication, mako's bite) and let global IO/toggles/avalanche carry me to softcaps

While this only applies to Lotus Drops, the DoT is never factored into scrapper crits, but [Fury] boosts the DoT damage.

 

while my nin/nin stalker was fun, the lack of a proper AoE made me grind my teeth sometimes

 

Other concepts that I never had time to get around to:

"That kid" kat/fire brute

Sith elec/nin blaster

earth mudra pun name stone/kat tank, with the updated teleportation pool im sure there are some "nuttin personell, kid" binds there